Here’s a good news for our readers. We are going to host the first edition of the "Carnival of Home Improvement" on March 06, 2007. We require interesting blog posts on real estate, mortgage, property, home improvement and other related issues. Feel free to submit your entries through the Blog Carnival Page.
– Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer
Frauds do pay, but only until the law catches up with you; then you’ll have to pay the price for all the misdemeanors you committed. Husband and wife, Anna and Mark Bonds of St. Louis County, have been indicted on multiple charges of mortgage fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Anna has been accused of using her position as a mortgage broker for the firms of A Mortgage Solutions and C.D. Adams, to falsify documents and information about her clients in order to secure mortgages for them — the catch here being the fat commissions she pocketed from the deals. She also allegedly bought and sold personal property with loans brokered using false financial and employment data.
If convicted, each mortgage fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and/or fines up to $1 million; the conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years and/or fines up to $250,000.
– Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer
Consumer protection from fraudulent lending practices just got a boost with a new bill that proposes that loan officers, mortgage brokers and retail lenders not lend clients more than they can afford to pay back or more than their house is worth. Advocated and promoted by Rep. Barney Frank, the new chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, the bill will receive top priority to enable it to become a law that regulates lending standards across the country. The House Financial Services Committee is the primary originator of banking and mortgage-related federal legislation.
Consumers not well-versed with the way the mortgage industry works usually borrow beyond their means and end up deep in debt. One of five sub-prime borrowers who opted for reduced-payment, low-documentation mortgages between 1998 and 2006 are in danger of losing the roof over their heads because of sharp increases in payment and penalties, according to a survey by the Center for Responsible Lending.
What does the mortgage industry think of this proposed law? Steve O’Connor, senior vice president for the Mortgage Bankers’ Association, feels that a federally imposed suitability standard would be “vague and subjective,” and not allow the borrower to be in control of the transaction. Roy DeLoach, executive vice president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, echoes O’Connor’s sentiments and adds that a suitability test “could lead to accusations of discrimination.”