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Get Ready for the 9th Annual Educational Conference
GREFPAC's 9th Annual Educational Conference will be held March 6, 2013 at the Cobb Galleria Centre. The agenda is being finalized, and outstanding speakers will address evolving fraud trends, as well as best practices to detect and prevent fraud. CE credits will be available for attorneys, real estate brokers and salespersons, appraisers, and CFEs. Mark your calendar.
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Ga. Mortgage Fraud Trends Examined at September Meeting We extend our sincere appreciation to Ed Gerding, Senior Fraud Consultant at CoreLogic, who was our speaker at the September quarterly education meeting. As always, Ed provided a fascinating look at the progress being made against mortgage fraud in Georgia from a statistical perspective. _______________________________________________________ |
Fannie Mae Releases Monthly Mortgage Fraud Findings Statistics
Fed. Nat'l Mortgage Ass'n (Fannie Mae) | July-Aug. 2012
Based on Fannie Mae loan reviews completed through the end of June 2012, Georgia was not among the ten states with the most loans with significant misrepresentation findings for 2012 and 2011 originations but had the eighth most for 2010 originations. Based on loan reviews completed through the end of July 2012, among all "zip3" areas, Duluth, Georgia had the sixth most loans with significant misrepresentation findings for 2012 and 2011 originations and the ninth most for 2010 originations. Read More
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Attorney Disbarred After Being Convicted for Three Mortgage Fraud-Related Felonies
Supreme Court of Ga. | July 2, 2012
The record shows that the attorney, who was admitted to the Bar in 2000, acted as the closing attorney (or closing agent) in the sale of two condominium units and that he was convicted of conspiring to represent falsely to lenders that borrowers had paid down payments on the units and of conspiring to distribute closing proceeds in a manner contrary to the HUD statement presented to the lender. Read More
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NATIONAL NEWS AFFECTING GEORGIA
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FinCEN Advisory: Suspicious Activity Related to Mortgage Loan Fraud
Fin. Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) | Aug. 16, 2012
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is issuing this Advisory to highlight activity related to mortgage loan fraud so that financial institutions may better assist law enforcement when filing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). This Advisory, which consolidates certain information from previously issued FinCEN reports, contains examples of common fraud schemes and potential "red flags" for activity related to mortgage loan fraud. Read More
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FinCEN Reminds Mortgage Companies and Brokers of New Regulatory Requirements
Fin. Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) | Aug. 16, 2012Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Director James H. Freis, Jr. announced the issuance of an advisory for non-bank residential mortgage lenders and originators (RMLOs) to help them identify and report suspicious activity related to potential mortgage fraud. In his remarks before the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators' (AARMR's) 23rd Annual Regulatory Conference, he also discussed FinCEN's new anti-money laundering (AML) requirements for RMLOs. As of August 13, RMLOs must comply with FinCEN's final rule requiring the establishment of AML programs and the filing of suspicious activity reports (SARs). Read More
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Ten People Charged in $40 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Dist. of N.J. | Aug. 9, 2012
Nine of 10 individuals from New Jersey were arrested by special agents of the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation in connection with their alleged roles in a $40 million mortgage fraud scam that used phony documents and "straw buyers" to make illegal profits on overbuilt condos at the Jersey Shore and resort destinations in South Carolina and Georgia, N.J., U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Read More
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Interthinx National Mortgage Fraud Risk Index Shows Rise in Southeast U.S. and NYC Metro
Interthinx | Aug. 8, 2012
Interthinx has released its quarterly Mortgage Fraud Risk Report covering data collected in the second quarter of 2012. According to the most recent analysis, overall risk resumed its upward climb after a one-quarter pause, with the Index value rising nearly 7 percent to 149 (n = 100). The change was primarily driven by the recent inclusion of 91 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) that moved into the "very high risk" category. Georgia has joined the top five states for overall mortgage fraud risk for the first time since the report started in second-quarter 2009. Read More
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FinCEN Assesses Suspicious Activity Involving Title and Escrow Companies
Fin. Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) | July 11, 2012
Pressing forward in its efforts to address a wide range of criminal risks, particularly in the residential real estate market, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network released its first targeted study analyzing reports indicating suspicious activities involving the Real Estate Title and Escrow Industry. Read More
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LexisNexis Annual Mortgage Fraud Report Shows Increases in Collusion Activity in the Mortgage Industry
LexisNexis Risk Solutions | July 11, 2012
LexisNexis Risk Solutions issued its 14th Annual Mortgage Fraud report that shows that while mortgage fraud rates among industry professionals were down in 2011, there is evidence of significant increases in potential collusion fraud activity in the past three years. The report also shows that Georgia had the sixth highest mortgage fraud index for loans investigated in 2011 but was not ranked in the top 10 for loans originated in 2011. Georgia was not among the 10 states listed in the report as having the most serious potential collusion activity in 2011. Read More_______________________________________________________ |
NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER Copyright 2012 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
Quarterly Educational Meeting 9:30am - Noon Atlanta Jr. League 3154 N'side Pkwy.
Mar. 6, 2013
9th Annual Conference
7:30am - 4:30pm Cobb Galleria Centre Two Galleria Pkwy.
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THANK YOU 2012 SPONSORS
Silver
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Accurate Quality Control
Casey Gilson P.C.
Coleman | Talley, LLP
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Fifth Third Bank
Gateway Compliance
Georgia Real Estate Closing Attorneys Ass'n (GRECAA)
LoanSouth Mortgage
LSI Local Solutions Morris | Hardwick | Schneider, LLC
NREIS (Nat'l Real Estate Info. Services)
Old Republic National Title Insurance Co.
RealEC
Richard C. Wayne & Associates
Stewart Title Guaranty Company
Valuation Management Group |
Georgia Real Estate Fraud Prevention and Awareness Coalition, Inc.
1188 Dorby Park Drive Atlanta, GA
30319
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