Tag Archives: Fraud

Four suspects were arrested and charged with securities fraud, conspiracy and elder abuse for their roles in a Ponzi scheme that cost investors $2.3 million, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced Friday in a release.

Federal agents arrested 10 defendants who worked at a Rancho Cucamonga, California-based business accused of offering false loan modification programs to homeowners, SIGTARP announced Wednesday. Those taken into custody are among 11 defendants named in a federal indictment over a mortgage fraud scheme that allegedly cost distressed homeowners more than $7 million.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) froze the assets of a San Diego-based firm and its owner over accusations of real estate fraud.

Delinquent borrowers oftentimes make themselves as elusive and unavailable as possible when it comes to communicating with their servicers. During a panel at the Five Star Conference, industry experts discussed the reasons behind the difficulty in reaching borrowers. Colleen Hernandez, CEO and president of the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, explained three main reasons why borrowers won't respond or reach out to their servicer.

While fraud in the financial services sector declined year-over-year from April through June, mortgage fraud increased, according to the latest report from Experian, a global information services company based in London. Thirty-nine out of every 10,000 mortgage applications were fraudulent during the April to June period, up from 32 out of 10,000 in the same period last year, according to Experian. Twenty-four percent of all attempted mortgage fraud cases were the result of individuals misrepresenting their credit by hiding certain information.

California attorney general Kamala Harris announced Thursday that the final parts of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights have passed out of both houses and are awaiting action from the governor. Harris said the entirety of the Homeowner Bill of Rights stems from need to help homeowners and implement the sorts of reform that were outlined in the national mortgage settlement. Once signed into law, all aspects of the legislative package will take effect at the start of 2013.

Wells Fargo announced it has made progress in meeting requirements to offer homeonwers relief as outlines by the national mortgage servicing settlement. The company stated in a release that it has helped more than 27,000 homeowners under the settlement terms, and it estimates it has fulfilled about 35 percent of its $4.3 billion consumer relief and refinance commitment.

California governor Edmund G. Brown signed into law a bill to help combat neighborhood blight, state attorney general Kamala Harris announced Monday. The bill-AB 2314-gives new homeowners additional time to fix any code violations in a home before local agencies move in to enforce the codes. It also extends indefinitely an existing provision that requires the owner of a foreclosed property to maintain the property.

A Virginia developer pled guilty Friday for his role in a massive bank fraud scheme that contributed to the collapse of Bank of the Commonwealth, officials announced Monday. Thomas E. Arney, 56, of Chesapeake, Virginia pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, unlawful monetary transactions, and making false statements, according to the statement.

The Nevada Legislature's Interim Finance Committee passed an $11.7 million proposal to address mortgage fraud and the state's foreclosure crisis, attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto announced Friday. The proposal outlines the first part of a three-year, estimated $33.5 million dollar program that uses part of Nevada's share of the national mortgage settlement to help struggling homeowners.