Mortgage Fraud

WASHINGTON --Since early 2010, a leading civil rights group has helped compile a database of approximately 26,000 complaints about mortgage modification scams -- attempts by fraudsters to take advantage of those hardest hit by the housing market meltdown. The people making those complaints have reported losses of $63 million to the National Loan Modification Scam Database. And the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which manages the database, has filed 10 civil suits in conjunction with other organizations to try to halt mortgage assistance operations in California and New York.

Federal prosecutors Monday charged 19 individuals, mainly from Southern California, with defrauding homeowners in trouble partly by using "foreclosure rescue pitches" and an equity-draining technique called equity stripping. Two indictments made public Monday accused Charles Head, 33, of La Habra; his brother, Jeremy Michael Head, 30, of Huntington Beach; and others of taking part in a nationwide mortgage scam that stole $12.6 million and fraudulently obtained the titles to more than 100 homes.

Last year, a mortgage broker in the Tacoma, Wash., area filed a false second lien against a property as it was headed to closing. The man planned to take advantage of an unsuspecting couple and quietly pocket $24,000 into his own account when the loan eventually funded. Until recently, county prosecutors -- already deluged with other cases of wrongdoing -- faced a difficult decision: Should they place other compelling cases on the back burner and go after a mortgage fraud case?

Party: Democrat Occupation: District attorney, city and county of San Francisco Age: 46 on Wednesday, born in Oakland Residence: San Francisco Personal: Single Education: Bachelor's degree, Howard University, 1986; JD, Hastings College of the Law, University of California, 1990 Career Highlights: district attorney, city and county of San Francisco, 2004 to present; chief, Community and...

The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee introduced legislation to give borrowers more protection from high-cost and predatory mortgage loans. The bill sponsored by Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) would give victims of mortgage fraud the right to sue lenders, brokers and investors for losses they incur for failed loans. The legislation would hold lenders responsible for flawed loans and appraisers responsible for improperly weighing the value of a property.

Lending units of Countrywide Financial Corp., Washington Mutual Inc. and General Electric Co. were bilked of more than $15 million by an alleged mortgage fraud ring in South Florida, according to a federal indictment unsealed in Miami on Monday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., bracing for higher legal costs, set aside an additional $684 million in the third quarter for litigation expenses. Jamie Dimon, the bank's chairman and chief executive, declined to specify what led the bank to up its litigation reserves. "Obviously we're in a litigious society," Dimon said in a conference call with reporters Friday morning. “We've got a lot of mortgage suits coming, and others. " "We expect some litigation expenses going forward but hopefully it'll come down over time," he added.

Consumers seeking home loans need to be vigilant against scam artists, especially now that U.S. banks are tightening lending standards for nontraditional and sub-prime home mortgages, making loans harder to come by. The FBI recommends the following to avoid mortgage fraud: * Get referrals for mortgage professionals, and check their licenses with state, county or city regulatory agencies. * Be wary of unsolicited contacts and high-pressure sales techniques.

Here is a roundup of alleged cons, frauds and schemes to watch out for. Hurricane Sandy -- The Justice Department and FBI are warning consumers to be careful when making donations intended to help victims of Sandy. Here are some other tips: --Do not  respond to spam emails or click on any links in the emails and instead seek out reputable organizations on their websites. Most reputable charities have websites that end with “.org” instead of “.com.” --Do not respond to high-pressure solicitations; reputable organizations do not use coercive tactics.

A simple scam aimed at hijacking just one or two mortgage payments from unwary homeowners is making the rounds once again. The scheme works like this: Con artists send letters telling borrowers that they should begin sending their payments to a fictitious company that has assumed the management of their loans. By the time borrowers who fall for the fake transfer find out they've been had, they're out one or possibly two payments. That's not much in the greater scheme of things.