Mortgage Fraud Essay

They keep the needs of the borrower in their mind at all times, rather than focusing on their own profits, and they take into account the nature of the purchase. Is the home worth the money being borrowed? If not, Mike and Brian will explain this to the client and clearly show why this is the case.

     The real estate industry is thriving with approximately sixty-eight percent of all Americans being homeowners. With low interest rates, 1st time home buyer down payment assistance programs, and government funded educational opportunities (i.e. the Home Ownership Center of Greater Cincinnati), the real estate and mortgage lending industries will continue to flourish. However, there are some unethical lending practices that are threatening the housing industry as a whole.

The real estate industry is thriving with approximately sixty-eight percent of all Americans being homeowners. With low interest rates, 1st time home buyer down payment assistance programs, and government funded educational opportunities (i.e. the Home Ownership Center of Greater Cincinnati), the real estate and mortgage lending industries will continue to flourish. However, there are some unethical lending practices that are threatening the housing industry as a whole.

The recent mortgage crisis in the US was unprecedented. It led to a massive clampdown of financial institutions, occasioning one of the worst financial melt-downs the US has ever faced (Jaffe, 2008). Quite naturally, it would be necessary to examine the cause of the crisis in order to draft prophylactic measures that would prevent the same financial disaster in the future. This paper will discuss the events that led to the mortgage crisis.

Lending and mortgage loans become predatory when the borrowers are led into a different transaction than what they were led to believe or come to expect. These predatory lending practices involve different people including mortgage brokers, lenders, real estate brokers, lawyers, and even (home improvement) contractors. Most of these transactions often victimize people who have small incomes but significantly large home equity

Prior to the 2008 economic depression, obtaining a mortgage was relatively simple for home buyers. However, many of those mortgages had provisions that made it difficult for borrowers to repay their mortgages (“Dodd-Frank,” n.d.). As a result, many homeowners lost their homes when they were unable to repay their mortgages, which led to the real estate crisis. In 2010 the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, also known as the Dodd-Frank Act, was enacted to reform how mortgage servicers vetted borrowers and to eliminate the use of predatory loan practices (Cheeseman, 2013, p. 485). Under the Dodd-Frank Act, creditors must establish borrower’s credit history, income and expected income, debt-to-income ratio, and other factors before

The foreclosure crisis in America has impacted everyone- even those who don’t own homes. Our nation is currently struggling with high unemployment, a relatively illiquid credit market, and a deficit that raises serious concerns about the value of the US Dollar in the not too distant future. With interest rates already at historic lows and the government pursuing an unprecedented policy of quantitative monetary easing, options for government intervention are limited. While there is no simple solution to this problem, I think that we must look at the reasons the housing market went into crisis, and based on that develop a regulatory system that will allow us to avoid another situation like this in the future. If Americans believe

It is necessary to first explain what Thomas Sowell an economics scholar says “The cast of characters” (Sowell 2). The nature of the housing market makeup is much more than just a bank issuing loans. The importance is to understand what lies behind the scene and from there comprehend the causes of the housing crisis. The Federal Reserve System in general regulates banks across the county. The Federal Reserve also has power to “take action which affect interest rates and the money supply” (Sowell 2). The Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation are “two government-created, but privately owned, profit-making enterprises that buy mortgages from banks” (Sowell 3). The Federal National Mortgage Association is also known as Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation is also known as Freddie Mac. These Associations as stated above buy loans from banks, which ultimately eliminates the banks wait for 30 years of monthly payments. According to book The Housing Boom and Bust “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased more than one-third of all the mortgages in the nation that were resold by the original lenders.” The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is another major entity in the real estate housing market. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is also known as (HUD) and “exercises authority over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,

Real estate agents are generally independent sales employees who provide their services to licensed brokers on a contract basis.

Mortgage regulations have changed significantly over the last few years. We have gone from restrictive guidelines with few options to the market and loan options opening back up.

Lenders are not only responsible for helping a potential home buyer in the paperwork and completing all the requirements they need to realize the point of view that each person approaches them with. All homebuyers from all walks of life need aid in completing the process with not only a professional but a professional that cares. A professional with no morals and only interested in financial gain or making a sale is more likely to hurry through the process or cut corners. A professional with knowledge and no empathy for a potential client is only a clever devil.

There are many reasons for buying or selling a home without the assistance of a realtor, but one service provider you can’t complete a “for sale by owner” transaction without is the title agency. Using a title agency not only ensures that your closing goes smoothly, it also safeguards your transaction.

In these cases, the person opening the mortgage and who will own the home would list himself as the primary borrower and the co-signer as the secondary borrower. The primary borrower can use the co-signer's credit score to help get a better interest rate and qualify for the loan. Co-signers have no ownership interest in the property being purchased in these situations, and they do not appear on the deed to the home.

The banks then created a new idea—linking investors to homeowners through mortgages. Ordinarily, a mortgage broker would connect a house-buying family to a mortgage lender, who would then supply them with a mortgage. In this system, everyone is happy—the mortgage broker earns a handsome commission, the mortgage lender earns a new mortgage, and the family is now a homeowner in a market of increasing housing prices.

Often a loan is brokered, meaning that the borrower is evaluated by a third-party who then proposes the loan request to a number of different lenders. These lenders are chosen based on their likelihood of accepting the particular borrower, and may negotiate small changes in the terms to attract the borrower if they find her desirable.