EXCLUSIVE-FBI Mortgage Probe Examining 17 Large Firms

Reuters ^ | Tue Mar 18, 2008 | Randall Mikkelsen

[Etoo]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI's criminal probe of the mortgage lending industry has grown to 17 firms, involves large companies, and could take years to conclude, bureau officials said on Tuesday in a Reuters interview.

[snip]

 The opportunities for fraud existed all along the chain from mortgage origination to the investors in mortgage-backed securities. But the problems begin in loan applications that required minimal or no documentation, the officials said.

 

"That's the start of the fraud right there," said Mike Cuff, a supervisory special agent in the economic crimes unit.

[snip]

Decisions on any charges are up to federal prosecutors and not the FBI, but individuals are likely to be prosecuted, Power said.

[snip]

 In 2004, when house values were soaring and the mortgage industry booming, an FBI criminal division official, Chris Swecker, sounded a prescient warning to Congress:

 

"If fraudulent practices become systemic within the mortgage industry and mortgage fraud is allowed to become unrestrained, it will ultimately place financial institutions at risk and have adverse effects on the stock market," he said.

[Etoo]

Ex 32:7-8 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said,

'These are your gods , O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'

[AmericanInTokyo]

"Everybody deserves home ownership, whether they can afford it or not. It is their fundamental right". --Al Gore (and tons of other LIBERALS and COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATIVES)

[Neidermeyer]

But the problems begin in loan applications that required minimal or no documentation, the officials said.

“That’s the start of the fraud right there,” said Mike Cuff, a supervisory special agent in the economic crimes unit.
************************************************
How else can Jorge get “undocumented workers” to be able to buy a home and live the “American Dream”, when all you have for doc is a Visa or MC from Wamu or Bank of America and a Matricula card...

[BGHater]

National Homeownership Month, 2006
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

  White House News

Owning a home is an important part of the American dream. During National Homeownership Month, we raise awareness of homeownership and encourage more Americans to consider the benefits of owning their own home.

Nearly 70 percent of Americans enjoy the satisfaction of owning their own home, and my Administration continues to promote an ownership society where the promise of America reaches all our citizens. The American Dream Downpayment Act of 2003 is helping thousands of low to moderate income and minority families with downpayment and closing costs, which represent the greatest barrier to homeownership. Since 2002, when I announced our goal to help 5.5 million minorities become homeowners by the end of this decade, the rate of minority homeownership has climbed above 50 percent, and more than 2.5 million minority families have become new homeowners. My Administration will continue to provide counseling and assistance for new homebuyers and expand homeownership opportunities for all Americans.

During National Homeownership Month and throughout the year, we applaud the men and women who work to achieve the dream of homeownership, and we are grateful for those who provide counseling, lending, real estate, construction, and other services to these individuals. The hard work, financial discipline, and personal responsibility of our country's homeowners help transform neighborhoods throughout our Nation and reflect the best qualities of America.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 2006 as National Homeownership Month. I call upon the people of the United States to join me in building a more hopeful society and recognizing the importance of expanding the ownership of homes across our great Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.

GEORGE W. BUSH http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060524-6.html Deserve it? Even if it destroys your economy?

[AmericanInTokyo]

During National Homeownership Month and throughout the year, we applaud the men and women who work to achieve the dream of homeownership, and we are grateful for those who provide counseling, lending, real estate, construction, and other services to these individuals. The hard work, financial discipline, and personal responsibility of our country's homeowners help transform neighborhoods throughout our Nation and reflect the best qualities of America.

I knew W was partly behind it.

Fiddling while frikkin Rome burns. These people have run our nation into the ground, due to political correctness and forced, unnatural egalitarianism dicated by the Federal Government at all costs. Soon, to be on the backs of the taxpayers who were responsible and lived within their means. Thanks President Bush, and the liberal Dems in Congress, for "National Homeownership Month, 2006". Now we can enjoy "National Mortgage Meltdown and Bank Crash, 2008".

Ronald Reagan would have never stood for this PC, financially suicidal stuff; qualifying all kinds of irresponsible or unqualified people to own homes, carried now on the backs of us all.

[The Mayor]

Excellent verse to grab!

[redgolum]

Regan would have done about the same.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Probably not.