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Get Ready for the 6th Annual Educational Conference
The 6th Annual Conference will be held
February 12, 2010 at the Cobb Galleria Centre, with a networking reception the
night before. Outstanding speakers, including regulatory agency representatives,
will alert you to evolving fraud trends and offer training on best practices to
detect and prevent fraud. CE credits will be available for attorneys, mortgage
bankers/brokers, real estate licensees, appraisers, and CFEs. Online registration is open now
at www.grefpac.org
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April Educational Meeting Planned
The next quarterly
educational meeting is tentatively scheduled for April 14. Details will be posted to the GREFPAC website
and emailed as they become available.
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December Educational Meeting Recap
The theme of the December 2 educational meeting was
"Preventing Mortgage Fraud in Reverse Mortgage Originations." Attendees learned
the nuts and bolts of reverse mortgages and received invaluable information on reverse mortgage fraud schemes being perpetrated. We appreciate the insight provided
by our speakers: Gale McKenzie, Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District
of Georgia; Tracy Wise, Sales Manager, Reverse Mortgage Division, Axxa
Mortgage; and Cortez Richardson, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, HUD Office
of the Inspector General.
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GREFPAC Online Membership Now Available
GREFPAC is pleased to announce a new online registration and member database system. The system will allow members to easily renew their memberships as well as update their member profiles or register for a meeting. The system also allows new members to join any time throughout the year. Please see the "Quick Links" section at the right to join, renew or update your profile.
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NATIONAL NEWS AFFECTING GEORGIA
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FBI Assistant Director's Testimony Before Senate
Committee Covers Mortgage Fraud, Foreclosure Rescue Scams
Federal Bureau of Investigation | December 9, 2009
"I want to thank you for the opportunity to testify
before you today about the FBI's ongoing efforts to combat significant financial
crimes. As we all know, financial fraud, to include mortgage, corporate, and
securities fraud, were not the primary sources of the current financial crisis;
collectively however, these frauds have significantly impacted the U.S. housing
and financial markets."
>>Read More
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Federal and State Agencies Target Mortgage Relief
Scams
Federal Trade Commission | November 24, 2009
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz,
joined by U.S. Senator Harry Reid, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez
Masto, and Assistant Attorney General Tony West of the Civil Division of the
U.S. Department of Justice, announced Operation Stolen Hope as part of a
continuing federal-state crackdown on alleged mortgage foreclosure rescue and
loan modification scams. The operation involves 118 actions by 26 federal and
state agencies.
>>Read More
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President Obama Establishes Interagency Financial
Fraud Enforcement Task Force
U.S. Dept. of the Treasury | November 17, 2009
Attorney General Eric Holder, Treasury Secretary Tim
Geithner, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, and
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairwoman Mary Schapiro announced that
President Barack Obama has established by Executive Order an interagency
Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to strengthen efforts to combat financial
crime. The task force, which replaces the Corporate Fraud Task Force
established in 2002, will build upon efforts already underway to combat
mortgage, securities and corporate fraud by increasing coordination and fully
utilizing the resources and expertise of the government's law enforcement and
regulatory apparatus.
>> Read More
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MARI Issues Quarterly Fraud Report
Mortgage Asset Research Institute-LexisNexis | November 2009
Like Mortgage Asset Research Institute's
annual Mortgage Fraud Case
Reports to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Mortgage
Asset Research Institute Quarterly Fraud Report is intended to provide industry insight into current and
emerging fraud trends, as well as enable awareness of pending mortgage fraud
risk. Our quarterly analyses provide more in-depth discussions of fraud types
and trends over a shorter period of time. In this analysis of loans originated
during the fourth quarter of 2008, we will show that the mortgage fraud
landscape is beginning to change as a result of increased industry awareness of
and attention to fraud.
>>Read More
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National Campaign Empowers Homeowners to Combat Loan
Modification Scams
NeighborWorks America | October 26, 2009
In Los Angeles, a partnership of local, state and
national government agencies, nonprofit organizations and financial institutions
gathered at City Hall to launch a national public education campaign designed to
help homeowners protect themselves against loan modification scams, find trusted
help and report illegal activity to authorities. This was the first of several
kickoff events scheduled to announce the "Loan Modification Scam Alert" campaign
rollout in major cities across the country.
>>Read More
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Atlanta Man
Indicted in Alleged "Short Sale" Fraud Related to the Failed Omni National
Bank
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ga. | December 22, 2009
Brent Merriell, 37, of Atlanta, Georgia indicted by a federal grand jury on
charges of aggravated identity theft and false statements to the FDIC, waived his detention hearing before United States Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard, and has been immediately detained. The indictment
charging Merriell was filed on December 15, 2009, and
unsealed December 21, 2009 with his
arrest.
>>Read More
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Atlanta U.S. Attorney's Office Employees Recognized
at Annual U.S. Attorney Awards Ceremony U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ga. | December 4, 2009
The Department of Justice held its 26th annual
Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) Director's Awards Ceremony
in Washington D.C. Among the award recipients were the Northern District of
Georgia's Deputy Chief of the Economic Crime Section Barbara Nelan and Special
Assistant United States Attorney Richard Reed, who received a Director's Award
for Superior Performance By an Assistant United States Attorney for their
remarkably hard and diligent work in the complex investigation and successful
prosecution of a massive, $112 million mortgage fraud scheme.
>>Read More
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Department of Banking and Finance Enters into Consent
Orders
Ga. Dept. of Banking and Finance | October-December
2009
The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance has
entered into several consent orders with various companies and individuals to
resolve allegations pertaining to violations of the Georgia Residential Mortgage
Act and agency rules. Some orders recite allegations of false statements or
misrepresentations to lenders or include provisions that require attendance at
Department-approved education courses in mortgage fraud.
>> Read More
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Ga. Cases Part of National "Operation Stolen
Hope"
Ga. Dept. of Banking and Finance | November 24,
2009
Georgia Banking Commissioner Robert Braswell joined
federal and state officials to crack down on alleged loan modification and
foreclosure relief scams, by the issuance of Cease and Desist Orders against
individuals and companies who allegedly advertised unlicensed loan modification
services.
>>Read More
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Former Ga. Attorney Sentenced to Prison for
Multimillion Dollar Real Estate Ponzi Scheme
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ga. | November 5, 2009
Steven H. Ballard, 53, of McDonough, Georgia, was
sentenced by United States District Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr. to serve over
five years in federal prison on a wire fraud charge involving a real estate
investment scam that lasted over five years and defrauded a dozen victims in
Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.
>> Read More
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Former Mortgage Broker Pleads Guilty to a $20 Million
Mortgage Fraud, Real Estate Investment Scam and Check Kiting Scheme
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ga. | November 5, 2009
Edward William Farley, 47, of Hoschton, Georgia,
pleaded guilty in federal district court to committing a mortgage fraud, a real
estate investment "Ponzi" scam involving over 150 victims, a check-kiting scheme
and a bankruptcy fraud. According to Acting United States
Attorney Sally Quillian Yates and the information presented in court: Farley, a
former mortgage broker, operated through "Creative Home Search," "Southern Land
Partners," "Georgia Land Group," and "Global Mortgage" in Dunwoody and Norcross,
Georgia, to defraud mortgage lenders through same-day "flips" of properties
located in Buford, College Park, Conyers, Cumming, Dacula, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lithonia, Norcross,
Marietta, Roswell, Snellville, and Suwanee.
>>Read More
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NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER:
Copyright 2010 Georgia Real Estate Fraud Prevention and Awareness Coalition, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of the Georgia Real Estate Fraud Prevention and Awareness Coalition, Inc. or GREFPAC names or logos is prohibited. You may reproduce a reasonable number of copies of this newsletter for your own personal use or for non-commercial distribution, but all all copies must be unmodified and must include the above copyright notice. Reproduction or distribution of this newsletter for commercial purposes is prohibited. GREFPAC cannot guarantee that material accessible from this newsletter is free of viruses or other malicious code, and GREFPAC does not accept any responsibility for any loss caused by any such code. GREFPAC is not responsible for any third party content, products or services that may be accessed through this newsletter, and the availability of links in this newsletter to such third party content, products or services should not be construed as referrals to, or endorsements of, the linked entities or the content, products or services that they make available. GREFPAC will cease providing links from future issues of this newsletter upon request from the linked party. The information in this newsletter is presented as general information and is not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, legal advice or legal opinions on specific facts. You should not rely on information in this newsletter or its applicability to any specific questions or circumstances without first seeking your own professional's advice. GREFPAC is not a law firm and does not offer professional legal services. The information in this publication is not intended to create, and the transmission and receipt of it does not constitute, a confidential or lawyer-client relationship. The act of contacting GREFPAC will not create a confidential or lawyer-client relationship, and your communication will not be treated as confidential. GREFPAC makes no warranties, representations, or claims of any kind concerning the information available from, or the distribution of, this newsletter. GREFPAC and contributing authors expressly disclaim all liability to any person in respect of the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done wholly or partly in reliance upon the use or contents of this newsletter. The information contained in this newsletter may concern allegations made in civil lawsuits and in criminal indictments. Such allegations may be found by the court to be untrue. All persons are presumed innocent of criminal allegations until convicted of a crime. Court opinions may be subject to the parties' motion for reconsideration, the court's reconsideration, and editorial changes made by the reporter of decisions. We are eager to make corrections quickly and candidly. An aggrieved party need not have a letter to the editor published for us to
correct a mistake. We will publish corrections on our own and in our voice as
soon as we are told about them and can confirm them. | |
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UPCOMING EVENTS
AT A GLANCE
Feb. 11-12, 2010
Annual GREFPAC Conference
Cobb Galleria Centre
Apr. 14, 2010
Tentative
Quarterly GREFPAC Educational Meeting
Atlanta Junior League 3154 Northside Pkwy.
Atlanta, GA 30327
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THANK YOU
2010 SPONSORS
Diamond 
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Accurate Quality Control, Inc.
Brand Mortgage Group
ComplyShare, LLC
Dickenson Gilroy LLC
Georgia Department of Community Affairs
Georgia Real Estate Closing Attorneys Assn. (GRECAA)
The IMPACT! Group
Morris | Hardwick | Schneider, LLC
Old Republic National Title Insurance Company
Stewart Title Guaranty Company
The StoneHill Group, Inc.
Valuation Management Group, LLC
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