South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
South Florida, Fort Lauderdale and Miami , have become a hotbed of prosecution for mortgage fraud.
The US Attorney, Broward, Miami and Palm Beach State Attorneys (prosecutors) and the Florida Attorney Generals Office of the Statewide Prosecutor have filed several dozen criminal prosecutions in Fort Lauderdale and Miami in both State and Federal Courts.
These investigations involving mortgage fraud have taken off and are growing. Prosecutions in Fort Lauderdale and Miami have become a daily grind in the local news. The charges of fraud and property investment schemes related to the mortgage market are being prosecuted as follows:
Fraudulent application: Applicants and mortgage brokers are accused of falsifying income status of the buyers or investors to reflect false reports of employment history, income forms, asset statements or credit record.
Flipping: When a buyer or investor pays a low price for a property then sells it at a higher price by falsifying statements to the lender.
Duplicate Statements: One settlement statement is provided to the seller, it shows one price for the property. A second settlement statement is presented to a lender: It shows a higher property value. A loan is given based on the higher value, and the excess loan proceeds is taken by the “actors”, i.e. those accused of mortgage fraud.