Calculated Risk: Fraud in the 2008 Mortgage Vintage – and I thought that was over?
by Tom on July 30, 2008
in Market Musings
There isn’t any significant fact about this transaction I can identify that isn’t a red flag.
Calculated Risk: Fraud in the 2008 Mortgage Vintage.
Read what Calculated Risk has to say about this example of mortgage fraud that occured in 2008.
A couple of points to ponder from it:
1. It really seems like in this particular transaction that everyone involved knew that something wasn’t quite “right” but everyone just kept their mouth shut and said, “It’s not my business.” Because of that, these people owe approximately $200,000 more on the house than it’s worth. It’s everyone’s business to speak up when they are part of a transaction and something doesn’t seem quite right. They are all, from the mortgage broker to the Realtor, to the escrow agent, to the bank supposed to be professionals!
2. In today’s market, it’s more important than ever to work with honest professionals and to ask questions about what’s happening. Don’t just assume because someone seems nice that they know what they are doing.
These type of people bring out two reactions in me:
1. It makes me embarassed to admit I’m in the same line of work as people like that.
2. It makes me more determined than ever to get the word out about how things can and should be done and to wipe that kind of behavior off the map. A lot of our problems would be a lot less if they stuck to selling appliances and used cars.
Read the article and then come back and tell me, what do you think we should do to wipe those types of behaviors out of the business?
Tom Vanderwell
