Loan Deals: News

LOS ANGELES - Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today joined the California Department of Real Estate and the State Bar of California to warn homeowners about an alarming rise in short sale fraud across California in a field “rife with scam artists”.

A short sale is an arrangement in which a homeowner sells his or her home for less than the outstanding mortgage, with the consent of the lender.

“While short sales can provide homeowners with a last-ditch alternative to foreclosure, this market is rife with scam artists,” Brown said. “Homeowners and buyers, agents, and lenders should beware of short sale negotiators who operate without licenses, use straw buyers or charge illegal fees.”

With so many homeowners now considering short sales, an entire industry of so-called short sale negotiators has emerged. These individuals solicit homeowners by promising to expedite the process and help coax lenders into taking part in the transaction.

The Department of Real Estate is investigating more than 40 complaints of short sale fraud, up from “virtually zero” cases only three months ago, a spokesman said.

In April, the Obama administration launched a new initiative called the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program, which encourages homeowners in financial distress — especially those who have failed to complete a trial modification or qualify for a loan modification — to consider a short sale as an alternative to foreclosure.

Before working with — or paying — any short sale negotiator, homeowners should consider the following red flags:

No license
With limited exceptions, only licensed real estate agents or attorneys can engage in short sale negotiations with a homeowner’s lender.

Up-front fees
Licensed real estate agents wishing to collect up-front fees from homeowners for short sale transactions must first submit an advance fee contract to the Department of Real Estate and receive a no-objection letter.

Surcharges
With many distressed properties listed well below market value, negotiators and agents are charging potential buyers thousands of dollars in surcharges and hidden fees just to place an offer on a home. These illegal fees are frequently not disclosed and are paid outside escrow.

Straw buyers and house flipping
In this scheme, short sale negotiators misrepresent the market value of a property to a homeowner’s lender by only submitting offers on the property from an affiliated straw buyer. After the home is purchased below market value, the fraudsters immediately flip it and pocket the difference.

Short sale negotiators and agents use a number of titles including debt negotiator, debt resolution expert, loss mitigation practitioner, foreclosure rescue negotiator, short sale processor, short sale coordinator and short sale expeditor.

If you are a homeowner who has been scammed, contact Brown’s office at 1-800-952-5225 or file a complaint online at: www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/general.php.

Homeowners can also learn more about avoiding mortgage and real estate fraud by visiting the Department of Real Estate website at: http://www.dre.ca.gov/cons_alerts.html. A complaint form can be accessed online at: http://www.dre.ca.gov/frm_consumer.html.

“Short sale fraud appears to be the fraud of the moment, and it is proliferating statewide,” according to Real Estate Commissioner Jeff Davi. “Consumers, licensees and lenders must all arm themselves with the tools necessary to avoid such scams.”

Homeowners can file a complaint against a lawyer, a legal specialist or a company purporting to operate as a law firm with the State Bar by calling 1-800-843-9053 or visiting: www.calbar.ca.gov.

Homeowners can learn more about the federal government’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program by visiting: http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/hafa.html.

Non-profit housing counselors certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are also available to provide free help to homeowners. To find a counselor in your area, call 1-800-569-4287.

For more information on Brown’s work against loan modification fraud visit: http://ag.ca.gov/loanmod.

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You may view the full account of this posting, including possible attachments, in the News & Alerts section of our website at: http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1937

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Not because they look hispanic….

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Discount Mortgage Relief and Mortgage Relief LLC in Scottsdale, alleging its principals engaged in deceptive loan modification services that may have duped thousands of victims.

The Attorney General’s Office also secured a temporary restraining order to prevent the Scottsdale companies that do business under both names from charging or receiving money for loan modification services or advertising their services.

The lawsuit alleges that, at least since July 2009, the mortgage companies have deceived consumers into paying thousands of dollars for mortgage loan modification services by misrepresenting their ability to help those consumers obtain mortgage relief and save their homes, a violation of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act.

Consumers allegedly paid Discount Mortgage Relief and Mortgage Relief approximately $1,350 to $5,000 each for loan modification services and were guaranteed results.

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Loan Modification Loan Modification

Glenn Steven Rosofsky pleaded guilty today to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, one count of money laundering, and one count of filing a false tax return, announced Karen P. Hewitt, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. The guilty pleas were tendered before U.S. Magistrate Judge William McCurine Jr., subject to final acceptance by U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez. These criminal charges stemmed from Rosofsky’s operation of a fraudulent telemarketing operation in San Marcos, Calif.

In his guilty plea Rosofsky admitted that in approximately April 2009, he and Michael Trap (who previously pleaded guilty) began operating a loan modification business using the names “Nations Housing Modification Center” and “Federal Housing Modification Department” (NHMC), in an effort to fraudulently sell loan modification services to homeowners who were delinquent on their monthly mortgage payments. Rosofsky admitted that he, Trap and others used false and fraudulent statements and representations to induce customers to purchase loan modification services from NHMC. Among the misrepresentations made to customers were claims that NHMC had “attorneys” and “forensic accountants” on staff to deal with the loss mitigation departments of banks on behalf of NHMC’s customers, that NHMC had achieved an “extremely high success rate for homeowners that met the Nations Home Affordable Modification Program guidelines,” and that NHMC was located on “Capitol Hill” in Washington, D.C. In fact, as Rosofsky admitted, NHMC did not have attorneys or forensic accountants on staff, it did not have a high success rate of modifying loans, it had no connection with the U.S. Treasury Department’s “Making Home Affordable” program, and its only presence in Washington, D.C., was a rented post office box. These false claims were made in solicitation letters that were mailed throughout the country to individuals behind on their mortgage payments and encouraged struggling homeowners to call a toll-free number to purchase NHMC’s loan modification services.

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Loan Modification

“Our tests have shown that many homeowners who are severely underwater on their mortgages will respond positively to a loan modification offer that includes reduction of their principal balance, increasing the rates of acceptance of HAMP trial loan modification offers, conversion to permanent loan modifications and long-term success of the homeowner,” said Jack Schakett, credit loss mitigation executive for Bank of America Home Loans.

“Encouraging more borrowers in this situation to accept a homeownership retention solution may help stabilize the surrounding community to the benefit of neighboring homeowners.”

In the first round of outreach, letters outlining the program and requesting financial information are being sent to certain NHRP-eligible homeowners who are more than 120 days overdue on payments.

“We met our goal to begin offering this program in mid-May, providing opportunities for customers who are in the most imminent danger of foreclosure to begin trial loan modifications by the end of June,” said Schakett. “At the same time, we are aligning the NHRP enhancement with some guidelines we expect to be included in the government’s program when it is rolled out in the coming months.”

As part of the alignment, Bank of America may offer earned principal forgiveness over a five-year period, as it announced in March, or over the three-year timeframe that Treasury intends to include in its HAMP principal forgiveness design, depending on individual borrower situations.

Please visit Orange County Real Estate for your Southern California realtor needs.

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