Information News Feed: Documentaries, Reports, etc.

[Darkness Unlimited*]

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/8/sick_for_profit_robert_greenw...

[Darkness Unlimited*]

I'm not sure if the 'embed' works on this video. So i also include the hyper-link to the page itself with the video.


http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/4/republican_gomorrah_inside_the...

[Compound Egret]

Another side to the recent housing meltdown. There were peeps that borrowed too much and went back to the well too many times, but there were also actual fraudsters taking advantage of people as well.
O.C. loan officer arrested in $30 million fraud

http://mortgage.freedomblogging.com/2009/09/11/oc-loan-officer-arre...

Attorney General Jerry Brown said today his office arrested a Huntington Beach loan officer and two other men for allegedly placing consumers into $30 million worth of fraudulent loans and pocketing $1 million in illicit profits.

Alan Ruiz, 28, was arrested at his Huntington Beach home late Thursday and is being held in the Orange County Sheriff’s jail.

However, Brown’s release focuses more on Michael McConville, 39, of Simi Valley, who worked as a sales manager for Los Angeles-based mortgage company ALG, Inc. Garrett Holdridge, 23, of Palmdale, California and Texas was also arrested.

All three worked at ALG and are being held on $2 million bail.

According to Brown’s release:

“McConville and his co-conspirators lured dozens of borrowers into refinancing home loans by falsely promising low interest rates and brokers’ fees, and other attractive terms. They then negotiated different terms with lenders, forged the victims’ signatures on the final loan documents and collected hefty brokers fees - ranging from $20,000 to $57,000 - that were never disclosed. Only when the borrowers received true copies of the loan documents after the refinance did they discover that their names had been forged. In total, defendants stole over $950,000 from more than 70 borrowers, leaving victims holding $30 million in loans with terms they did not agree to.”

“After victims signed their closing papers, McConville and his associates doctored the loan documents, forged borrowers’ signatures and slipped in hefty fees that were never disclosed,” Brown said. “This was not some clerical error but a criminal conspiracy to steal nearly a million dollars from borrowers.”

Earlier this week, Brown filed 44 criminal charges against the men, including:

* 28 counts of grand theft, by violating Penal Code section 487, subdivision (a);
* 14 counts of forgery, by violating Penal Code section 470, subdivision (d);
* One count of elder abuse, by violating Penal Code section 368, subdivision (d);
* One count of conspiracy to commit grand theft, by violating Penal Code section 182, subdivision (a)(1);
* Three special allegations of aggravated white-collar crime in excess of $500,000, by violating Penal Code section 186.11, subdivision (a)(2); and
* Taking in excess of $3,200,000, by violating Penal Code section 12022.6, subdivision (a)(4) and (b).

Here’s more from Brown:

From April 2007 to October 2008, McConville and his associates provided homeowners closing documents bearing terms promised, but which the lender never approved. After homeowners signed those documents, key pages were removed and replaced with pages bearing the terms that the lender had actually agreed to. The homeowners’ signatures were forged on the replacement pages, and ALG forwarded the forged documents to the escrow company.

Homeowners only discovered they had been defrauded when they received the final loan documents with the true terms and saw their signatures forged on disclosures of closing costs, Truth-in-Lending disclosures, loan applications and other documents. ALG often collected between $20,000 and $30,000 in undisclosed broker fees. In one transaction, they collected over $57,000 in such fees.

As a result of this scheme, homeowners suffered devastating financial losses. Some were forced to sell their homes, come out of retirement, or tap into retirement savings. Others paid significant prepayment penalties — in one case, over $21,000. Borrowers often never received the significant amounts of cash-out they were promised.

VICTIMS
Michael McConville promised one couple a 5.5 percent fixed interest rate, cash-out of $58,000 and $4,500 in closing costs. Only after they signed the documents, they realized their copy did not include the pages detailing the key terms of the loan. The couple soon received loan documents from Indymac Bank and discovered their signatures had been forged and they had received a 7 percent interest rate, no cash-out, and over $50,000 in closing costs, including a $42,000 origination fee paid to ALG.

ALG contacted a 65-year-old retired woman in July 2007 and promised her a 30-year fixed rate loan at 5.25 percent. A month later, a notary had arrived at the victim’s house with loan documents reflecting the 5.25 percent fixed interest rate. After closing, the victim discovered she had received an adjustable rate mortgage with an initial rate of 8.65percent, a $22,000 origination fee, and $2,230 in miscellaneous fees. The victim’s signature had been forged on most of the documents.

Brown recently sued Michael McConville and his brother Sean for their part in the “Property Tax Reassessment” scam which targeted Californians looking to lower their property taxes. Tens of thousands of mailers were sent out that featured official-looking logos and demanded hundreds of dollars in payments for property tax reassessment and reassessment appeal services. The statements warned homeowners that if payments were not received by the “due date” they faced late fees or would have their file marked “non-responsive” or “ineligible for future tax reassessments.” A copy of the press release can be found at: http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1734

Brown has made it a top priority to combat mortgage fraud. In July, as part of a nationwide sweep, Brown filed suits against 21 individuals and 14 companies who ripped off thousands of homeowners seeking mortgage relief. In total, Brown has sought court orders to shut down 32 companies and has brought criminal charges and obtained lengthy prison sentences for deceptive mortgage consultants.

[Compound Egret]

Some of these unscrupulous loan officers are now ripping people off via loan modifications...The audio story is linked below

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/09/25/mm-21stce...

[Darkness Unlimited*]

Have CE, thanks for the info.

Btw, does anyone else here find all this shit over ACORN to be waaay too suspicious?

[Darkness Unlimited*]

Here's the latest news feed from Democracy Now!

http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmRlbW9jcmFjeW5vdy5vcmcvc2h...

[sceneless]

Darkness Unlimited* said:

Have CE, thanks for the info.

Btw, does anyone else here find all this shit over ACORN to be waaay too suspicious?

Yeah. The GOP hates ACORN because they help register poor people and minorities to vote, who usually end up voting Democrat.

[Compound Egret]

Darkness Unlimited* said:

Have CE, thanks for the info.

Btw, does anyone else here find all this shit over ACORN to be waaay too suspicious?

No problemo.

I was surprised by the people shown on the Acorn video. When people come at you asking for advice about illegal activity, run.

[Rosenda]

I am just now seeing this, there was a lot of local coverage here (way too late, in my opinion) about how a lot of people victimized and misled and lied to by unscrupolous lenders and loan people are mostly among working class folks, specifically alot of black and brown folks out here in Southern California.

[Darkness Unlimited*]

Rosenda said:

I am just now seeing this, there was a lot of local coverage here (way too late, in my opinion) about how a lot of people victimized and misled and lied to by unscrupolous lenders and loan people are mostly among working class folks, specifically alot of black and brown folks out here in Southern California.

Yeah well, my understanding is that S.Cal. was hit harder than most places in the country on that.