Incidents of mortgage fraud increased 26% from 2007 to 2008. Rhode Island, Florida and Illinois top the list of states with highest mortgage fraud rates.
Reported incidents of mortgage fraud in the U.S. are at an all-time high and increased by 26 percent from 2007 to 2008 according to a new report released today by the Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI®), a LexisNexis® service. The 11th Periodic Mortgage Fraud Case Report to the Mortgage Banker’s Association
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A telephone hotline has been established by the FBI to receive complaints from the public regarding mortgage fraud matters.
The FBI considers mortgage fraud to be a significant and growing crime problem which often affects unknowing consumers, and which has a direct impact upon the overall economic health of the United States. The collapse of the subprime mortgage market, as well as the recent economic downturn, has been met with a corresponding increase in fraud and schemes connected to
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Premier Financial Lenders, a fictitious company, is exploiting North Dakota’s reputation for honesty in an effort to con people across the country. This advance loan fee scheme has prompted consumer complaints as far away as California claiming that a North Dakota company is involved in a scam.
The phony company, currently using the business name “Premier Financial
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Jack Ferm, a former talk show host in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been arrested on two counts of felony theft and related charges in connection with the operation of U.S. Justice Foundation, a mortgage rescue scam.
Ferm is the President and owner of U.S. Justice Foundation, a document preparation business which misled
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Robert Dewain Venson, 38, Fort Washington, Maryland was arrested for mail and wire fraud, money laundering and failing to file tax returns in connection with a three year mortgage fraud scheme involving 13 residential properties. The indictment was returned on February 23, 2009 and unsealed on March 11, 2009, upon his arrest. Venson had his initial appearance in federal
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3 individuals have pled guilty to loan modification fraud against hundreds of “desperate California homeowners” and were sentenced to as much as 6 years of prison. The defendants sentenced were part of a foreclosure scam engineered by the First Gov company, which was based in San Bernardino, California.
• Rosa Conrado, 51, San Bernardino, California, was
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Victoria l. Sprouse, a lawyer from Charlotte, North Carolina, was charged in a November 6, 2008, Superceding Indictment with perjury, conspiracy to commit money laundering, mail, wire and bank fraud. As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, the charges arose from multiple alleged mortgage fraud schemes involving
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Kimberly Taylor, 40, Fayetteville, North Carolina, was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge James C. Fox to 70 months’ imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. The Court also imposed restitution in the amount of $91,933.41.
A Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment on October 24, 2007. At her arraignment on July 10, 2008, Taylor pled
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Richard Winer, 33, Tempe, Arizona, has been sued by Attorney General Terry Goddard for an alleged foreclosure rescue operation believed to have defrauded approximately 400 Arizonans of their homes.
The Complaint alleges that between 2003 and 2007, Winer, through his limited liability
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Terri J. Hart, 46, Fayetteville, North Carolina, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, which has a maximum penalty of up to five years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine followed by three years of supervised release.
As previously reported on Mortgage Fraud Blog, the
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