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April Educational Meeting to Feature Assistant Attorney General
GREFPAC is excited to have Georgia Assistant Attorney General Greg Lohmeier as our speaker for the April 14, 2010 complimentary quarterly educational meeting. Mr. Lohmeier represented Georgia in Gilford v. State and will discuss that case and other topics. Among the reasons why the Gilford prosecution was important is that it was the first case for which an appellate court published an opinion interpreting the Georgia Residential Mortgage Fraud Act. Click here to register for the meetingClick here to read the Georgia Court of Appeals opinion in Gilford |
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6th Annual Educational Conference Another Success
GREFPAC's 6th Annual Educational Conference was held on February 12 at the Cobb Galleria Centre. It featured outstanding speakers, including several regulatory agency representatives, who alerted attendees on evolving real estate fraud trends and best practices to detect and prevent fraud.
The event's success was due in large part to volunteer chairperson, Michelle Canter, who devoted countless hours of her time over several months to organizing the conference.
Plans are underway for the 7th Annual Educational Conference. |
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Elections and Educational Meeting Planned for June
The election of the 2010-11 GREFPAC board of directors and officers will be held at the quarterly educational meeting scheduled for June 2, 2010. Details for the meeting will be posted to the GREFPAC website and emailed as they become available. |
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Online Membership Services Now Available
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NATIONAL NEWS AFFECTING GEORGIA
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HUD Advances Fight Against Loan Modification Scams U.S. Dep't of Hous. and Urban Dev. | Feb. 26, 2010
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network, announced the launch of PreventLoanScams.org. The Network developed PreventLoanScams.org to provide homeowners with a single destination to report alleged scammers. Complaints filed online are added to a national complaint database and forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for review. Read More
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Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Hosts Mortgage Fraud Summit
U.S. Dep't of Justice | Feb. 24, 2010
Representatives of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force met in Miami for the first of a series of Mortgage Fraud Summits. The task force, established by President Obama in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes, is composed of representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement. Read More
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Interthinx Releases Mortgage Fraud Risk Report for Q4 2009
Interthinx | Feb. 18, 2010
Interthinx has released its quarterly Mortgage Fraud Risk Report, covering data collected during the fourth quarter of 2009. The report includes an analysis of national mortgage fraud and indices for the four most common types of mortgage fraud. It indicates that most fraud types are on the rise, with increases in the risk index for occupancy fraud, employment/income fraud, and property valuation. The latter is up more than 100 percent from two years ago. Read More
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FFIEC Issues 2009 Mortgage Fraud White Paper: The Detection and Deterrence of Mortgage Fraud Against Financial Institutions
Fed. Fin. Institutions Examination Council | Feb. 16, 2010The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, on behalf of its members, released an updated edition of its white paper on mortgage fraud detection and deterrence. The primary objective is to help examiners understand, identify, and detect mortgage fraud schemes and elements. The white paper defines various types of fraud, gives examples of how individuals commit fraud, provides a list of red flags, and outlines best practices. Read More |
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MBA to Hold National Fraud Issues Conference
Mortgage Bankers Ass'n
MBA's National Fraud Issues Conference 2010 will be held April 25-28 in Chicago. Read More |
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FHFA Issues Final Rule Requiring Reports of Fraudulent Loans
Fed. Hous. Fin. Agency | Jan. 27, 2010
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has issued a final regulation effective February 26, 2010 that requires Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and each Federal Home Loan Bank to submit a timely report to FHFA upon discovery that it has purchased or sold a fraudulent loan or financial instrument, or suspects a possible fraud relating to the purchase or sale of any loan or financial instrument. The final regulation also requires the regulated entities to establish and maintain internal controls, policies, procedures, and operational training programs to ensure that any fraudulent loan or financial instrument or possible fraudulent loan or financial instrument is discovered and reported. Read More
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FHA Commissioner Temporarily Waives 90-Day Resale Restriction, Subject to Conditions
U.S. Dep't of Hous. and Urban Dev. | Jan. 15, 2010
The Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner waived regulations providing that a mortgage for a property will not be eligible for FHA insurance if the contract of sale for the purchase of the property is executed within 90 days of the prior acquisition by the seller and the seller does not come under any of the specific exemptions that apply to the 90-day rule. The waiver took effect February 1, 2010 and is temporary and subject to conditions. Click here for text of waiverClick here for text of press release |
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Assistant U.S. Attorney General's Testimony Before FCIC Covers Mortgage Fraud
Fin. Crisis Inquiry Comm'n | Jan. 14, 2010
Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, testified at a hearing of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC). Among the topics covered by Breuer's testimony were types of mortgage fraud, criminal enforcement efforts and civil enforcement efforts. The FCIC is a bi-partisan 10-member panel established by Congress to examine the causes of the financial crisis. Read More
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Atlanta Man Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements to the FDIC and Aggravated Identity Theft
U.S. Attorney's Office for the N. Dist. of Ga. | Mar. 23, 2010
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: Brent Merriell attempted to arrange short sales in the names of people whose identities had been stolen, and he submitted forged and counterfeited sales contracts and loan commitment letters to the FDIC in support of the sales. Additional Omni National Bank-related prosecutions to date include: Mark Anthony McBride, who pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in mortgage loans from Omni and other lenders; Delroy Oliver Davy was charged in a Criminal Information with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank, mail, and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars of mortgage loans from Omni and other lenders. Read More |
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Forty Indicted in East Texas Major Mortgage Fraud Scheme
U.S. Attorney's Office for the E. Dist. of Tex. | Mar. 16, 2010
All 40 defendants, from Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Georgia, are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Read More
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Former Georgia Closing Attorney Sentenced to Prison in Multimillion Dollar Mortgage Fraud
U.S. Attorney's Office for the N. Dist. of Ga. | Mar. 12, 2010
According to Acting United States Attorney Yates and the information presented in court: In September, October and November 2006, Trent Edward Wright, then a real estate closing attorney, closed approximately 17 loans in which lenders were falsely assured that all prior loans encumbering the properties securing their loans had been paid off. Wright also wrote title insurance for these loans although he failed to pay off numerous prior recorded liens which encumbered the properties. Read More
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Fraudsters Plead Guilty to $10.6 Million Land Sale Scheme U.S. Attorney's Office for the S. Dist. of Fla. | Mar. 10, 2010
According to the indictment, this case arose out of the sale of land in various counties in North Florida and in Georgia. Read More
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Three Members of a Reverse Mortgage Fraud Ring Charged
U.S. Attorney's Office for the N. Dist. of Ga. | Mar. 3, 2010
Acting United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, "These defendants are charged with profiting from the corruption of an FHA-insured program designed to assist seniors with either cash for equity in their home or with funds toward the purchase of a home. These defendants allegedly altered real estate records, used fake documents, and posed as realtors." Read More
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Augusta Woman Sentenced for Her Role in Mortgage Fraud
U.S. Attorney's Office for the S. Dist. of Ga. | Mar. 2, 2010
The evidence at the sentencing hearing showed that Latoya Dawkins allowed another person to use her name and social security number to make a mortgage loan application which was used to purchase a home that was later foreclosed. Read More
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No 2010 Movement to Date on Bill Amending Georgia Residential Mortgage Fraud Act Ga. Gen. Assembly | Mar. 2010
HB 42: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 5 of Chapter 8 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to residential mortgage fraud, so as to modify certain provisions relating to the offense of residential mortgage fraud; to provide for legislative intent; to provide for definitions; to include in the criminal offense of residential mortgage fraud an act of fraud committed upon homeowners during or threatened with foreclosure; to provide for related matters; to provide for applicability and an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes." Read More
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State Supreme Court Makes Statement on Mortgage Fraud, Disbars Attorney
Ga. Supreme Court | Mar. 1, 2010
"We recognize in particular that mortgage fraud is and has been a very serious problem in Georgia and that real estate closing attorneys are relied on by their lender clients and by the public to act ethically and lawfully to identify and prevent such fraud, rather than facilitating and concealing it as Gardner admits doing." Read More
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Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges Three Defendants in Multimillion-Dollar Mortgage Fraud Scheme U.S. Attorney's Office for the S. Dist. of N.Y. | Feb. 24, 2010
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Secret Service announced the arrests of three defendants on charges stemming from a subprime mortgage fraud scheme involving $3 million worth of mortgages on residential properties in and around Orange and East Orange, New Jersey. According to the five-count Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court: Shaheid Bilal, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, supervised and coordinated the recruitment of straw purchasers and the preparation of fraudulent loan applications and other documents for submission to the lenders, among other things; Richard Britt, of McDonough, Georgia, assisted in the preparation of fraudulent paperwork for submission to the lenders, among other things. Read More
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State Senate Passes Bill to Provide GBI with Authority to Investigate Fraudulent Real Estate Transactions, Subpoena
Ga. Gen. Assembly | Feb. 18, 2010
SB 371: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 5 of Chapter 8 of Title 16 and Chapter 3 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to residential mortgage fraud and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, respectively, so as to provide the Georgia Bureau of Investigation with the authority to investigate certain offenses involving fraudulent real estate transactions; to provide the Georgia Bureau of Investigation subpoena power for such investigations; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes." Read More
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State Department of Banking and Finance Enters into Consent Orders
Ga. Dep't of Banking and Fin. | Jan. - Mar. 2010
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 DBF-approved education courses in mortgage fraud. 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
April 14, 2010 GREFPAC Quarterly Educational Meeting
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Atlanta Jr. League 3154 N'side Pkwy. Atlanta, GA 30327
June 2, 2010 GREFPAC 2010-11 Elections & Quarterly Educational Meeting
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Atlanta Jr. League 3154 N'side Pkwy. Atlanta, GA 30327 |
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Georgia Real Estate Fraud Prevention and Awareness Coalition, Inc.
P.O. Box 190127
Atlanta, GA
31119-0127 | |
