Friday, January 10, 2014

Mortgage Fraud

As a result of the recession of 2008, there has been a tremendous upswing in prosecutions ofr mortgage fraud.  Millions of homeowners found their equity in their home reduced to a substantial negative amount, causing the banking industry to initiate millions of foreclosures.  A cottage industry sprang up where lawyers, accountants, and numerous unscrupulous entrepeneurs offered their services to assist the homeowners avoid foreclosure.  Some of the mortgage "experts" were legitimate, but many others were scamming the desperate homeowners.  Often these "experts" would use fraudulent documents to convince the homeowners to pay substantial fees to help avoid foreclosure, or in many cases they would induce the homeowners to sign grant deeds which they would then record, make a settlement with the financial institution, and then take ownership of the property.   Other scams were also utilized, limited only by the creative criminal minds of the "experts".

sometimes innocent people would also attempt to ameliorate the drastic legal consequences of foreclosure, but make some negligent mistake in preparing the complex documents involved in these procedures.  Mortgage fraud prosecutions are very sexy for prosecuting agencies, and it is not uncommon for such innocent people to end up victims of the criminal justice system.  Any individual who suffers such injustice should definitely hire an experienced lawyer to fight a mortgage fraud prosecution.

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