What is GREFPAC?
The Georgia Real Estate Fraud Prevention and Awareness Coalition (GREFPAC) is comprised of concerned individuals and professionals from all aspects of the real estate industry, working together with federal, state and local regulators, and law enforcement agencies, to create environments that promote honesty, openness and fairness in real estate transactions.
What Does this web site provide?
This site provides articles, news, contact information and links related to real estate fraud preventation and awareness.
Do's and Don'ts to Prevent Mortgage Fraud
To education the public on what is mortgage fraud, we have put together two sets of index card size documents for our readers known as the "Do" cards and the "Don't" cards. For this information in Spanish click here.
What's New
Five New Area Mortgage Fraud Cases;
Two Schemes Involve Expensive Condos and Suburban Homes
Two Schemes Involve Expensive Condos and Suburban Homes
CHICAGO—Forty-one defendants are facing federal charges relating to various mortgage fraud schemes in five separate cases made public today by federal law enforcement officials. In some of the schemes, the defendants were charged with falsely inflating the values of dilapidated homes in urban areas. Other schemes feature a twist where defendants were charged with deals involving million-dollar condominiums in a Chicago high-rise and sprawling homes in affluent suburbs. Read more >
GREFPAC Quarterly Meeting
On Wednesday, Sept. 16, DanImmergluck and Alyssa Katz will be joining us for our quartely meeting. Both are lively speakers who will share with us their perspective of the real estate market, and forclosures. Both are noted authors with recently published books.
Foreclosed: High-risk Lending, Deregulation, and the Undermining of America 's Mortgage Market by Dan Immergluck
Our Lot : How Real Estate Came to Own Us by Alyssa Katz
Read more >
When a House is not a Home
Click here to see the story of a community in Atlanta's West End took action to fight mortgage fraud in their neighborhood.
Pro Bono Award
Dylan Howard and Jon Greenare are joint award winners for their work in representing an individual, who inadvertently got caught up in a mortgage fraud scheme after they attended an "investment seminar." This seminar supposedly represented a legitimate investment opportunity, but was really intended to draw people and their money into supporting a fraud. Read more >
Mortgage Fraud Advisories
Georgia Real Estate Fraud Prevention and Awareness Coalition, Inc. (GREFPAC) has released two advisories as part of its continuing effort to assist in the fight against mortgage fraud in Georgia. To learn more about the advisories >
Information for Home Owners!
If you are facing foreclosure, there may be help available to you. Call 1-888-995-HOPE or go to www.995HOPE.org.
Latest News!
Fraud Arrests in Altanta, Georgia
In the following press release Fulton County District Attorney, Paul L. Howard, Jr., and Atlanta Police Chief, Richard Pennington, announce indictments and arrests in an elaborate mortgage scheme involving twelve defendants. The prominent West End Atlanta area was the primary target. The defendants, as outlined below, are charged with RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) conspiracy and multiple counts of residential mortgage fraud. Read more>
Mortgage Fraud Continues to Soar
The number of fraudulent loans issued during the first three months of 2008 surged 42 percent compared with the same period in 2007, according to a new report from the Mortgage Asset Research Institute. The most common type of fraud that MARI found pertained to employment history and income. Many applications exaggerated how much borrowers earned and misrepresented their job descriptions. The biggest increase came from a jump in the number of undisclosed or incorrectly reported debts, liens and judgments.
The big jump was a surprise even to MARI. “We were stunned,” said spokeswoman Jennifer Butts. “It shows that some folks [in the industry] are desperate.
Loan applications are at an eight-year low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, and deals are harder than ever to come by for real estate professionals. Loan originators, real estate agents and property appraisers are all scrambling for clients. Making things even more difficult, mortgage lenders have tightened underwriting standards. Now, the credit histories of many applicants are not good enough to get approved for mortgages, except through some creativity – or chicanery – by brokers and loan officers. While most fraud involves average homebuyers whose lending officers feel compelled to tweak their applications, some involves criminal enterprises.
Cases of identity theft accounted for 6 percent of all mortgage fraud in Illinois, for example. In many of these deals, crime rings use phony identities to obtain mortgages on properties they don't own, then take the cash and vanish. “The reality is that the industry's structure has not changed,” said Bill Garber, Appraisal Institute Director of External Relations. “Mortgage brokers are paid on commission; loan officers are rewarded for volume. There are the same pressures to get things done.” The regulatory agencies, he said, are overwhelmed. But the FBI did step up its efforts to recently. In June, its Mortgage Fraud Task Force arrested more than 400 mortgage brokers, lenders, appraisers and other industry insiders responsible for more than $1 billion in losses.
The report is available at www.marisolutions.com
Memorial Drive condo complex ‘gutted’ by mortgage fraud
by Andy Phelan
andy@dekalbchamp.com
Seven area residents were arrested and charged June 18 in an alleged mortgage fraud scheme in a condominium complex on Memorial Drive in south DeKalb that could net each 30 years in federal prison, said U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias.
Of the seven charged, two were from DeKalb – Lovie Hobbs a/k/a Lovie Hobbs Hagwood, 47, of Lithonia, and Marcus Vickers, 35, of Ellenwood.
Read more>
Fraud Happens Quickly; However, Fraud Investigations Do Not!
The Atlanta Police Major Fraud Unit and USSS arrested Terrence Marshall, aka Terence Edwards, aka David Hillard at the closing table Friday, March 14th, 2008 as he was attempting to close a mortgage fraud deal using a stolen identity. Read more>
Fugitive Chronicles Mortgage Crimes in "Fiction Book"
Matthew B. Cox had made the transition from a dead-end insurance sales job to a promising career in the mortgage brokerage business some years ago when he penned a crime novel titled The Associates. Read more>
