Mortgage Fraud

Even After Foreclosure, Texas Company Pursue Second Mortgages

The Huffington Post | Harry Bradford | Posted 05.30.2012

If there’s any upside to foreclosure it’s the relief that comes with no longer being in debt. But one Texas company seems to be testing even that ...

Going Where No Billionaire Has Gone Before

Carl Gibson | Posted 05.16.2012

Carl Gibson

George Lucas, worth $3.2 billion as of 2011, may have ruined his reputation with his fans by creating Jar Jar Binks, but his latest move may be the finest moment of his career.

Grabbing the Bolt-Cutters With Take Back the Land

Laura Gottesdiener | Posted 05.13.2012

Laura Gottesdiener

The eviction was so shocking that Lennon-Griffin's 72-year-old neighbor ran out of her own home in her pajamas shouting, "This is not America when we are removing people from their homes!" until she was arrested along with six others.

Dan Froomkin

If You Can't Prosecute The Crime, Go For The Cover-Up

HuffingtonPost.com | Dan Froomkin | Posted 04.25.2012

WASHINGTON -- A whistleblower who exposed systemic fraud by Countrywide mortgage lenders called on the Department of Justice on Wednesday to prosecute...

The White House and Mortgage Fraud: So Far It's All Talk, No Action

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 04.19.2012

Richard (RJ) Eskow

The administration's mortgage settlement was always profoundly flawed, but it provided some opportunities for further action -- or we were told it did. But there's very little evidence anybody's acting on these opportunities -- and time is running out.

The White House And Mortgage Fraud: All Talk, No Action

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 04.26.2012

Richard (RJ) Eskow

The Obama Administration worked for months on a deal that would have let America's biggest banks off the hook for a crime wave of runaway mortgage fra...

Aaron Sankin

A Major Setback For Kamala Harris

HuffingtonPost.com | Aaron Sankin | Posted 04.18.2012

For the nearly two years that Kamala Harris has been California's Attorney General, she has made the fight against fraudulent foreclosures her signatu...

Firm President Convicted In 'Brazen' Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Reuters | Posted 04.11.2012

NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - The president of a New York brokerage firm pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy in a $66 million mor...

President Obama Needs to Get Serious About the Financial Crimes Unit

Becky Bond | Posted 04.09.2012

Becky Bond

President Obama needs to give the Department of Justice task force the resources required to launch a serious investigation that will bring about real accountability before the statutes of limitations run out for Wall Street's crimes.

Ex-Exec At Disgraced Mortgage Lender Pleads Guilty To Huge Fraud

AP | MATTHEW BARAKAT | Posted 05.20.2012

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The chief financial officer of what had been one of the nation's largest private mortgage companies pleaded guilty to charges ...

Ryan Grim

Wall Street Task Force Faces Major Challenge

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 02.28.2012

A task force is a fickle thing. With the right leader, a strong staff, a broad mandate and a target population rich with criminal actors, a team of pr...

'Stark Example Of How Certain Lenders Put Profit Ahead Of Responsibility'

AP | Posted 02.26.2012

TROY, Mich. -- Flagstar Bancorp Inc. has agreed to pay $133 million to settle claims its mortgage unit engaged in fraudulent lending practices. The U...

Foreclosure Audit Reveals Pervasive Irregularities

Phil Ting | Posted 04.24.2012

Phil Ting

Moving forward, it is clear that our laws and regulations need to be adapted to the new era in which mortgages are rapidly resold, split up and "securitized" to the point where it is actually hard to know who owns a home.

Banks Take It Easy, While Miami Struggles Against Foreclosures

Jose Suarez | Posted 04.22.2012

Jose Suarez

The big banks recently agreed to pay $25 billion to the victims of foreclosure abuse. Yes, $25 billion might sound quite impressive. But here in Miami, the virtual "ground zero" of the foreclosure crisis, we're wary.

Loren Berlin

Mortgage Fraud: Local Officials Step Up To Uncover Document Fraud

HuffingtonPost.com | Loren Berlin | Posted 02.18.2012

In the absence of state and federal research about how the nation's largest mortgage companies are forging mortgage documents and wrongfully foreclosi...

Ben Hallman

Banks Winning On Government Handouts, Guess Who's Losing?

HuffingtonPost.com | Ben Hallman | Posted 03.16.2012

If there was any doubt about whether it is better financially to be a big bank or a small housing counseling nonprofit, consider how both are faring i...

How One Official's Big Bet Paid Off

The New York Times | SHAILA DEWAN | Posted 02.14.2012

LOS ANGELES -- Kamala D. Harris, the attorney general of California, could have derailed a nationwide settlement with big banks over home foreclosure ...

On the Mortgage Settlement: There Is No Political Solution to a Math Problem

Dylan Ratigan | Posted 04.11.2012

Dylan Ratigan

We need to look at our banking and housing system and engage in a ruthless yet compassionate evaluation of whether it is working to solve our national needs. Serious thinkers in both parties recognize that it isn't.

Catherine New

Who Does And Does Not Qualify For A Piece Of The $25 Billion Mortgage Settlement

HuffingtonPost.com | Catherine New | Posted 02.09.2012

The government's $25 billion settlement with five of the nation's largest banks could help up to one million homeowners. About $21.5 billion is earmar...

Loren Berlin

Holdout States Massachusetts, New York, California, Delaware Reveal Their Share Of Foreclosure Deal

HuffingtonPost.com | Loren Berlin | Posted 02.09.2012

The five states that most actively resisted a settlement with banks over charges of widespread mortgage fraud announced their cut of the nationwide de...

Robo-Signing Bank Settlement Is a Criminal Sell Out

Dennis M. Kelleher | Posted 04.10.2012

Dennis M. Kelleher

The banks engaged in a years' long pattern of what can only be described as fraudulent if not criminal conduct that would put anyone else in prison for years if not decades, yet banks get to buy off the cops with some money to help just a few of the victims they created.

The Long War

Mike Lux | Posted 04.10.2012

Mike Lux

We'll win some but we'll lose some, and some of the time we will do both at the same time. That is the story of the robo-signing settlement that has finally become a done deal after many long months of struggle over it.

Loren Berlin

Banks Fear Mortgage Settlement Doesn't Protect Against Future Fraud Charges

HuffingtonPost.com | Loren Berlin | Posted 02.07.2012

Executives at some of the nation's largest banks could be slowing down the national settlement over allegations of widespread mortgage fraud, concerne...

Showdown for the Banks, Showtime for Obama

Robert Kuttner | Posted 04.06.2012

Robert Kuttner

If the mortgage settlement turns out to be the final installment of relief for homeowners, it will be a colossal failure, both as economics and as justice.

Loren Berlin

New York AG Takes A Strike At Major U.S. Banks

HuffingtonPost.com | Loren Berlin | Posted 04.04.2012

Three big banks were hit on Friday with yet another lawsuit related to wrongful foreclosures. Democratic New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman f...