FBI Cracking Down on Mortgage Fraud
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As mortgage fraud increases throughout the country, the FBI has decided to make stopping it a priority. A couple broker friends in the metro Atlanta area have seen some shady deals attempt to come across their desk, and have had to work with local authorities on criminal cases as people try to commit mortgage fraud.
Now it looks like the FBI is going to be more involved in these cases.
The federal government yesterday announced a crackdown on what officials called the “growing epidemic” of mortgage fraud, with organized rings of real estate operatives bilking consumers and lenders out of billions of dollars.
At a news conference at FBI headquarters, law enforcement officials announced they had received 21,994 reports of “suspicious” real estate activity in fiscal 2005, up from 17,127 the previous year. They said the FBI is investigating 721 pending mortgage fraud cases in numerous states, up from 534 the previous year.
“It’s a pervasive problem, and it’s on the rise,” said Chris Swecker, assistant director of the FBI, as officials described investors and consumers drawn to the hot real estate market only to find themselves the prey of savvy criminals who use loopholes in lending practices to strip borrowers of their savings, in most cases also ruining their credit. Lenders are becoming victims as well, induced to make bad loans that will go into foreclosure. When the loans are insured by the Federal Housing Administration, taxpayers are on the hook for the losses.
The cases are being handled by a joint task force that includes the FBI, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Internal Revenue Service. via The Washington Post
This is a welcome relief to the honest real estate professionals, as their licensing is predicated on honest transactions taking place.


Comment by Cole Kenny on 17 December 2005:
Anyone in California who thinks they’ve been ripped off … we’ve got links to complaint forms at the appropriate state agencies over at The Boy in the Big Housing Bubble. They’re on the left column under the heading “report mortgage fraud.”
Comment by V Kosnett on 14 January 2006:
I saw your website regarding fraud in home appraisals, and mortgage industry. I, and many others need your help. We contracted NV Homes to have homes built a year ago when the home prices were very high. The houses will start to be ready in 3 months. The builder gave us incentives to use their mortgage company NVR Mortgage. In the same location, the builder is now selling the same houses for $400,000 less. The builder assures us that our homes will appraise at its original value of 1,120,000 or more, even though there has never been a single town home sold in Tysons Corner Virginia are at this price, ever. Isn’t it amazing?
The builder, and its mortgage company work with their own appraisers, and immediately sell off these bad loans to other companies. The builder creates an unfair monopoly that takes advantage of consumers. If I were buying a home from a person, instead of a corporation, this scheme would never have had a chance. Who should we turn to? What are our rights?
If we back out, they keep our deposits.
Comment by Jack Olson on 9 November 2006:
The FBI is NOT cracking down on Mortgage Fraud. The escalation of Mortgage Fraud and the brazeness of the parties doing it is because of the Do Nothing FBI! Mortgage Fraud is already a Title 18 federal felony with up to $1m fine and 30 yrs prison per occurence. Mortgage Fraud is also Bank Fraud, Wire Fraud, Mail Fraud. Yet 2 yrs ago, the FBI did not investigate, indict nor convict even when confronted with the preponderance of clear and convincing public record evidence of a continuing series of fraudulent loans from a Reno Realtor with the blessing of his Broker who braggs “everyone’s doing it” and has admitted in the public records offering bribes to a loan officer to do the fraudulent loans for him and his clients - which the loan officer refused, then the Reno Fraudster Realtor and his Broker (of a well known nation wide brokerage) both threatened to the loan officer, the sales manager, the branch manager and the area manager they would get the loan officer and the lender blackballed by every Realtor in Reno, then closed the fraudulent loans with other lenders - 8 of them for more then $2m. The Reno Fraudster Realtor even wrote a threatending letter to one of the witnesees threatening to sue her if she didn’t mind her own business as his production was the only thing he and his broker were concerned about. It’s the Do Nothing National Association of Realtors, State Association of Realtors, local Reno Sparks Association of Realtors who don’t hold their fellow Realtors accountable, even when they know who the Fraudster Realtors are and that honest Realtors can’t compete against the Fraudster Realtors. It’s the Do Nothing NV State Mortgage Division who evidently took a bribe 2 yrs ago from the Fraudster Realtor and covered his and his clients Mortgage Fraud up. Money buys a very large Conspiracy of Silence. It’s the Do Nothing NV State Real Estate Division and NV State Attorney General who also cover up the Mortgage Fraud even when presented with a preponderance of clear and convincing public record evidence by several complaintants against this Reno Fraudster Realtor. It’s the Do Nothing Lenders who want that short-term quarterly profit to show Wall Street they made off the origination of the fraudulent loans who don’t call the loans due when confronted with the evidence the loans are fraudulent. It’s the No Nothing Nationally Known Brokerage who is ethically challenged when they allow their agents and Broker to threaten to blackball the loan officer and bank who refuses to take the bribes offered by the Reno Fraudster Realtor for the fraudulent loans then closes the fraudulent loans with other lenders while threatening to get the loan officer fired for not “doing what everyone does.” It’s the Do Nothing Mortgage Bankers Association Fraud Committee Members (many presidents of their banks)who refuse to take action on the fraudulent loans their companies originated because they don’t want to lose the Realtor business. So naturally their local managers nationwide do the same. It’s the Do Nothing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae who refuse to act on the fraudulent loans when presented with the Mortgage Fraud because they’re worried Wall Street will find out how at risk they really are. Integrity in the quality of the loans purchased by the secondary market? Ha ha. Now that’s a house of a trillion cards. There is no quality in those loans - it’s all smoke and mirrors. In a falling tide, all the garbage (Mortgage Fraud) is revealed. The IRS has described perpetuators of Mortgage Fraud as “economic terorists” and profits from Mortgage Fraud as Money Laundering. Which is probably what this Reno Fraudster Realtor was doing. Due to Mortgage Fraud being the fastest growing white collar crime, all these Do Nothings mean the trillions of dollars in the American real estate market is a House of Cards rapidly crumbling down and makes the S & L Crisis look small in comparison which each one of us ended up paying for. Suck it up my fellow Americans as the Perfect Storm of Mortgage Fraud is upon us and the lenders and Realtors will soon find a way to make us pay again rather than Do Anything now to avoid it.
Comment by Anonymous on 4 February 2007:
The things you stated are true from city to city.