Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced the arrests of Sacramento attorneys that took thousands of dollars in up-front loan modification fees for services that were never performed for homeowners, many of whom ended up losing their homes. Attorneys Gregory Flahive of El Dorado Hills, 39, Cynthia Flahive of Folsom, 41, and Mike Johnson of [...]
I wrote a blog about the Nigerian scam sometime ago. I’m repeating this warning from the FBI since I know someone who fell for this scheme. The person would not tell me how much he lost, and he was somewhat sheepish about it. So anyhow, here goes, hopefully it will prevent someone from going off [...]
SACRAMENTO, CA—A real estate investor pleaded guilty today in United States District Court in Sacramento to conspiring to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in San Joaquin County, Calif ., Sharis A Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, and Benjamin B Wagner, [...]
5 Tips to Avoid Being Scammed Don’t pay up-front fees. Foreclosure consultants are prohibited by law from collecting money before services are performed. Don’t ignore letters from your lender or loan servicer. Responding to those letters is your best bet for saving your house. Don’t transfer title or sell your house to a “foreclosure rescuer.” [...]
December 7, 2011 LOS ANGELES— Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the arrests of two Southern California men who, under the guise of an attorney-backed loan modification company, collected more than $6 million from homeowners nationwide for services that were never performed. Christopher Fox, 37, of Laguna Niguel and Curtis Melone (AKA Curtis Kubat), [...]
About $10 billion in originated loans last year contained fraudulent information, according to CoreLogic. “The current and continuing depressed housing market will likely remain an attractive environment for mortgage fraud perpetrators who will continue to seek new methods to circumvent loopholes and gaps in the mortgage lending market,” said a new report from the Federal [...]
Lenders are losing out on thousands of dollars–sometimes within just mere hours–due to short sale fraud, which is skyrocketing and plaguing the housing market, investigators say. In one of the most common short sale scams, an investor submits a low offer on a home that is underwater, in which the borrower owes more on [...]
The United States has filed a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against Deutsche Bank AG and its wholly owned subsidiary, MortgageIT Inc. The government’s complaint seeks damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act for repeated false certifications made to the U.S. According to the government’s complaint filed May 3, 2011 in Manhattan federal court: [...]
According to the Chicago Tribune “A Michigan man who defrauded real estate developers and churches of more than $2.7 million while presenting himself as a priest associated with the University of Notre Dame has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. Byron “Father Barney” Canada, 62, of Berrien Springs, Mich., was sentenced Thursday in federal [...]
Investors have filed a lawsuit against Stewart Title Company and Heritage Oaks Bank (HOB) alleging they aided and abetted or conspired with Hurst Financial Inc. (HFI) in defrauding hundreds of seniors through illegal investment schemes. According to Cal Coast News “The suit filed by more than 300 investors against Stewart Title, HOB, and HFI lists [...]
