Mortgage

February 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley announced that on February 19, 2010, the Foreclosure Diversion Program will hold its first informational session for homeowners facing mortgage foreclosure in Cumberland County. The Foreclosure Diversion Program is the result of the recently enacted P.L. 2009, ch. 402, An Act To Preserve Home Ownership and Stabilize the Economy by Preventing Unnecessary Foreclosures. In accordance with the new law, the Supreme Judicial Court established a statewide program to provide mediation services in certain residential foreclosure actions in Maine.

February 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Following an investigation by Maine’s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection and the Attorney General’s Office, State officials have taken legal action against a Massachusetts-based debt management company. The State alleged that 123 Fix My Loan, LLC was not licensed to operate in Maine nor properly bonded and therefore acting illegally

HOUSTON, TX - February 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal jury found David Vasser, 61, a Houston area resident, and Shirely Adger, 52, a Dallas area resident, guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

Hattiesburg, MS - February 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mississippi Home Corporation (MHC) will host a Financial Health Workshop on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at the Jackie Dole Sherrill Community Center, 220 West Front Street in Hattiesburg. MHC will host the free workshop from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. The workshop will be particularly helpful for individuals who are worried about losing their home, are having trouble making ends meet, who believe they have a mortgage that is unfair, or simply want to learn how to manage their finance better. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet trained counselors who can review their finances, find other programs that can over assistance, and learn how to avoid financial pitfalls in the future.

Washington, Dc - February 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- This week, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke released plans to reduce its emergency lending programs used during the economic crisis. Bernanke detailed actions the Fed may take to reduce its $2.2 trillion balance sheet, including a commitment to purchase up to $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities. The actions from the Fed have been questionable due to lack of transparency and use of emergency powers, outside of Congressional oversight

SPRINGFIELD, IL - February 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Fueled by the tax credit incentive, home sales rebounded in the latter half of the year with Illinois buyers gaining some long-awaited confidence bolstered by low mortgage interest rates and moderating home prices. According to the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) fourth quarter 2009 report, Illinois home sales (which include single-family homes and condominiums) totaled 29,822 in the fourth quarter, up 35.6 percent from 21,986 home sales in the same period a year ago. For the year 2009, total sales were down 1.4 percent with 107,613 homes sold compared to 109,195 sales in 2008

PORTLAND, OR - February 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Joel D. Surprenant, 43, of West Linn, Oregon, pled guilty today to the crime of bank fraud. Surprenant is scheduled to appear again before U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones on May 12, 2010, for sentencing on these charges.

AUSTIN, TX - February 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Honoring those who preserve and protect the American Dream to finally live it, Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) have announced the launching of a new homebuyer initiative with a special focus on veterans.

TRENTON, N.J. - February 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- For first-time homebuyers thinking of buying their first home in New Jersey, the combined incentive and mortgage programs from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) and the federal government have never been better.

San Francisco, CA - February 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco has appointed three new members to its Affordable Housing Advisory Council (AHAC)—Jasmine Borrego of TELACU; Joel Jacinto of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA); and Dean Matsubayashi of Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation (LTSC). The Bank’s AHAC is a 15-member group that provides guidance on affordable housing and economic development issues and helps shape the Bank’s community investment grant programs and credit products

New York, NY - February 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway today launched the Water Debt Assistance Program, a new initiative that will temporarily relieve homeowners at risk of foreclosure of past-due water and sewer debt.

Washington, D.C. - February 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Kenny Marchant (TX-24) issued the following release today after unveiling his new bill, H.R. 4586 the Mortgage E-Verify Act.

ATLANTA, GA - February 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that Senator Bill Cowsert, one of the Governor’s Senate Floor Leaders, has introduced mortgage fraud legislation that would grant the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) jurisdiction to initiate investigations on offenses related to mortgage fraud. The legislation would create a mortgage fraud unit by partnering GBI, the Department of Banking and Finance and local law enforcement to investigate mortgage fraud crimes.

Roswell, NM - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- PrimeSource Mortgage, Inc. (PSMI), a leading mortgage brokerage and banking company, and a wholly owned subsidiary of PSM Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: PSMH) announces the opening of a new office in Belton, TX near the Ft. Hood military base.

LANSING, MI - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR) shut down an operation claiming to be a Detroit-based mortgage company called “Kenneth and Doyle Financial” by ordering it to cease and desist from doing business. OFIR believes that Kenneth, through its website, was posing as a legitimate mortgage company in an attempt to steal consumers’ money and identity. The fraudulent company was encouraging customers to apply for loans by providing personal information including social security and financial account numbers.

Wilmington, DE - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Attorney General Beau Biden announced that Jamaar Manlove, Larry Manlove, Rhonda Manlove, Master Builders for Christ and Vision Builders Christian Center have been charged in a 21-count indictment for crimes related to a mortgage rescue scam. Warrants have been issued for their arrest and racketeering liens have been placed on their assets. This represents what is believed to be one of the largest mortgage rescue fraud indictments in Delaware history. The indictment alleges that Jamaar Manlove ran a criminal enterprise involving theft, money laundering, and forgery in which he preyed on vulnerable homeowners who faced imminent foreclosure. In these scams, struggling homeowners sell their homes to third parties to avoid foreclosure based on the false promise that they can repurchase their homes through a complex sale/lease-back arrangement when their financial situations improve. In reality, this never happens.

New York, NY - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Halstead Property Development Marketing and RGS Holdings, LLC, in conjunction with Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group and JP Morgan Chase Community Development, today announced that 2280 Frederick Douglass Boulevard has been approved by the Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage program. The 12-story new construction condominium development in Harlem, will now allow qualified buyers to purchase a new home with a down payment between 5 and 10%.

Washington, DC - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- With the strength of the housing market linked directly to overall economic prosperity, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) are leading the effort in Congress to convince the Obama administration and Federal Reserve to reverse course and continue several key programs due to soon expire or change that are critical to keeping mortgage rates low and making homeownership more attainable.

Is someone letting you live in a home for free? Did a builder offer you deep discounts to move into a newly constructed house? Has a company offered to refinance your mortgage for a fee? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then you may be a victim of a scam. FBI special agents and [...]

Washington, D.C. - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Boston-based State Street Bank and Trust Company with misleading its investors about their exposure to subprime investments while selectively disclosing more complete information to specific investors.

Atlanta, GA - February 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- On January 27, 2010, the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (“Department”) entered into a Consent Order with Dependable Mortgage, LLC, License Number 19425, formerly located at 6030 Dawson Boulevard, Suite A, Norcross, Georgia 30093, and its owner, Gbenga Ibisanmi, to resolve allegations pertaining to violations of the Georgia Residential Mortgage Act and agency rules.The Consent Order includes the following terms

TALLAHASSEE, FL - February 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Bill McCollum and Office of Financial Regulation Commissioner J. Thomas Cardwell today announced that a Seminole County man was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to a criminal racketeering scheme that involved mortgage fraud in home purchasing. Upon his release from prison, Stanford Morgan, president and owner of Homes for Sale by Owner, Inc., must also pay full restitution, including $200,000 to an investing couple in one transaction and compensation to the lending institutions he defrauded in other transactions. Morgan was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Providence, RI - February 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- At a time when so many Rhode Islanders are in need of a safe, healthy home that they can afford, Rhode Island’s unsettled economy continues to be a strain on many.

JERICHO, NY - February 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Despite a tight lending market, Metropolitan Realty Associates, the owner of the Sunrise Business Center in Great River, and its equity partner Angelo, Gordon & Co., LP. have successfully negotiated an extension of their mortgage on the 388,500-square-foot Class A office complex, President Joseph A. Farkas announced today.

New York, NY - February 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- With St. Vincent’s Hospital on the brink of bankruptcy, U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan) urged the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help the only Level-1 trauma center serving neighborhoods from Midtown to Downtown stave off closure.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Housing Administration’s Mortgagee Review Board (MRB) today immediately and permanently withdrew the FHA approval of Premium Capital Funding, LLC, a Jericho, New York-based lender doing business as TopDot Mortgage.

BALTIMORE, MD - January 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that David Young Park, 43, the former president of Capital City Financial Group in Ellicott City, entered a plea of guilty to one count of felony theft in Baltimore County Circuit Court. Judge John J. Nagel, III sentenced Park to five years in jail with all but 18 months suspended. Park was also ordered to complete five years of supervised probation and make restitution to the victim in the amount of $116,556.

CINCINNATI, OH - January 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A two-year investigation by the Greater Cincinnati Mortgage Fraud Task Force has resulted in a seven-count indictment charging two Cincinnati area home builders, a former Huntington National Bank vice president, and a self-employed tax preparer and interior designer with participating in a mortgage fraud scheme to sell four high-end luxury properties to “straw buyers.”

New York, NY - January 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Manhattan real estate developer MICHAEL HERSHKOWITZ was sentenced today to four years in prison for his participation in a $27 million Ponzi scheme involving fraudulent loans secured by nonexistent mortgages.

NEW YORK, NY - January 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The board of the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) today approved a commitment to insure a $37.5 million mortgage on a 144-unit apartment building in Brooklyn that was originally built to be sold as condominium units.