Demandan compañia de modificación de hipotecas en Orlando, FL

Attorney General Bill McCollum

May 8, 2009
Media Contact: Jennifer Krell Davis
Phone: (850) 245-0150

Procurador General demanda a compañía de modificación de préstamos de Orlando por fraude en ejecuciones hipotecarias

TALLAHASSEE (FL) – El Procurador General, Bill McCollum, anunció hoy que su oficina ha iniciado una demanda contra una compañía de modificación de préstamos de Orlando en la que sostiene que la compañía estaba cometiendo fraude en rescates de ejecuciones hipotecarias. La demanda iniciada hoy en el Tribunal de Circuito del condado de Seminole menciona a la compañía Three Angels Community Action Network y a su presidente, Sherrard A. Haugabrooks. En ella se afirma, específicamente, que se cometieron violaciones a la Ley 501.1377 de Florida sobre Rescates de Ejecuciones Hipotecarias.

Los miembros de la División de Delitos Económicos del Procurador General, que integran la Fuerza Especial contra el Fraude Hipotecario del Procurador General, comenzaron a investigar a Three Angels Community Action Network en febrero de 2009. Supuestamente, la compañía, antes de brindar los servicios de modificación del préstamo, cobraba a los propietarios un anticipo que equivalía, por lo general, al pago mensual de la hipoteca. La demanda establece, además, que los contratos de la compañía con sus clientes no contenían la debida información sobre las disposiciones contractuales que exige la Ley de Rescate de Ejecuciones Hipotecarias de Florida, prioridad legislativa del Procurador General en 2008.

Continuar leyendo aquí:
http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/CEEA8535C3924E9D852575B0005E7D7B?Open&LN=SP

Countrywide CEO debe responder ante demanda presentada por Procurador General de FL

Attorney General Bill McCollum News Release

April 30, 2009
Media Contact: Jennifer Krell Davis
Phone: (850) 245-0150

McCollum: ex CEO y presidente del directorio de Countrywide debe someterse a juicio en Florida

TALLAHASSEE (FL) – El Procurador General, Bill McCollum, anunció hoy que su oficina obtuvo una orden del tribunal federal que devuelve la demanda del Procurador General contra el ex CEO y presidente del directorio de Countrywide, Angelo R. Mozilo, al Tribunal de Circuito del condado de Broward. La demanda, presentada en el mes de junio pasado, se refiere a prácticas comerciales desleales relacionadas con la supuesta práctica de Countrywide de ubicar a los consumidores en préstamos que no podían pagar o que tenían tazas falsas o confusas. En la demanda se nombró a Mozilo como acusado.

“Angelo Mozilo debe, sin lugar a dudas, presentarse frente al tribunal de Florida y ante sus ciudadanos para responder por sus prácticas comerciales, en especial por las que afectaron a los dueños de viviendas de Florida”, dijo el Procurador General McCollum. “Me complace que el Tribunal Federal enviara la causa de regreso a nuestro tribunal estatal. Mi oficina continuará procesando la causa contra el Sr. Mozilo de manera enérgica".

Continuar leyendo aqui: http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/B5AA6258BE341A9E852575A8006977FF?Open&LN=SP

Noticias sobre hipotecas y fraudes hipotecarios del Procurador General de Florida 2008-2009

Noticias del Procurador General de la Florida publicadas entre Mayo 2008 y Abril 2009, en relación a fraudes hipotecarios:

Abril 3, 2009: Acuerdo en caso de fraude hipotecario en Orlando
Abril 3, 2009: Procurador General demanda a compañía de Jacksonville por fraude en rescate de ejecuciones hipotecarias
Abril 3, 2009: McCollum obtiene medida cautelar contra una compañía de modificación de préstamos del sur de Florida
Marzo 27, 2009: Medida cautelar temporaria obtenida en juicio por fraude en rescate de ejecuciones hipotecarias
Marzo 26, 2009: Tribunal accede a pedido de orden de emergencia para frenar cobro de anticipos de compañía de rescate de ejecuciones hipotecarias en Florida central
Marzo 26, 2009: Procurador General apela a la cooperación para abordar el fraude hipotecario en el estado

Florida crea el "Task Force on Residential Mortgage Cases"

La corte suprema de la Florida presentó hoy una orden administrativa en la cual informa sobre la creación de Task Force on Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Cases.

La orden puede ser vista en este link.

Wall Street Journal: Culpe a la televisión for la burbuja inmobiliaria

Blame Television for the Bubble

Opinion JANUARY 3 2009

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By JIM SOLLISC

The real housing villain is on cable.

So now we know what happens when too many people who have too few assets buy too much house with the help of too many risky mortgage products and too little oversight. And while there's plenty of blame to go around -- unethical mortgage brokers, greedy bankers and irresponsible homeowners -- one culprit continues to get off scot-free: HGTV.



That's right. The cable network HGTV is the real villain of the economic meltdown. As the viewership reached a critical mass over the past decade -- HGTV is now broadcast into 91 million homes -- homeowners began experiencing deep angst. Suddenly no one but the most slovenly and unambitious were satisfied with their houses. It didn't matter if you lived in an apartment or a gated community, one episode of "House Hunters" or "What's My House Worth?" and you were convinced you needed more. More square feet. More granite. More stainless steel appliances. More landscaping. More media rooms. More style. You deserved it.


If you had any doubts about your ability to afford such luxuries, all you had to do was look at the 20-something couple in the latest episode choosing between three houses. Should they go for the fixer-upper, priced at $425,000? Or the one with the pool for $550,000? What about the one with room to grow for $675,000?

Continuar leyendo aquí: 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123094453377450603.html?mod=todays_us_opinion#printMode

El escandalo MERS expuesto y explicado

MERS Scandal Exposed and Explained

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Neil Garfield


Kevin Lamson Said,


So can anyone guess the name of “organization” that was formed by Countrywide’s, Anthony Mazillo and Fannie Mae’s, James Johnson ten years ago, it start with an M? No not the Mafia. It’s Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. commonly referred to as MERS. Yes that’s right Countrywide and Fannie Mae were the lead organizers of MERS and are shareholders and “members” of MERS.


Here are excerpts from an investigative report on MERS I have been working on for the last several months. This may help shed some much needed light on MERS and the cozy relationships many of its so-called ‘members” have between each other and with our congress. It may also explain why no one in congress has bothered to investigate MERS and it crazy “paperless” system that these greedy mortgage executives invented so they could line their pockets by originating and flipping phony mortgage loans into so-called mortgage backed security trusts and then selling trillions of dollars of bonds to investors around the world. By reporting false profits from these sales Fannie Mae’s and Countrywide’s executives were able to make hundreds of millions of dollars in “bonuses”.


Given the extremely close relationship that MERS, its many corporate members have with the politicians who run our state and federal governments, it is not surprising that MERS and it members were able to pull off this gigantic global financial scheme without raising the brow of a State or Federal law enforcement or regulators. Only now are a few politicians and regulators paying lip service to what they refer to as the “Mortgage Meltdown”. What no politician or regulator ever seems to mention is that a millions of the mortgages that “melted down” have the name Mortgage Electronic Registration System Inc. on them.

Businessweek: Prestamos FHA: el nuevo robo

COVER STORY November 19, 2008, 6:24PM EST
FHA-Backed Loans: The New Subprime

The same people whose reckless practices triggered the global financial crisis are onto a similar scheme that could cost taxpayers tons more.

By Chad Terhune and Robert Berner

“Don’t let the makeover fool you.”

As if they haven't done enough damage. Thousands of subprime mortgage lenders and brokers—many of them the very sorts of firms that helped create the current financial crisis—are going strong. Their new strategy: taking advantage of a long-standing federal program designed to encourage homeownership by insuring mortgages for buyers of modest means.

You read that correctly. Some of the same people who propelled us toward the housing market calamity are now seeking to profit by exploiting billions in federally insured mortgages. Washington, meanwhile, has vastly expanded the availability of such taxpayer-backed loans as part of the emergency campaign to rescue the country's swooning economy.

For generations, these loans, backed by the Federal Housing Administration, have offered working-class families a legitimate means to purchase their own homes. But now there's a severe danger that aggressive lenders and brokers schooled in the rash ways of the subprime industry will overwhelm the FHA with loans for people unlikely to make their payments. Exacerbating matters, FHA officials seem oblivious to what's happening—or incapable of stopping it. They're giving mortgage firms licenses to dole out 100%-insured loans despite lender records blotted by state sanctions, bankruptcy filings, civil lawsuits, and even criminal convictions.

Bloomber Businessweek: La Administración Bush y la industria financiera frustaron advertencias de prestamos predatorios

IN DEPTH October 9, 2008, 5:00PM EST

They Warned Us About the Mortgage Crisis.

"It was pure greed, based on exploitation." Frank Jackson, Mayor of Cleveland
Ethan Hill

State whistleblowers tried to curtail greedy lending—and were thwarted by the Bush Administration and the financial industry.

by Robert Berner and Brian Grow

More than five years ago, in April 2003, the attorneys general of two small states traveled to Washington with a stern warning for the nation's top bank regulator. Sitting in the spacious Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, with its panoramic view of the capital, the AGs from North Carolina and Iowa said lenders were pushing increasingly risky mortgages. Their host, John D. Hawke Jr., expressed skepticism.

Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Tom Miller of Iowa headed a committee of state officials concerned about new forms of "predatory" lending. They urged Hawke to give states more latitude to limit exorbitant interest rates and fine-print fees. "People out there are struggling with oppressive loans," Cooper recalls saying.

Roy Cooper, North Carolina AGEthan Hill

Hawke, a veteran banking industry lawyer appointed to head the OCC by President Bill Clinton in 1998, wouldn't budge. He said he would reinforce federal policies that hindered states from reining in lenders. The AGs left the tense hour-long meeting realizing that Washington had become a foe in the nascent fight against reckless real estate finance. The OCC "took 50 sheriffs off the job during the time the mortgage lending industry was becoming the Wild West," Cooper says.

This was but one of many instances of state posses sounding early alarms about the irresponsible lending at the heart of the current financial crisis. Federal officials brushed aside their concerns. The OCC and its sister agency, the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), instead sided with lenders. The beneficiaries ranged from now-defunct subprime factories, such as First Franklin Financial, to a savings and loan owned by Lehman Brothers, the collapsed investment bank.

Washington Post: Eliot Spitzer describe como el gobierno y los bancos son socios criminales

Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime

By Eliot Spitzer
The Washington Post
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers' ability to repay, making loans with deceptive "teaser" rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets.

Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers.

Predatory lending was widely understood to present a looming national crisis. This threat was so clear that as New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. Individually, and together, state attorneys general of both parties brought litigation or entered into settlements with many subprime lenders that were engaged in predatory lending practices. Several state legislatures, including New York's, enacted laws aimed at curbing such practices.

Lo último en fraude hipotecario: el pago "balun"

'Blimp payment': the latest in mortgage fraud?

By Molly Priesmeyer

Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008

Subprime was voted 2007's word of the year by the American Dialect Society. As 2008 opens, other dubious mortgage loans are surfacing, ripe for nicknames.

One such loan has a familiar name — balloon payment. But this latest version could be called a "blimp payment."

A lawsuit filed in December in Hennepin County District Court details the unfortunate case of South Minneapolis homeowner Stanzer Knox, who discovered that refinancing his house in early 2006 saddled him with, in effect, a 40-year mortgage.

Though he thought he had taken out a 30-year $185,000 loan, Knox and lawyer Mark Ireland eventually found in the fine print that he would have to make 10 years' worth of payments all at once at the end of the 30-year term.

Total amount of the blimp payment? $121,062.58.

Such details of the loan emerged after Knox fell behind on his mortgage payments and was threatened with foreclosure proceedings in May 2007, Ireland says. Knox's lawsuit claims that Homestead Mortgage Co., an Arden Hills-based business described as "inactive," violated a number of provisions in the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, among other statutes. The current loan holder, a Delaware company called Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS), did not return MinnPost's calls for comment.

Continuar leyendo aquí: http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/01/16/584/blimp_payment_the_latest_in_mortgage_fraud


Documentación completa de la demanda de Stanzer Knox aquí: 
http://www.hppinc.org/_uls/resources/Knox_Amended_Complaint.pdf

FTC: Cómo Proceder si su Prestador Hipotecario Cesa sus Operaciones o se Declara en Bancarrota

Información de la FTC para Consumidores

Cuando una compañía de préstamos hipotecarios deja de operar o cuando se declara en bancarrota, es muy probable que sus clientes se pregunten cuál será el impacto en sus propios préstamos. La Comisión Federal de Comercio, (Federal Trade Commission, FTC) dice que en estos casos los consumidores deben continuar pagando las cuotas de sus hipotecas como siempre. La agencia nacional de protección del consumidor tiene varias recomendaciones aplicables a diversas situaciones para ejemplificar qué es lo que deben saber los consumidores en el mercado hipotecario actual:

Si su prestador se declara en bancarrota después de haberle otorgado el préstamo: Con frecuencia, tanto los préstamos como los derechos de administrarlos se compran y se venden. Un administrador de hipotecas se encarga de cobrar los pagos mensuales de su hipoteca, acredita los pagos a su cuenta y, en caso de que usted haya establecido una cuenta escrow o de plica, también se ocupa de administrarla. Si su hipoteca está administrada por una compañía que no está relacionada con su prestador original — y la entidad de préstamo original que le otorgó el préstamo deja de operar — continúe pagándole sus cuotas al administrador de su hipoteca en las fechas establecidas.

Si el administrador de su hipoteca se declara en bancarrota o deja de operar: Es muy probable que un administrador de hipotecas que se declare en bancarrota le venda sus activos y transfiera la administración de su préstamo a otra institución financiera bajo la supervisión de una corte de quiebras. También es probable que un administrador de hipotecas que simplemente cierre y cese sus operaciones, le transfiera la administración de su préstamo a otra compañía.

Herald-Tribune: Debaten sobre posible comienzo de una recesión

Whether incomes are dipping is at core of recession debate

Published: Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 3:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 4:18 a.m.

Herald-Tribune.com

Hank Fishkind's Orlando-based economic research firm predicted in October 2006 that personal incomes in Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties would drop 17 percent in 2007 and would not climb back to 2006 levels until well past 2010.

When called by the Herald-Tribune, one of Fishkind's associates said the numbers, which had been available on the firm's Web site for a year, were wrong and fresh statistics would be out shortly.

Despite the fact that the economy has taken a turn for the worse, Fishkind & Associates came back with numbers that show personal income rising 2.5 percent to $32.6 billion in 2007, and continuing to rise at an accelerated pace through the end of the decade.

Fishkind defended the new figures last week, saying that tourism and other sectors of the economy are making up for the declines in anything related to home building.

"We still have positive job growth," Fishkind said.

Continuar leyendo aquí:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071111/REALESTATE/711110353?p=all&tc=pgall&tc=ar

Herald-Tribune: La palabra que empieza con "R"

The "R" word

Published: Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 3:04 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 7:59 a.m.

Herald-Tribune.com

The "R" word is coming up more in conversations across Southwest Florida.

If you are a beach bistro selling margaritas to tourists, you might not notice. But on the mainland, it feels and looks like a recession.

The end of the real estate boom has sent ripples through the economy. Cash register receipts are slumping. Many workers -- either laid off or marginalized by cutbacks in hours -- are leaving town or taking lower-paying jobs. Food banks are dishing out free food as fast as they can find it.

Consider these factors:

Taxable sales in the region have declined this year, the first time that has happened since 9/11 and the most serious decline in 20 years. In July, sales were down 10 percent.

Bank deposits dropped 8.5 percent in the region during the year ended June 30.

Housing permits in the region are down more than 70 percent from 2005's peak. Many builders have laid off three-quarters of their work force as a like amount of business has vanished.

Unemployment in the region has surpassed the state average for the first time that anyone can remember, rising to nearly 6 percent in Charlotte County. Builders estimate that 70 percent of their work force is undocumented workers, so the unemployment figures likely underestimate the true joblessness.

Continuar leyendo aquí:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071111/REALESTATE/711110404?p=all&tc=pgall

Para Su Difusión: 11 de septiembre de 2007

La FTC Advierte a Anunciantes de Hipotecas y a Medios de Comunicación que sus Anuncios Podrían Ser Engañosos

Resultados de una exploración realizada para identificar publicidades engañosas de hipotecas

La Comisión Federal de Comercio (Federal Trade Commission, FTC) ha enviado cartas a más de 200 anunciantes y a varios medios de comunicación advirtiéndoles que sus anuncios de hipotecas para viviendas son posiblemente engañosos o que se encuentran en violación de lo dispuesto por la ley Truth in Lending Act. Los anuncios fueron identificados durante un proyecto orientado a recolectar y analizar los anuncios publicitarios de hipotecas para detectar anuncios con declaraciones cuestionables. El proyecto se inició con una exploración de los anuncios de periódicos, revistas, correo directo e Internet e incluyó anuncios difundidos en todo el país en inglés y en español durante el mes de junio.

La Directora del Buró de Protección del Consumidor de la FTC Lydia Parnes dijo al respecto: “Varios anunciantes de hipotecas están haciendo declaraciones publicitarias posiblemente engañosas sobre tasas y cuotas de pago increíblemente bajas sin contarle la historia completa a los consumidores – por ejemplo, omiten informar que esas tasas y cuotas bajas solamente son aplicables por un corto período y que pueden aumentar considerablemente al terminar el período inicial del préstamo. El ‘sueño americano’ es el sueño de la casa propia, pero puede convertirse en una pesadilla para aquellos consumidores que obtengan un préstamo hipotecario sin comprender sus términos. 

Comprender todos los términos y condiciones de un préstamo, incluso de qué forma pueden aumentar las cuotas en los años futuros, es esencial para todos los consumidores, pero lo es particularmente para los consumidores que estén considerando tomar un préstamo hipotecario ‘no-tradicional’”.

GreenPoint Mortgage cierra

Mortgage Companies Going Belly-Up

by M. Anthony Carr

GreenPoint Mortgage Funding is the latest mortgage company to shut its doors this year. Credit card giant CapitalOne, headquartered in the shadow of Washington, D.C., announced the immediate shutdown of GreenPoint, its loan origination subsidiary. Talk about a good idea gone bad -- CapitalOne just bought the company December of last year.

I like the way the CapitalOne press guys write this one up -- that the current market creates "significant near-term profitability challenges." I guess that means, we ain't makin' no money right now.

Note to shareholders: Oops.

One of the latest twists in an already topsy-turvy real estate market for agents and buyers is this -- if a mortgage company owns a lot of property from foreclosures, then where or to whom does a buyer make an offer to purchase such property since the holder of the house no longer exists -- at least in a healthy state.

The short-sale market (better known as pre-foreclosure) is alive and well around the country. But now we have the next challenge on these properties -- buyers in the midst of a transaction with an entity whose status is questionable at best, and totally phased out at worst.

Capital One cierra subsidiario GreenPoint Mortgage

Capital One Shuts Down GreenPoint Mortgage Unit

Mortgage meltdown claims another victim

08/21/2007 | Martin H.Bosworth | ConsumerAffairs.com

The mortgage meltdown has claimed yet another casualty, as Capital One announced it is shuttering its GreenPoint Mortgage wholesale lending unit. GreenPoint will close all 31 of its branches in 19 states, and its headquarters in California, Capital One said.

The McLean, Virginia-based lender also announced it was cutting 1,900 jobs across the board in an effort to cut costs. Capital One had already announced its plans to cut 2,000 jobs earlier in the year.

Capital One bought GreenPoint Mortgage for $13.2 billion in 2006, at the tail end of a five-year housing boom that saw record home prices and loans across the country. The closing of the unit will cost Capital One $860 million after taxes, according to the company.

Although Wall Street was expecting better trading today due to positive reports from retailers, the financial markets still showed nervousness in the face of another example of the mortgage meltdown's ripple effect across the global economy.

Lenders who specialized in "creative" and "nonconforming" loans with higher interest rates and steep payment increases have been downsizing or declaring bankruptcy in droves, leading to a global "credit crunch" as the markets pull back from lending and consumers stop borrowing.

Bloguero culpa a HGTV por la burbuja inmobiliaria

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

I Blame HGTV

I've just finished doing the research and substantive edit of a book designed to help newlyweds through the process of buying a home. The author, a fan of sub-prime mortgages in SOME cases, does ask readers to do some major work before jumping in: make a budget and then stick to it for a few months, instead of just assuming that you will; don't have a mortgage bigger than what you are already paying in rent (providing you're meeting your rent payments without a problem); remember that happiness is not dependent on glass-tiled bathrooms withsoaker tubs, etc. Basically, reminding people to stay sane.


Sanity has been hard to come by in real estate for the last few years. The early adapters to bubble housing prices and the rise of HGTV made a fortune. Soon, everyone felt that they should be in on it. If you weren't buying, upgrading, or flipping you were an idiot, doomed to a life as a wage slave. Turn on any one of half a dozen TV channels and you could watch 22 year old waiters and 40 something housewives leverage the finances to buy a wreck and then, a few setbacks and many visits to Home Depot later, reveal the newly gleaming home and their expected profit margin--usually about as much as most people make in a year or two.


Continua aquí: http://awedacity.blogspot.com/2007/08/i-blame-hgtv.html

Cierra GreenPoint Mortgage, compañia de préstamos hipotecarios

Greenpoint Mortgage Closed

Colin Robertson August 20, 2007 Comments Off

Greenpoint Mortgage was shut down today by parent Capital One Financial Corp., who said weak demand for residential home loans forced the company to shut the ailing mortgage lender. Capital One announced that it would cease loan origination operations at Greenpoint Mortgage immediately, and according to initial reports, cut roughly 1,900 jobs.

Loans that are already in the pipeline and locked will continue to be processed and should ultimately fund as scheduled.

The news followed similar statements made by the VP of investor relations for Capital One last week, who sparked employee concerns that the company was gearing up to close Greenpoint Mortgage. Greenpoint Mortgage headquarters in Novato, California will be closed, along with 31 other branches in 19 states throughout the United States.

Greenpoint Mortgage specialized in Alt-A loans, offering programs for borrowers with credit scores down to 620, as well as option-arms, second mortgages, jumbo loans, and other high-risk products. But earlier this year Greenpoint narrowed their product offerings significantly, effectively sinking loan volume and forcing the closure of 13 branches and 440 layoffs.

Capital One Closes GreenPoint Mortgage, Idling 1,900

By Joseph N. DiStefano - August 20, 2007 20:22 EDT

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Capital One Financial Corp. shut its GreenPoint Mortgage unit, eliminating 1,900 jobs, and lowered its earnings forecast as the worst U.S. housing slump in 16 years erodes demand for home loans.

Capital One bought GreenPoint less than a year ago in a $13.2 billion deal that was the biggest acquisition to date for Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank. Today, the McLean, Virginia-based bank cut its 2007 earnings forecast to $5 a share from $7.15, triggering charges of about $860 million, or $2.15 per share, mostly during this year.

"They said, 'Let's just cut our losses now and get out," said Thomas Brown, chief executive officer at Second Curve Capital LLC in New York, which owned 1 million shares of Capital One on June 30. "The company had been getting a lot of questions about that business."

Capital One acquired GreenPoint's parent, North Fork Bancorp, at the tail end of a five-year boom in home sales. The real estate market nationwide has contracted and investors have shunned mortgage-backed securities since defaults on loans to home buyers with poor credit rose to a record earlier this year. More than 90 mortgage companies have closed operations or sought buyers since the start of 2006, according to Bloomberg data.

Premier Mortgage Funding declara bancarrota

Premier Mortgage Funding files BANKRUPTCY

Notice of Bankruptcy Case Filing

A bankruptcy case concerning the debtor(s) listed below was filed under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, entered on 07/03/2007 at 08:56 AM and filed on 07/03/2007 at 08:56 AM. 

Premier Mortgage Funding, Inc.
3001 Executive Dr., Ste. 330
Clearwater, FL 33762
Tax id: 30-0030026 

The case was filed by the debtor's attorney:
Buddy D. Ford
115 N. MacDill Avenue
Tampa, FL 33609
813-877-4669

The case was assigned case number 8:07-bk-05713-CPM to Judge Catherine Peek McEwen. 

by anonamust July 10, 2007 12:00 AM

NYT: Juego Limpio: Préstamos Hipotecarios, una pesadilla que crece

April 8, 2007

FAIR GAME; Home Loans: A Nightmare Grows Darker

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON

SNAZZY and newfangled mortgage loans, like those with low initial rates of interest or extended terms of 40 or 50 years, helped to drive homeownership rates in the United States from around 64 percent two decades ago to a peak of almost 70 percent in recent years. Called ''affordability loans,'' these new kinds of mortgages have gone mostly to first-time home buyers and borrowers with tarnished credit or spotty employment histories.

Now, however, with home foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies soaring, it is becoming clear that the innovative loans that lenders championed -- in what the industry called the ''democratization of credit'' -- are turning the American dream of homeownership into a nightmare for many borrowers.
Even though these subprime mortgages account for only one-eighth of total mortgages outstanding, they represent 60 percent of foreclosures, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization in Durham, N.C. This is not surprising, since the features common to subprime mortgages actually increase the risk of foreclosure, mortgage experts say.

''The subprime market should be an additional and welcome opening of the credit markets for borrowers who have previously been shut out,'' said Michael D. Calhoun, president of the center. ''But it has been allowed and even encouraged to develop in a way that we think will result in a net loss of homeownership.''

For years, the homeownership rate in the United States ranged from 60 to 65 percent of the total population. But in 1995, President Bill Clinton directed Henry G. Cisneros, then the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to work with the housing industry, nonprofit groups and other government officials to develop the National Homeownership Strategy, ''an unprecedented public-private partnership to increase homeownership to a record-high level over the next six years,'' as described in an Urban Policy Brief in August of that year.

BusinessWeek: Tiburones en la piscina del mercado inmobiliario

SEPTEMBER 5, 2005NEWS: ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY 

Sharks In The Housing Pool

Deed thieves, property flippers, equity strippers -- these con artists are duping banks and homeowners

By most measures, Matthew B. Cox would appear to be a mortgage lender's dream customer. The 36-year-old former Tampa resident had once worked in the mortgage business, so he understood intimately what it took to qualify for a loan. And Cox threw plenty of business at mortgage lenders in Florida, and then Georgia: An aspiring real estate investor, Cox took out $3.7 million in mortgages to finance his apparently ever-growing stable of houses.

But in reality, Cox was the industry's worst nightmare. Federal law enforcement officials say that Cox -- a.k.a. Michael Shanahan, David Freeman, and Gerald Cugno -- along with his girlfriend, Rebecca M. Hauck, masterminded a massive mortgage fraud that ensnared at least 10 different lenders, including Bank of America Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc.


Using nearly a dozen stolen identities, the pair forged "deeds of satisfaction" to convince banks that they had paid off loans for -- and thus owned -- homes that, in fact, they were renting from the true owners.

With these fake documents, Cox then persuaded banks to lend him millions beginning in 2002 and into 2004 -- millions he and his girlfriend subsequently absconded with. So brazen was Cox that he left some of the mortgage brokers who closed his loans in Florida a copy of his novel-in-progress, titled The Associates -- little more than a barely fictionalized account of his escapades. Cox and his girlfriend are now on the lam, their faces plastered on wanted posters distributed to bankers, mortgage brokers, and real estate agents. "We want to catch him so we can put him on trial," says David E. Nahmius, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

Compañía de préstamos sospecha de fraude departe de agentes hipotecarios

Mortgage company suspects fraud by Tampa brokers

While workers say they haven't been paid, the Clearwater company's CEO says some loans show signs of fraud.

By MIKE BRASSFIELD, St. Petersburg Times Staff Writer
Published August 5, 2005

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A group of Tampa workers twice recently have picketed outside the headquarters of a Clearwater mortgage financing company, saying they haven't been paid for about two months of work. But the company says its reputation is being unfairly smeared.

"We have done nothing wrong," said Jerry Cugno, CEO of Premier Mortgage Funding.

The Clearwater company and a Tampa mortgage broker are trading accusations of fraud. State regulators say they will investigate.

Tampa mortgage broker Victor Perry says he signed a contract on May 13 to become a branch of Premier, which has about 600 branches nationwide. Perry says he and a dozen employees have been signing customers up for mortgages in 36 states using the Premier name.

When banks or title companies sent the Tampa employees their commissions from the approved loans, the office sent the checks to Premier headquarters. Perry says that Premier was then supposed to pay his employees their commissions, but that the company hasn't been doing that. This prompted the picketing last week.

However, Cugno says he is happy to pay the workers what they are owed. The problem, he says, is that some of the loans show signs of fraud.

Cugno said he has begun paying commissions for some loans, but cannot pay for loans he suspects are fraudulent. "We have to separate the good loans from the bad," he said.