If you’ve walked Canal St. in lower Manhattan’s Chinatown, you’ve probably passed by the modest headquarters of Abacus Federal Savings, a family run community bank that has served New York City’s Chinese immigrant population for more than three decades. It’s more than a mile away — and a world apart — from the more famous banks on Wall Street whose reckless behaviors during the housing bubble led to trillions of dollars in economic loss, the failure of financial institutions nationwide, an unprecedented federal bailout of the banking and auto industries, and continued fraud by big banks in a rush to foreclose on large numbers of homes as quickly as possible. [More]
mortgage fraud
Only One Bank Was Indicted For Mortgage Fraud Tied To The 2008 Collapse — And It Was Innocent
By 9.12.17
Bank Of America Could End Investigations Into Its Troubled Mortgage Investments For $20B
By 4.25.14
There’s another new chapter being written in the ongoing saga known as the financial crisis. The Justice Department is aiming to make a deal, in the area of $20 billion, with Bank of America for the company’s part in selling troubled mortgage investments. But resolution doesn’t look to be happening anytime soon. [More]
JPMorgan Chase To Pay $614M In Settlement For Defrauding Federal Agencies
By 2.5.14
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is running up quite the legal tab this year. On Tuesday, that tab grew by $614 million when the company agreed to settle its latest legal woe with the U.S. government. [More]
CFPB Alleges Mortgage Insurer Operated 15-Year-Long Kickback Scheme
By 1.29.14
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has begun proceedings against PHH Corporation for its involvement in a 15-year-long mortgage insurance kickback scheme that collected hundreds of millions of dollars from homeowners. [More]
Citigroup Settles Mortgage Fraud Charges For $158 Million, Admits Fault
By 2.16.12
The U.S. Department of Justice nailed Citigroup on mortgage fraud charges, getting the bank to agree to pay out a $158 million settlement while admitting it tricked a federal insurance program into backing bad loans. When borrowers defaulted, taxpayers ended up footing the bill. [More]
Massachusetts Regulators Rarely Acted Against Subprime Brokers And Lenders
By 9.15.10
An investigative report finds that Massachusetts regulators only acted against 3% of its licensees during the sub-prime peak, the lowest among fellow New England states, while publicly preening that it was being “aggressive.” In fact, as foreclosures rose during ’06-’08, enforcement actually dropped. Forget who watches the watchdogs, who watches? [More]
Treasury Announces Multi-Agency Crackdown On Mortgage Fraud
By 4.6.09
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.
Top 3 Emerging Mortgage Scams To Watch Out For
By 3.19.09
In its recent annual report to the Mortgage Banker’s Association, the Mortgage Asset Research Institute described three emerging mortgage fraud schemes that are either new or increasing in popularity.
WaMu Lent $24.5 Million To One Shady Family Of ID Thieving House Flippers
By 9.24.08
If you’re expecting this story to be about the worst bunch of shady house flippers from the height of the credit boom, you’ll be disappointed. This story is about a family that took WaMu for huge amounts of money by buying homes and selling them to their friends and other family members for grossly inflated prices — and pocketing the profit while the homes fell into foreclosure. They did this as the California real estate market was imploding, and after WaMu had announced that it had tightened its lending standards.
By 6.19.08
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Over 400 people have been charged in the government’s national mortgage fraud probe, called “Operation Malicious Mortage,” which dealt with individual rather than corporate fraud. [Reuters]
Real Estate Speculation: From A Trailer Park To Foreclosure On 4 Homes
By 4.21.08
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has a fascinating article about real estate speculation in Minnesota. The article focuses on Bradley and Sarah Collin, a couple with three children who were living in a trailer park when they were suckered by a local “property management company” that (illegally) paid the couple $20,000 cash to buy 4 houses in a new subdivision.
FBI Said To Be Investigating Countrywide
By 3.11.08
The FBI has opened an investigation into Countrywide for suspected securities fraud, reports the New York Times. The Justice Department and FBI “are looking at whether officials at Countrywide, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, misrepresented its financial condition and the soundness of its loans in security filings.” So far everything is unofficial because nobody has been authorized to discuss the case, and a Countrywide spokeswoman says, “”We are not aware of any such investigation.”
