By News Desk, on April 30th, 2013 The FDIC filed suit yesterday against 10 directors and officers of Champion Bank alleging “negligence, gross negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty in the underwriting, recommendation, and approval of seven high-risk out-of-territory commercial real estate (“CRE”) loan participations and two business lines of credit (collectively, the “Loss Transactions”), resulting in damages of at least $15.56 million,” according to court documents filed.
4:13-cv-00816 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as Receiver for Champion Bank et al v. DiMaria et al –
Defendants:
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By News Desk, on March 12th, 2013 Attorney General Chris Koster today filed a lawsuit against two related businesses that purported to provide loan modification and mortgage relief to desperate homeowners. Koster’s suit is against Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, LLC and Mortgage Law Group, LLC, as well as the companies’ managing partner, Jason Edward Searns; senior partner, Thomas Macey; and senior partner, Jeffery Aleman. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on November 20th, 2012 Jefferson City, Mo. – Attorney General Chris Koster today announced that the state of Missouri and Lorraine Brown, former President of DocX, LLC, have reached a plea agreement. Under the agreement, Ms. Brown will plead guilty to one felony count of forgery, one felony count of perjury, and one misdemeanor count of making a false declaration. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on September 27th, 2012 Yesterday, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster filed three separate lawsuits against individuals and their companies for misleading Missouri consumers in connection with mortgage-modification services. The lawsuits were filed against Colleen Kelly, a Missouri resident operating Heartland Loss Mitigation, LLC,; Eric Mader, a Florida attorney operating Mader Law Group, LLC, a Florida company; and Jim Caplan, a Florida attorney operating CAPLAW, P.A., a Florida company. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on June 27th, 2012 The percentage of first-lien mortgages that were current and performing at the end of the first quarter of 2012 increased to the highest levels in three years, according to a report published today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on June 4th, 2012 Trulia today released the latest findings from the Trulia Price Monitor and the Trulia Rent Monitor, the earliest leading indicators available of trends in home prices and rents. Based on the for-sale homes and rentalslisted on Trulia, these monitors take into account changes in the mix of listed homes and reflect trends in prices and rents for similar homes in similar neighborhoods through May 31, 2012. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on May 27th, 2012 Rents Rise in Three-Quarters of Markets, According to April Zillow Real Estate Market Reports National home values rose for the second month in a row, climbing 0.7 percent from March to a Zillow Home Value Index of $147,300. This is the largest monthly increase in home values since January 2006, when they rose 0.8 percent, according to the April Zillow® Real Estate Market Reports. Rents also rose from March to April, increasing 1.6 percent, according to the Zillow Rent Index. Rents rose in 78 percent of the 178 markets covered by Zillow. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on May 25th, 2012 But Negative Equity is a Paper Loss for Most, As 90% of Underwater Homeowners Pay Mortgage on Time Nearly one-third (31.4 percent) of U.S. homeowners with mortgages – or 15.7 million – were underwater on their mortgage in the first quarter of 2012, despite rising home values, according to the first quarter Zillow® Negative Equity Report[1]. Collectively, underwater homeowners owed $1.2 trillion more than their homes were worth. Negative equity rose slightly from 31.1 percent in the fourth quarter, and declined from 32.4 percent one year ago. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on April 17th, 2012 For the second month in a row, home prices have risen higher than a year ago. Median prices in March were an impressive 5.8% higher than March 2011 in the 53 metro areas surveyed for the RE/MAX National Housing Report. February marked the first time in 18 months that home prices rose higher than the previous year, and year-to-year price increases haven’t occurred in two consecutive months since August 2010. Home sales in March were 25.4% higher than February and 1.5% higher than March last year. For the last 9 months, sales have reached a level higher than the same month in the previous year. Following these trends, the spring and summer months should experience increased activity. With falling inventory and many markets witnessing multiple offers with bidding competitions, prices are likely to continue to rise in many areas. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on April 2nd, 2012 Attitudes About Homeownership as an Investment, Financial Constraints, and Mortgage Accessibility May Stand in the Way of Americans’ Purchase Decisions
Fannie Mae’s latest quarterly National Housing Survey focuses on the state of homeownership aspirations among Americans across all demographic groups. The survey finds that despite the recent housing crisis, most Americans continue to believe that owning their home is preferable to renting it. The data also indicate that while financial constraints and employment concerns may may be keeping potential homebuyers on the sidelines in the near term, future improvements in employment and personal finances, a pickup in interest rates Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on March 12th, 2012 The Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and 49 state attorneys general announced today the filing of their landmark $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on January 24th, 2012 Based on what we’ve heard, the settlement between major banks and states’ Attorneys General (AGs), the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Justice would represent an important step forward in addressing foreclosure abuses. The settlement would include key reforms to clean up unfair mortgage servicing practices. It would also provide an important template for ways banks can use principal reduction to reduce unnecessary foreclosures and put the country back on a path to economic recovery. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on November 26th, 2011 ST. LOUIS, MO—The United States Attorney’s Office announced the guilty plea of Matthew Kent, vice president and co-operator of Coral Mortgage Bankers Corporation’s University City office. According to court documents, between May 2007 and December 31, 2010, Kent, his partner in Coral Mortgage David Rubin, and Joshua Gould, formerly of Woodbury Financial, embezzled approximately $1,500,000 from a retired individual solicited by Rubin to provide funds for operating capital for Coral’s St. Louis operations. The individual was assured that the funds would not be spent, would be held in a secure trust account, used only as collateral for Coral’s operations, and that the individual would receive regular interest payments. Between May 2007 and December 2008, the client provided Rubin and Kent approximately $1,200,000 from his and his wife’s life savings. Despite Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on November 21st, 2011 WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced that Roger Harris, Hediger Enterprises Inc., Carroll Management Group, Forum Manor Associates L.P. and Forum Manor LLC have agreed to pay $295,000 in monetary damages and civil penalties to resolve a Fair Housing Act lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, race and sex discrimination, retaliation and intimidation at Forum Manor Apartments, a federally-subsidized apartment complex in Rolla, Missouri. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on November 11th, 2011 Candidate positions on housing will be important considerations to nearly seven of 10 Americans (69.6%) in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections, according to a new national survey on housing released today by Move, Inc. This is especially true for Millennials(1) (70.7%), the next generation of homebuyers and the segment expected to play as important a role in the 2012 elections as they did in 2008. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on October 29th, 2011 A Clayton developer pled guilty in U.S. District Court on October 27, 2011, for his role in the failed Bowman Estates construction project, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Harold Rosen, age 80, was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 21, 2011, for attempting to obtain more than $1.9 million of public financing under false pretenses. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on July 15th, 2011 KANSAS CITY, MO—Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former real estate agent and a former loan officer are among five co-defendants who have pleaded guilty in federal court to their roles in an $11 million mortgage fraud scheme that involved upscale homes in Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, Liberty, Parkville, and elsewhere.
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By News Desk, on May 25th, 2011
Should you talk to you mortgage professional before house hunting?
Absolutely!
Even if you haven’t so much as selected a Realtor®, it’s important to talk with your mortgage professional first. Why?
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By News Desk, on April 19th, 2011 Lee Bentley Farkas, the former chairman of a private mortgage lending company, Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW), was convicted today for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank, one of the 25 largest banks in the United States in 2009, and TBW, one of the largest privately held mortgage lending companies in the United States in 2009.
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By News Desk, on February 5th, 2011 A federal grand jury indicted a Brookwood man yesterday on wire fraud and false statement charges related to a more than $1 million mortgage fraud scheme in the Birmingham area, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
A 34-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges SCOTT ERIC PERRY, 34, with 17 counts of wire fraud and 17 counts of making false statements to lending institutions in connection to real estate transactions between February and December, 2006.
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By News Desk, on December 27th, 2010 The Justice Department today announced a $1.25 million agreement with Warren Properties Inc., Warren Village (Mobile) Limited Partnership and Frank R. Warren to settle allegations that the defendants violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to grant a tenant’s requests for a reasonable accommodation. This settlement is the largest ever obtained by the department in an individual housing discrimination case.
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By News Desk, on December 10th, 2010
A former residential sales manager at a Florida property management company pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with housing repair contracts for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Justice announced this week.
Benjamin K. Graves, formerly a residential sales manager at West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Orlando, Fla., to wire fraud. According to the one-count felony charge filed on Nov. 12, 2010, in the Middle District of Florida, Ocwen managed foreclosed properties under contract with the VA, which guaranteed qualifying residential mortgages for Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on December 9th, 2010 Settlement Provides $2 Million to African-American Borrowers Who Paid Higher Interest Rates
PrimeLending, a national mortgage lender with 168 offices in 32 states at the end of 2009, has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American borrowers between 2006 and 2009.
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By News Desk, on November 29th, 2010 Homeowners will be protected by a new Federal Trade Commission rule that bans providers of mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification services from collecting fees until homeowners have a written offer from their lender or servicer that they decide is acceptable.
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By News Desk, on November 18th, 2010 The “robo-signing” scandal that has exposed illegal practices by servicers of mortgage loans has also showed the urgent need to reform a broken system that is plagued with abuses, lacks adequate resources and has pushed countless homeowners toward foreclosure.
That’s the message that Diane Thompson, a lawyer for the National Consumer Law Center, delivered in testimony earlier this week to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
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By News Desk, on November 10th, 2010 Percentage of Homeowners Underwater Reaches New Peak; Length and Depth of Housing Downturn Approach Depression-Era Declines According to Zillow® Real Estate Market Reports for 3rd Quarter 2010…
The United States housing market continued its long decline in the third quarter with home values falling for the 17th consecutive quarter, according to Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. With home values 25 percent below their June 2006 peak, the current housing downturn is approaching Great Depression-era declines, when home values fell 25.9 percent in five years.
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By News Desk, on November 8th, 2010 The National Association of Realtors® announced that it “strongly supports” the proposed guidance from the Federal Housing Finance Agency to prevent government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks from investing in mortgages encumbered by private transfer fee covenants.
In a letter sent to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), NAR reiterated its opposition to these covenants, which developers often attach to a property to require payment of fees back to that developer each time the property is resold. These covenanted mandates are often extremely difficult to reverse once in place, and in many Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on November 4th, 2010 Five questions every potential buyer should ask when deciding whether to rent or buy a home
First time homebuyers have a lot to consider this summer when making the decision to rent or buy a home: interest rates are at all-time lows, there’s still plenty of housing stock and prices are at or near their lowest in years. Still, deciding whether to buy a home or rent an apartment can be a complicated decision. How do you know what’s right for you? Potential buyers should ask themselves several key questions before making this important decision.
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By News Desk, on October 24th, 2010
The Justice Department announced this week that a Munster, Ind., condominium association and its three member board of directors have agreed to pay $120,000 to resolve allegations that they refused to approve the sale of a condominium to an African-American couple because of their race and because they had children. The settlement must still be approved by U.S. Senior District Judge Philip P. Simon.
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By News Desk, on September 28th, 2010 Surviving Spouses and Wounded Warriors Eligible for Special Forbearance
At an event yesterday at the Pentagon, Fannie Mae and the U.S. Army announced new initiatives to help service members who are struggling with their mortgage payments avoid foreclosure. The effort includes a mortgage payment forbearance of up to six months where the death or injury of a service member on active duty causes a hardship for impacted military families with a mortgage obligation.
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