The Blotter

The mastermind of a mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded financially distressed homeowners, investors, and financial institutions of nearly $1.5 million dollars was sentenced to more than 13 years in federal prison. Read on for more details.

A Santa Monica, Calif., man pled guilty to mail fraud and identity theft charges in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme involving two waterfront residential properties in Broward County, Fla.

A man from Pittsford, N.Y., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud while employed as a vice president at a real estate management company. Read on for more details.

The latest First American Financial Corp. Loan Application Defect Index for November 2018 showed a defect increase due to defect risk in the areas affected by the California wildfires. Read on for more details.

A Scottsdale, Ariz., man was sentenced to time in prison for his lead role in criminal activity related to the short sale of distressed mortgages. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of communication of unregistered securities, and a separate count involving the failure to notify the Treasury Department of his collection of more than $10,000 in cash from a real estate customer. Read on for more details.

A Hawthorne, N.J., man admitted his role in a scheme to defraud financial institutions and others of more than $6 million. He and others fraudulently induced mortgage lenders to participate in short sale transactions. Read on for more details.

Finance of America Mortgage LLC has agreed to pay the United States $14.5 million to resolve allegations that Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services, L.P. , which it acquired in 2015, violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting deficient mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration. Read on for more details.

After pleading guilty to 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud, the former owner of a Pennsylvania mortgage company was ordered to forfeit $1,969,312.02, and is jointly and severally liable to pay $9,567,074.56 in restitution. Read on for more details.

The former chief operating officer of a Long Island mortgage lender was sentenced to time in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud in connection with the diversion of more than $8.9 million of warehouse loans that the company had fraudulently obtained purportedly to fund home mortgages and mortgage refinancing.

The Department of Justice announced the settlement of a civil fraud suit against a New York foreclosure law firm and its wholly owned affiliates. It claimed that the firm used its affiliates to systematically generate false and inflated bills for foreclosure-related and eviction-related expenses, and caused those expenses to be submitted to and paid for by Fannie Mae. Read on for more details.