Treasury Announces Multi-Agency Crackdown On Mortgage Fraud
Various U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, announced a multi-agency crackdown on foreclosure relief fraud today, vowing to "redouble efforts to crack down on schemes that target distressed homeowners and also to share more information and resources across agencies and with state officials," says the WSJ.
Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan announced at the press conference that Illinois had filed two lawsuits against mortgage rescue scammers.
"Struggling homeowners need to know that free help is available," Attorney General Madigan said. "We have repeatedly found that these operations are swindling desperate homeowners out of money they can't afford to lose. The lawsuits I have filed prove they don't provide any help. They don't call your lender, they don't modify your loan, and they don't represent you in court if you're in foreclosure. All they do is take your money."
According to a statement from the AG's office, the firms charge upfront fees in exchange for help dealing with the victim's lender or for "orientation" services, which require consumers to enroll in a one-year "membership club" and pay an upfront $575 application fee, $50 enrollment fee and a monthly fee of $69-89, as well as a final "success fee" that ranges from one to two percent of the loan amount."
Both companies are accused of failing to provide these services to their clients.
"On the state level, more than 150 enforcement actions have been brought against mortgage rescue companies across the country, and the states are increasingly sharing information and leveraging resources with our partners at the federal level," Madigan said. "By combining our powers in pursuit of this common purpose, state and federal authorities are sending a clear message to operators of mortgage rescue scams: It is not a question of if we'll come after you; it is only a question of when."
MADIGAN FILES TWO MORTGAGE RESCUE FRAUD LAWSUITS, SEEKS IMMEDIATE BAN ON COMPANIES' OPERATIONS [Illinois Attorney General]
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Comments:
about freakin' time!
@Chumas: I'd prefer the Today Show =P. Ann Curry and Natalie Morales for some delicious eye candy with comedy by Al Roker. Sponsored by Smuckers
When are they going to start cracking down on fraud by borrowers? I can't believe Casey Serin is still not in jail despite admitting to fraud and trying to PROFIT from his fraud after the fact. People like him who lie on mortgage applications are a big contributing cause of this mess.
Great. Where were they when just about everyone (yes, home'owners,' I'm looking at you) was committing fraud to get loans in the first place.
share more information and resources across agencies and with state officials
Wait a minute...weren't the dems against sharing information between agencies for so long? Wasn't that a big bad thing the Patriot Act forced on us unsuspecting citizens? Or does that only count for national security issues?
@Jonbo298: That is a totally awesome idea.
Roker could pull the chain on the guillotine and Ann & Natalie could play catch and hold the heads up to the camera.
Then everyone takes a big swig of coffee from their mugs. :D
Ah, Lisa Madigan. You just want so, so badly to be governor, don't you?
About 3 years too late.
@Chumas: As much as I disagree with the free-market fundamentalists on here, you're not doing the countering arguments any favors with posts like this. The current situation was caused by more factors than just Greedy Rich People™ (even if they did contribute a hell of a lot to it), and you're just providing fuel for their claims of irrational populism.
@Chumas: What about the fraud that was committed BEFORE the crisis? Shouldn't the mortgage brokers and home buyers that lied about income to get more house than they could afford be facing trial as well?
@Ubik2501: I really don't care about countering arguments regarding free market bullsh_t and the need for overly educated people to tell me to shut up and sit down.
To date:
I've lost most of my 401k's value.
The union savings fund I *SHOULD* be drawing a pension from when I'm old and decrepit is frakkin GONE.
My Military VA benefits resulted in me having to get an HIV test because of crappy doctors.
What I want is to see some heads on sticks and some scum sucking office dwelling piece of sh_t catching it in the ass. See, what I learned in SEOCS is this: if you do not provide the avenue for lazy and stupid troopers to do bad and ignorant things, you can eliminate more than 3/4 of your problems. If you *DO* provide that avenue, they'll line up for whatever crap it is no matter how bad the outcome could be for the whole unit.
@sleze69: Throw em onto the pile as well. Make them work off their debts in some form or fashion that would make them think hard about what they scammed off. Planting trees or scraping prarie grass until their hands bleed.
They're financed partially by settlements from BoA. They help you and all they ask is that you volunteer at least once a year, no money exchanging hands.
@snowburnt: I approve this message. I've referred a few people to this program and all have come away with homes and still are in those homes.. The Atlanta office may be a bit overwhelmed but its still a good program.
Are they going to crack down on tax evasion next? Oh, right, only for the regular people...
@Chumas: Most of your 401(k)? What the heck are you invested in? I'm 100% equities and my portfolio is down about 30% from its peak (granted, that includes subsequent investment).
I don't think the free market is bullshit and I appreciate your military service to defend my ability to say so. That's honest, not snarky. The crappy doctors should be reserved for Wall Street, the military should get the good ones.
Alternate headline:
"Treasury announces multi-agency crackdown on unlocked barn doors"
@Chumas: I apologize, that's truly a lot of shit to go through right there. But nothing gets solved unless people actually put their heads together and figure out how to address the situation.
And I'm 100% with Yossarian on this one - everybody in the military deserves far better treatment, and it's criminal that the people who helped create an unsustainable market get better treatment than the people who defend their right to do so.
@Red_Flag: While I recognize that Madigan is showboating for the attention, at least the public will benefit from her actually doing her job.
Still leaves the question: why hasn't she been rooting out the rampant corruption in IL for lo these many years?
@HiPwr: Because U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald had his investigations rolling before she came into office, so any attempt to investigate state officials could be seen as interference.
And really, no matter how good an AG she's been (especially on consumer issues), would anybody take an investigation of state officials by state officials seriously?
I still advocate pitchforks, flaming brands, and most importantly the guillotine to rein our financial sector back into line.
Evertone makes fun of the french, but when push comes to shove, they'll shove the cake where the sun doesn't shine. Well, the historical french, not the present day french.
Execute Bernie and a slew of mortgage scammers live on Good Morning America and things will clear up fast.