Mortgage fraud-related Suspicious Activity Reports referred to law enforcement increased 36% to 63,713 during 2008, compared to 46,717 reports in 2007, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2008 Mortgage Fraud Report.
While the total dollar loss attributed to mortgage fraud is unknown, financial institutions reported losses of at least $1.4 billion, an increase of 83.4% from 2007. The report showed that more than 3.1 million foreclosure filings were reported on approximately 2.3 million properties nationally during 2008, up 81% from 2007 and 225% from 2006. As of 2008, the Western region of the U.S. had the most pending FBI mortgage fraud-related investigations.
According to the FBI’s report, the top 10 mortgage fraud states for 2008 were California, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Colorado, Maryland, Florida, Missouri and New York. Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia were newly identified as having significant mortgage fraud problems.
A group of 20 Senate Democrats led by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., are putting pressure on the Obama administration to reduce foreclosures.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the senators urged the administration to ensure mortgage servicers participating in government foreclosure mitigation programs like the Making Home Affordable Program are aggressively working to help struggling borrowers. “We write to urge you to use the full measure of your authority to ensure that servicers participating in the administration’s foreclosure prevention programs more quickly and effectively respond to homeowners seeking assistance,” said the letter, which was dated June 24 and released this week.
The senators said they were troubled by reports that borrowers usually must wait 45 to 60 days for a response after requesting assistance. They also said they were concerned about option adjustable-rate mortgages scheduled to reset in the next four years and asked the Treasury to take a more proactive approach to helping these borrowers.
There was so much shady lending going on in california I imagine the losses will be in the trillion range.
how is that budget going in CALI?
Left by Ronald McMansion in previous post
FBI: U.S. Mortgage Fraud “Rampant” and “Escalating”
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/07/fbi-us-mortgage-fraud-rampant-and.html
These combined factors uncovered and fueled a rampant mortgage fraud climate fraught with opportunistic participants desperate to maintain or increase their current standard of living. Industry employees sought to maintain the high standard of living they enjoyed during the boom years of the real estate market and overextended mortgage holders were often desperate to reduce or eliminate their bloated mortgage payments.
Mortgage fraud continues to be an escalating problem in the United States and a contributing factor to the billions of dollars in losses in the mortgage industry.
***
Short-Sale Schemes: Short-sale schemes are desirable to mortgage fraud perpetrators because they do not have to competitively bid on the properties they purchase, as they do for foreclosure sales. Perpetrators also use short sales to recycle properties for future mortgage fraud schemes. Short-sale fraud schemes are difficult to detect since the lender agrees to the transaction, and the incident is not reported to internal bank investigators or the authorities. As such, the extent of short sale fraud nationwide is unknown.
I had a neighbor pull off a short sale of his house and I would bet he got the bank to accept an amount less than the actual sales price. Actual, meaning I wouldn’t put it past him to to say to the buyer…hey, I’m a short sales expert, selling my own home. You give me 100k CASH outside the written sales agreement and I’ll work my lender to take an amount that works for you and them. Everyone wins, seller gets some cash, new owner gets a deal “if” he has some seed money to float the seller, bank recoups some debt. I think this scenario is happening out there!
I found this listing entertaining. Price is dropping 4k every other day! Just to look like a reduction and get attention on sites like SDlookup.com
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-090032123-1349_Corvidae_St_Carlsbad_CA_92011
New Tactic!
FBI has the stats, JTR has the video !
arizonadude:
I’m so pleased you’re worried about the California budget. We’re OK, we’ve got a plan:
A California state assemblyman from San Francisco has introduced legislation that would legalize and tax marijuana, a move he hopes will help shore up the state’s dire finances.
The bill by San Francisco representative Tom Ammiano, would legalize the cultivation, possession and sale of marijuana by people 21 and older. It would charge growers and wholesalers a $5,000 (£3,400) initial franchise fee and a $2,500 annual renewal fee, and would levy a $50 per ounce fee on retailers.
Want more: read….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/deadlineusa/2009/feb/24/california-marijuana-legalisation-legislation
Price is dropping 4k every other day!
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-090032123-1349_Corvidae_St_Carlsbad_CA_92011
New Tactic!
Interesting tactic, kind of like a gambling game. But this would almost make me want to wait and see it drop some more.
Oh, but wait, I see it has “room darkening drapes”! Who wouldn’t pay a million for that? If they keep going they will prove Jim’s mantra: “Nothin’ price won’t fix”
If they put the drapes up on Craigslist or eBay I might take a look at them. I have three rooms in my home that face west and desperately need something to cut the sun that blasts through the existing shades every afternoon in the summer… 🙂
Are we number one for the biggest budget deficit in the U.S. today? How many of you believe this so called 26.3 billion dollar deficit is closer to 30-35 billion? They keep increasing the deficit number because they have no clue how to run this state. They have failed to acknowledge the astronomical problems we are facing as things keep snowballing downhill.
This state needs some real leaders who can make tough decisions. CA lost it’s mojo a long time ago.
This buds for you LC jim.Burn a doobie and forget about all your problems.After all we got budget problems my friend.
Last fall, this one was a FSBO that was dropping its price 10k per week. They had a nice sign on the street…
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/09/trend_in_marketing_threaten_to_drop_the_price.php
2425 Coldwater Canyon Dr previously sold for $1,230,000 on Feb 24, 2009, $1,680,000 on Aug 23, 2006, and $1,200,000 on Jun 1, 2005.
Shocking!
Crash Test Economy
.
I’m wondering why Arizona and Nevada weren’t in the top 10.
My favorite part of the FBI report is the statement, “Industry professionals looking to maintain the high standard of living”. Remind me again of the code of ethics that REALTORS(R) advertise.
I agree LV Renter…there should be much more prosecution of Realtors. If Realtor butts started ending up in jail cells, this illegal crap would end real quick. Or at least get greatly reduced.
Shoot, we read so much about the Rep SC guv having an affair and things like that…let’s focus on things that could make a REAL difference in our lives like making sure Realtors are making honest transactions!
Random thought for you JIm…will realtors now face fines for “the wet look” on sidewalks and driveways in photos now that water restrictions here make it illegal to hose down outside surfaces.
Maybe SANDICOR can police that one
Silly question here, why DO realtors wet down the driveways in photos? I’ve noticed it in some photos in new developments on the Central Coast. Is it right up there with putting every light on in the house when the photo is shot in the early evening? Do techniques like this really help sell a home?
I don’t believe it. I mean when the gardener got a 500K loan, I figured that had to be legit and by the book, I didn’t question it for a minute.
After reading some these comments blaming
Realtors for just abut everything, I’m writing to Congress to about adding Realtors to the Hate Crime Victims list. For info on current indictments, arrests, and prison sentences being handed down, read mortgagefraudblog.com. Most of the culprits are mortgage brokers, loan agents, title lawyers, straw buyers, liar buyers, liar short sellers, liar owner-occupied buyers, fake escrow holders, developers, bankers, illegals with stolen ID’s, and so on and so forth. It took a village to pull off the crime wave of the century.
Yeah, Desert Realtor, it was the Mortgage Brokers who put a listing on the MLS only to have it marked pending in a matter of hours for tens if not hundreds of thousands under market value.
That’s the story.
LB – If you have evidence of unethical or illegal activity, contact the appropriate Board of Realtors and file a complaint asap. Better yet, contact the listing agent first and ask if backup “all cash” offers are being considered. You’ll probably get a convoluted answer, but if the answer is “no” you caught a rat.