Springhill Group Seoul Korea`s largest bank reports 3,000 cases of loan -Mulitply

http://springhillgrouphome.multiply.com/journal/item/124/Koreas-largest-bank-reports-3000-cases-of-loan-doc-fraud-

Korea`s largest ban Kookmin has had 3,000 cases of document manipulation in applications for collective loans for intermediate payment. The bank said five people recently filed a petition to police after suffering losses from manipulation of related documents by bank staff, and has launched an investigation into similar cases. According to the Financial Supervisory Service and the bank, Kookmin probed between the end of last month and Aug. 10 manipulation cases on 200,000 collective loans for intermediate payment on 850 reconstruction and redevelopment apartment sites, and discovered more than 3,000 fraud cases. According to the bank`s findings, most cases involved employee manipulation of the expiration date of collective loans for intermediate payment. In the past, three years of maturity have typically been written for collective loans for intermediate payment regardless of when the borrower would move to the house. If the bank`s headquarters reduced the time to 26 or 27 months, however, bank employees would scrape out the number and put in three years again. If the lending period is shorter than the date written in the contract, the borrower would be pressured for repayment. Collective loans for intermediate payment are shifted to lending with home collateral. So a person can move into a house before the lending maturity expires, but failure to move in within the time frame would mean he or she must make the intermediate payment because it is not shifted to a home equity loan. Since the number of manipulation cases was bigger than expected, a massive filing of lawsuits is likely. Fraud was considerable in cases of apartments that people had signed contracts on, an area that has seen many conflicts between builders and banks. A financial regulatory source said, "Document manipulation cases, if identified, will raise the number of lawsuits by residents."

Springhill Group: warning to borrowers over interest-only mortgages - Tumblr

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Lenders have changed the goal posts considerably over the last few years and many borrowers are faced with being stuck on a variable rate Picture: Getty Images

 

By Jeff Salway 

 

Published on Saturday 8 September 2012 14:10 

 

Borrowers with interest-only mortgages have been urged to seek advice after a leading banker raised concerns over the number of people struggling to repay their loans. 

 

New Barclays chief executive Anthony Jenkins predicted this week that interest-only mortgages may be the next big mis-selling scandal. He identified the loans as a likely source of future complaints and said the bank, which has a large chunk of interest-only loans on its books, had already seen thousands of borrowers with problems repaying their capital.

 

Industry experts have been expressing fears for some time over the number of people with interest-only mortgages but with no viable means of repaying their capital at the end of the term.

 

Interest-only loans work by letting the borrower pay the interest first and clear the actual capital at the end of the term. They sold in massive numbers during the housing market boom, when homeowners and lenders were confident that house prices would continue soaring and enable capital to be repaid with sale proceeds. 

 

But some eight in ten people with interest-only mortgages maturing over the next decade have no adequate repayment strategy in place, according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which described the scenario as a “ticking time-bomb”.

 

The problem for borrowers has been exacerbated by a marked tightening of lending criteria. Where they used to offer interest-only loans to those with just 10 per cent deposits, most lenders now demand equity or a deposit of at least 50 per cent. 

 

They have also clamped down on the repayment plans they will accept. The Lloyds Banking Group brands, for example, will no longer accept cash savings (including Isas) as a way of repaying the capital on an interest-only mortgage. 

 

The crackdown came in anticipation of a regulatory ban on interest-only mortgages. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has now moved away from that option, but it still plans restrictions on the way interest-only deals are repaid. 

 

“Lenders have changed the goal posts massively over the last two years and many borrowers are going to be stuck on a variable rate because they need to retain the interest-only payments,” said Alison Mitchell, mortgage expert at Edinburgh IFA Robson Macintosh. ”Lenders are choosing who they wish to lend to and interest-only is just another way of sifting out the unwanted.” That helps explain why lenders are being increasingly pro-active in checking if borrowers are on course to repay their mortgage.

 

Robin Purdie, director of MOV8 Financial in Edinburgh, said: “Many lenders with interest-only mortgages on their books are now writing to borrowers and asking them for an up-to-date picture of their repayment strategy, and whether it is on target or not.”

 

“They are doing so sooner than they historically might have done, or when a borrower is attempting to renew their product.”

 

If you do want to remortgage while staying on an interest-only loan, the lender will want evidence of a solid repayment strategy. 

 

Many, as mentioned already, will lend only to those with 50 or, in some cases, 75 per cent equity in their home. 

 

As Mitchell, pointed out, the change in criteria means a lot of borrowers face being stuck on their bank’s variable rate for the long-term because they don’t have sufficient equity to secure another interest-only mortgage. In other words, they will become mortgage prisoners. Worryingly for that group, lenders are raising the cost of their standard variable rate (SVR) mortgages even while the Bank of England base rate remains at 0.5 per cent. 

 

“The individuals coming off their current products and hoping to grab one of the many great low fixed rates on offer are in for a shock, unless they bite the bullet and switch to repayment.”

 

That switch to a capital repayment plan is the best option for many people, according to Purdie. But it may be unrealistic for those in or near retirement, he warned.

 

“It could be a problem for any older borrowers as their repayment period will be dramatically reduced now that lenders are reluctant to lend into retirement,” said Purdie. “This shortened repayment term could deem this to be an unaffordable option for many.”

 

There are other options, however. One is to work out if there’s another repayment vehicle you can use that will be acceptable to a lender. For instance, most lenders are still happy with savings and investment vehicles, so if you’ve got plenty of time left on your loan you could put together a savings plan that has capital repayment as the eventual goal.

 

Another possibility while mortgage rates are low is to overpay your loan, provided your terms allow it. This may improve your chances of securing either another interest-only mortgage or a decent fixed rate capital repayment deal. 

 

Younger borrowers could also take advantage of some lenders increasing the maximum age on their products – generally up to age 75 – by extending their term. “This potentially allows for a 40-year term and so reduces the monthly payments applicable,” said Mitchell. “By taking the loan over a longer period and reducing the capital, the mortgage can still be affordable.”

 

There are fewer options open to older borrowers, however, with the slow housing market and lower house prices effectively ruling out downsizing as a solution. 

 

There are ways out, though. A growing number of over-55s are looking to lifetime mortgage where interest payments are made, according to Mitchell.

 

“This means that the level of debt remains the same and doesn’t eat away all the equity in the property,” she explained. “There is no requirement to prove income and it can be set up with competitively priced rates. Its gives the borrower peace of mind knowing the debt will be cleared from the property.”

 

But with lenders not in the mood for compromise, the reality is that many borrowers will become mortgage prisoners. If you’ve got no capital repayment vehicle set up you may have little choice but to take whatever you’re offered. 

 

It’s vital to explore the options open to you before settling for that, however, which is why Mitchell urges borrowers to get help from a financial adviser.

 

“By doing this you can ensure all your options are fully considered and that the best route is taken, whether that be remaining with your current lender or finding a way to switch to a repayment mortgage.”

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China paper hints at anti-Japan sanctions BEIJING: The mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party warned on Monday that Japan’s economy could suffer for up to 20 years if Beijing chose to impose sanctions over an escalating territorial row. Anti-Japanese protests have been held across China in recent days over a dispute on a group of small islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries but controlled by Tokyo. The row intensified last week when the Japanese government bought three of the islands, effectively nationalising them, and China responded by sending patrol ships into the waters around them. Trade sanctions between Asia’s two biggest economies could cast a pall over growth on the continent, which major Western countries are counting on to drive recovery from the global slowdown. A commentary in the People’s Daily newspaper said the Japanese economy has already experienced two lost decades from the 1990s and was suffering further weakness in the aftermath of the world financial crisis and 2011 earthquake. Digital news offering aims at high ground WASHINGTON: It seems like a terrible time to be launching a news operation.But there are opportunities and niches, and the new digital media launch called Quartz from Atlantic Media Company seeks to exploit them. Quartz is set to launch in the coming weeks as a “100 percent digital” news operation covering “the most important themes of the new global economy,” said editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney. Quartz has been recruiting a small number of veteran journalists for an overall news staff of around 25 people. The operation will feature tablet and mobile displays as well as a desktop website, qz.com. “There is an opportunity to do great journalism on a digital platform,” Delaney, a former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Online, told AFP.“It’s a great time to launch a proBject like this. We’ve learned the lessons of what works over the last few years.” Quartz will offer free content, with revenue coming from advertising, aiming to cover key global business issues and reach readers around the world.“We’re really confident in the ad-supported model,” Delaney said. “There has been strong advertiser interest.” The name Quartz was chosen “because it embodies the new brand’s essential character: global, disruptive and digital. Quartz, the mineral, is found all over the world, and plays an important role in tectonic activity,” a statement said. South Korea think-tank cuts growth forecast SEOUL: South Korea’s state-run think-tank on Monday cut its forecast for the country’s growth this year to 2.5 percent, citing the Eurozone debt crisis. The Korea Development Institute’s latest outlook is well below the government’s revised growth forecast in June of 3.3 percent, and over a percentage point below a May prediction of 3.6 percent. The country’s exports dropped sharply for a second straight month in August, suggesting the export-reliant economy is struggling with shrinking demand overseas. It said Asia’s fourth-largest economy is expected to expand 3.4 percent next year, gradually recovering from the slowdown caused by slow exports and sluggish domestic demand. Philippines tips economy to grow six percent MANILA: The Philippine economy could grow by almost six percent this year thanks to improving business optimism despite a series of destructive storms in recent months, officials said on Monday. The economy, which grew by 6.1 percent on year in the first half, could do even better in the rest of the year as the government implements measures to boost laggard sectors, socioeconomic planning secretary Arsenio Balisacan said. He added outsourced businesses, trade and tourism were all doing well and agriculture and manufacturing were expected to pick up in the second half. “With the healthy macroeconomic fundamentals and the higher business optimism, we will most likely hit the upper end of the 5-6 (percent) target,” he told a forum with investors. Heavy rains and storms last month and early-September, which left huge parts of the capital flooded, killings scores and displacing millions, had only a minimal effect on the economy, Balisacan added. He said farmers still had time to re-plant after the storms, adding that the floods affected mostly small businesses and not the large factories or call centres. Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez cited the 11.68 percent rise in tourist arrivals to 2.2 million in the first half of the year as a further reason for optimism. Central bank governor Amando Tetangco reported a 5.3 percent rise in remittances from the millions of Filipino working overseas to $13.3 billion in the first seven months of 2012.The officials also reported increased interest from potential foreign investors, following President Benigno Aquino’s election in 2010 on an anti-corruption platform. Turkish unemployment rate drops to 8 percent ISTANBUL: Turkey’s unemployment rate fell to eight percent of the workforce in the three months from May to July, the lowest in more than a decade, official data showed on Monday. The number of unemployed people fell by 311,000 over the period to reach 2.226 million, Turkish Statistics Institute (TUIK) said on its website on the basis of a survey of 95,699 people. Unemployed rate stood at 9.2 percent in the same period of 2011. Since then the number of people in jobs increased from 24.901 million to 25.577 million. Turkey’s economy staged a spectacular recovery from the global crisis, growing by 8.9 percent in 2010 and by 8.5 percent in 2011.Unemployment remains a major challenge for the government in a 73 million strong country where many young people enter the workforce each year. Turkey’s jobless rate is determined through household surveys across the country, which are then used to make a nationwide three-month projection. But experts say the figures do not reflect the overall picture because of widespread undeclared or hidden unemployment, or the employment of highly-educated people in menial jobs. Turkish unemployment rocketed to an annual 10.3 percent in 2001 following a major financial crisis, from a steady 6.5 percent in the previous year. Major Companies Declare Results By our correspondent APL announces final cash dividend of Rs32.50 KARACHI: Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) announced on Monday a final cash dividend of Rs32.50 per share though its profit-after-tax for the year ended June 30 slightly down by four percent to Rs4.12 billion from Rs4.25 billion last year, said a statement of the company. The divided was in addition to interim cash dividend of Rs17.50 per share. Therefore, total divided for the year was calculated at Rs50 per share, according to the profit and loss account of the company. The earnings per share stood at Rs59.61 from 61.58 last year. Net sales of the company rose by 39 percent to Rs176.81 billion from Rs127.03 billion last year. However, the financing cost increased by 77 percent to Rs1.21 billion from Rs682.66 million. POL earns profits of Rs11.85bn The profit-after-tax of Pakistan Oilfields Limited increased by 10 percent to Rs11.85 billion for the year ended June 30 from Rs10.81 billion earnings last year, said a statement on Monday. This translated into the earnings per share of Rs50.11 from Rs45.72 last year, according to the profit and loss account of the company. The company announced a final cash dividend of Rs35 per share. This was in addition to Rs17.50 interim dividend. Therefore, the cumulative dividend for the year stood at Rs52.50 per share. Net sales of the company increased to Rs30.82 billion from Rs27.10 billion last year. Exploration cost declined by 45 percent to Rs1.07 billion from Rs593.55 million. However, the financing cost increased by 206 percent to Rs684.57 million from Rs223.93 million. ARL profit rises to Rs2.73bn Attock Refinery Limited posted a net profit of Rs2.73 billion for the year ended June 30, which was 25 percent higher than Rs2.18 billion last year, said a statement. The net profit included profit-after-tax from refinery operations of Rs1.14 billion and income from non-refinery operations of Rs1.58 billion during the period under review. Last year, the company earned Rs1.11 billion from refinery operations and Rs1.06 billion from non-refinery operations, said the profit and loss account of the company. Therefore, total earnings per share stood at Rs32.07 from Rs25.63 last year. The company also announced a final cash dividend of Rs6 per share. This was in addition to Rs1.50 per share the company has already paid to the shareholders The sales of the company surged by 33 percent to Rs154.38 billion during the period under review from Rs116.38 billion last year. The financing cost increased by 22 times to Rs994.73 million from Rs45.45 million last year. Fauji Cement earns over half-a-billion profit Fauji Cement Company Limited reported a profit-after-tax of Rs552.59 million for the year ended June 30, which was 30 percent higher than Rs425.66 million earned in the previous year, said a statement issued by the company. The earnings per share (EPS) were calculated lower at 29 paisas against 52 paisas last year, according to the profit and loss account of the company available with the Karachi Stock Exchange. M Affan Ismail, an analyst at BMA Capital, reported that EPS diluted in the year under review due to addition of 1,905 million shares. The increase in earnings was primarily attributable to strong gross margin coupled with improved sales, he said. Phenomenal surge in cement prices coupled with meager decline in coal prices resulted in gross margin growth of nine percentage points to 27 percent. Moreover, the utilisation of additional capacity of 2.1 million tons resulted in higher sales, which further improved the profits. The net sales of the company surged by 143 percent to Rs11.52 billion from Rs4.74 billion last year. However, financing cost on loan obtained for capacity expansion kept the earnings under pressure, as the cost augmented to Rs1.83 billion from Rs103.92 million last year.

Springhill Group Seoul Korea`s largest bank reports 3,000 cases of loan -Mulitply

http://springhillgrouphome.multiply.com/journal/item/124/Koreas-largest-bank-reports-3000-cases-of-loan-doc-fraud- 

Korea`s largest bank Kookmin has had 3,000 cases of document manipulation in applications for collective loans for intermediate payment.

The bank said five people recently filed a petition to police after suffering losses from manipulation of related documents by bank staff, and has launched an investigation into similar cases.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service and the bank, Kookmin probed between the end of last month and Aug. 10 manipulation cases on 200,000 collective loans for intermediate payment on 850 reconstruction and redevelopment apartment sites, and discovered more than 3,000 fraud cases.

According to the bank`s findings, most cases involved employee manipulation of the expiration date of collective loans for intermediate payment. In the past, three years of maturity have typically been written for collective loans for intermediate payment regardless of when the borrower would move to the house. If the bank`s headquarters reduced the time to 26 or 27 months, however, bank employees would scrape out the number and put in three years again.

If the lending period is shorter than the date written in the contract, the borrower would be pressured for repayment. Collective loans for intermediate payment are shifted to lending with home collateral. So a person can move into a house before the lending maturity expires, but failure to move in within the time frame would mean he or she must make the intermediate payment because it is not shifted to a home equity loan.

Since the number of manipulation cases was bigger than expected, a massive filing of lawsuits is likely. Fraud was considerable in cases of apartments that people had signed contracts on, an area that has seen many conflicts between builders and banks.

A financial regulatory source said, "Document manipulation cases, if identified, will raise the number of lawsuits by residents."

Springhill Group:Briefs..... - thenews.com.pk - Facebook

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China paper hints at anti-Japan sanctions BEIJING: The mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party warned on Monday that Japan’s economy could suffer for up to 20 years if Beijing chose to impose sanctions over an escalating territorial row. Anti-Japanese protests have been held across China in recent days over a dispute on a group of small islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries but controlled by Tokyo. The row intensified last week when the Japanese government bought three of the islands, effectively nationalising them, and China responded by sending patrol ships into the waters around them. Trade sanctions between Asia’s two biggest economies could cast a pall over growth on the continent, which major Western countries are counting on to drive recovery from the global slowdown. A commentary in the People’s Daily newspaper said the Japanese economy has already experienced two lost decades from the 1990s and was suffering further weakness in the aftermath of the world financial crisis and 2011 earthquake. Digital news offering aims at high ground WASHINGTON: It seems like a terrible time to be launching a news operation.But there are opportunities and niches, and the new digital media launch called Quartz from Atlantic Media Company seeks to exploit them. Quartz is set to launch in the coming weeks as a “100 percent digital” news operation covering “the most important themes of the new global economy,” said editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney. Quartz has been recruiting a small number of veteran journalists for an overall news staff of around 25 people. The operation will feature tablet and mobile displays as well as a desktop website, qz.com. “There is an opportunity to do great journalism on a digital platform,” Delaney, a former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Online, told AFP.“It’s a great time to launch a proBject like this. We’ve learned the lessons of what works over the last few years.” Quartz will offer free content, with revenue coming from advertising, aiming to cover key global business issues and reach readers around the world.“We’re really confident in the ad-supported model,” Delaney said. “There has been strong advertiser interest.” The name Quartz was chosen “because it embodies the new brand’s essential character: global, disruptive and digital. Quartz, the mineral, is found all over the world, and plays an important role in tectonic activity,” a statement said. South Korea think-tank cuts growth forecast SEOUL: South Korea’s state-run think-tank on Monday cut its forecast for the country’s growth this year to 2.5 percent, citing the Eurozone debt crisis. The Korea Development Institute’s latest outlook is well below the government’s revised growth forecast in June of 3.3 percent, and over a percentage point below a May prediction of 3.6 percent. The country’s exports dropped sharply for a second straight month in August, suggesting the export-reliant economy is struggling with shrinking demand overseas. It said Asia’s fourth-largest economy is expected to expand 3.4 percent next year, gradually recovering from the slowdown caused by slow exports and sluggish domestic demand. Philippines tips economy to grow six percent MANILA: The Philippine economy could grow by almost six percent this year thanks to improving business optimism despite a series of destructive storms in recent months, officials said on Monday. The economy, which grew by 6.1 percent on year in the first half, could do even better in the rest of the year as the government implements measures to boost laggard sectors, socioeconomic planning secretary Arsenio Balisacan said. He added outsourced businesses, trade and tourism were all doing well and agriculture and manufacturing were expected to pick up in the second half. “With the healthy macroeconomic fundamentals and the higher business optimism, we will most likely hit the upper end of the 5-6 (percent) target,” he told a forum with investors. Heavy rains and storms last month and early-September, which left huge parts of the capital flooded, killings scores and displacing millions, had only a minimal effect on the economy, Balisacan added. He said farmers still had time to re-plant after the storms, adding that the floods affected mostly small businesses and not the large factories or call centres. Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez cited the 11.68 percent rise in tourist arrivals to 2.2 million in the first half of the year as a further reason for optimism. Central bank governor Amando Tetangco reported a 5.3 percent rise in remittances from the millions of Filipino working overseas to $13.3 billion in the first seven months of 2012.The officials also reported increased interest from potential foreign investors, following President Benigno Aquino’s election in 2010 on an anti-corruption platform. Turkish unemployment rate drops to 8 percent ISTANBUL: Turkey’s unemployment rate fell to eight percent of the workforce in the three months from May to July, the lowest in more than a decade, official data showed on Monday. The number of unemployed people fell by 311,000 over the period to reach 2.226 million, Turkish Statistics Institute (TUIK) said on its website on the basis of a survey of 95,699 people. Unemployed rate stood at 9.2 percent in the same period of 2011. Since then the number of people in jobs increased from 24.901 million to 25.577 million. Turkey’s economy staged a spectacular recovery from the global crisis, growing by 8.9 percent in 2010 and by 8.5 percent in 2011.Unemployment remains a major challenge for the government in a 73 million strong country where many young people enter the workforce each year. Turkey’s jobless rate is determined through household surveys across the country, which are then used to make a nationwide three-month projection. But experts say the figures do not reflect the overall picture because of widespread undeclared or hidden unemployment, or the employment of highly-educated people in menial jobs. Turkish unemployment rocketed to an annual 10.3 percent in 2001 following a major financial crisis, from a steady 6.5 percent in the previous year. Major Companies Declare Results By our correspondent APL announces final cash dividend of Rs32.50 KARACHI: Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) announced on Monday a final cash dividend of Rs32.50 per share though its profit-after-tax for the year ended June 30 slightly down by four percent to Rs4.12 billion from Rs4.25 billion last year, said a statement of the company. The divided was in addition to interim cash dividend of Rs17.50 per share. Therefore, total divided for the year was calculated at Rs50 per share, according to the profit and loss account of the company. The earnings per share stood at Rs59.61 from 61.58 last year. Net sales of the company rose by 39 percent to Rs176.81 billion from Rs127.03 billion last year. However, the financing cost increased by 77 percent to Rs1.21 billion from Rs682.66 million. POL earns profits of Rs11.85bn The profit-after-tax of Pakistan Oilfields Limited increased by 10 percent to Rs11.85 billion for the year ended June 30 from Rs10.81 billion earnings last year, said a statement on Monday. This translated into the earnings per share of Rs50.11 from Rs45.72 last year, according to the profit and loss account of the company. The company announced a final cash dividend of Rs35 per share. This was in addition to Rs17.50 interim dividend. Therefore, the cumulative dividend for the year stood at Rs52.50 per share. Net sales of the company increased to Rs30.82 billion from Rs27.10 billion last year. Exploration cost declined by 45 percent to Rs1.07 billion from Rs593.55 million. However, the financing cost increased by 206 percent to Rs684.57 million from Rs223.93 million. ARL profit rises to Rs2.73bn Attock Refinery Limited posted a net profit of Rs2.73 billion for the year ended June 30, which was 25 percent higher than Rs2.18 billion last year, said a statement. The net profit included profit-after-tax from refinery operations of Rs1.14 billion and income from non-refinery operations of Rs1.58 billion during the period under review. Last year, the company earned Rs1.11 billion from refinery operations and Rs1.06 billion from non-refinery operations, said the profit and loss account of the company. Therefore, total earnings per share stood at Rs32.07 from Rs25.63 last year. The company also announced a final cash dividend of Rs6 per share. This was in addition to Rs1.50 per share the company has already paid to the shareholders The sales of the company surged by 33 percent to Rs154.38 billion during the period under review from Rs116.38 billion last year. The financing cost increased by 22 times to Rs994.73 million from Rs45.45 million last year. Fauji Cement earns over half-a-billion profit Fauji Cement Company Limited reported a profit-after-tax of Rs552.59 million for the year ended June 30, which was 30 percent higher than Rs425.66 million earned in the previous year, said a statement issued by the company. The earnings per share (EPS) were calculated lower at 29 paisas against 52 paisas last year, according to the profit and loss account of the company available with the Karachi Stock Exchange. M Affan Ismail, an analyst at BMA Capital, reported that EPS diluted in the year under review due to addition of 1,905 million shares. The increase in earnings was primarily attributable to strong gross margin coupled with improved sales, he said. Phenomenal surge in cement prices coupled with meager decline in coal prices resulted in gross margin growth of nine percentage points to 27 percent. Moreover, the utilisation of additional capacity of 2.1 million tons resulted in higher sales, which further improved the profits. The net sales of the company surged by 143 percent to Rs11.52 billion from Rs4.74 billion last year. However, financing cost on loan obtained for capacity expansion kept the earnings under pressure, as the cost augmented to Rs1.83 billion from Rs103.92 million last year. 

Springhill Group Seoul Korea: warning to borrowers over interest-only mortgages - Tumblr

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Lenders have changed the goal posts considerably over the last few years and many borrowers are faced with being stuck on a variable rate Picture: Getty Images

By Jeff Salway 

Published on Saturday 8 September 2012 14:10 

Borrowers with interest-only mortgages have been urged to seek advice after a leading banker raised concerns over the number of people struggling to repay their loans. 

New Barclays chief executive Anthony Jenkins predicted this week that interest-only mortgages may be the next big mis-selling scandal. He identified the loans as a likely source of future complaints and said the bank, which has a large chunk of interest-only loans on its books, had already seen thousands of borrowers with problems repaying their capital.

Industry experts have been expressing fears for some time over the number of people with interest-only mortgages but with no viable means of repaying their capital at the end of the term.

Interest-only loans work by letting the borrower pay the interest first and clear the actual capital at the end of the term. They sold in massive numbers during the housing market boom, when homeowners and lenders were confident that house prices would continue soaring and enable capital to be repaid with sale proceeds. 

But some eight in ten people with interest-only mortgages maturing over the next decade have no adequate repayment strategy in place, according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which described the scenario as a “ticking time-bomb”.

The problem for borrowers has been exacerbated by a marked tightening of lending criteria. Where they used to offer interest-only loans to those with just 10 per cent deposits, most lenders now demand equity or a deposit of at least 50 per cent. 

They have also clamped down on the repayment plans they will accept. The Lloyds Banking Group brands, for example, will no longer accept cash savings (including Isas) as a way of repaying the capital on an interest-only mortgage. 

The crackdown came in anticipation of a regulatory ban on interest-only mortgages. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has now moved away from that option, but it still plans restrictions on the way interest-only deals are repaid. 

“Lenders have changed the goal posts massively over the last two years and many borrowers are going to be stuck on a variable rate because they need to retain the interest-only payments,” said Alison Mitchell, mortgage expert at Edinburgh IFA Robson Macintosh. ”Lenders are choosing who they wish to lend to and interest-only is just another way of sifting out the unwanted.” That helps explain why lenders are being increasingly pro-active in checking if borrowers are on course to repay their mortgage.

Robin Purdie, director of MOV8 Financial in Edinburgh, said: “Many lenders with interest-only mortgages on their books are now writing to borrowers and asking them for an up-to-date picture of their repayment strategy, and whether it is on target or not.”

“They are doing so sooner than they historically might have done, or when a borrower is attempting to renew their product.”

If you do want to remortgage while staying on an interest-only loan, the lender will want evidence of a solid repayment strategy. 

Many, as mentioned already, will lend only to those with 50 or, in some cases, 75 per cent equity in their home. 

As Mitchell, pointed out, the change in criteria means a lot of borrowers face being stuck on their bank’s variable rate for the long-term because they don’t have sufficient equity to secure another interest-only mortgage. In other words, they will become mortgage prisoners. Worryingly for that group, lenders are raising the cost of their standard variable rate (SVR) mortgages even while the Bank of England base rate remains at 0.5 per cent. 

“The individuals coming off their current products and hoping to grab one of the many great low fixed rates on offer are in for a shock, unless they bite the bullet and switch to repayment.”

That switch to a capital repayment plan is the best option for many people, according to Purdie. But it may be unrealistic for those in or near retirement, he warned.

“It could be a problem for any older borrowers as their repayment period will be dramatically reduced now that lenders are reluctant to lend into retirement,” said Purdie. “This shortened repayment term could deem this to be an unaffordable option for many.”

There are other options, however. One is to work out if there’s another repayment vehicle you can use that will be acceptable to a lender. For instance, most lenders are still happy with savings and investment vehicles, so if you’ve got plenty of time left on your loan you could put together a savings plan that has capital repayment as the eventual goal.

Another possibility while mortgage rates are low is to overpay your loan, provided your terms allow it. This may improve your chances of securing either another interest-only mortgage or a decent fixed rate capital repayment deal. 

Younger borrowers could also take advantage of some lenders increasing the maximum age on their products – generally up to age 75 – by extending their term. “This potentially allows for a 40-year term and so reduces the monthly payments applicable,” said Mitchell. “By taking the loan over a longer period and reducing the capital, the mortgage can still be affordable.”

There are fewer options open to older borrowers, however, with the slow housing market and lower house prices effectively ruling out downsizing as a solution. 

There are ways out, though. A growing number of over-55s are looking to lifetime mortgage where interest payments are made, according to Mitchell.

“This means that the level of debt remains the same and doesn’t eat away all the equity in the property,” she explained. “There is no requirement to prove income and it can be set up with competitively priced rates. Its gives the borrower peace of mind knowing the debt will be cleared from the property.”

But with lenders not in the mood for compromise, the reality is that many borrowers will become mortgage prisoners. If you’ve got no capital repayment vehicle set up you may have little choice but to take whatever you’re offered. 

It’s vital to explore the options open to you before settling for that, however, which is why Mitchell urges borrowers to get help from a financial adviser.

“By doing this you can ensure all your options are fully considered and that the best route is taken, whether that be remaining with your current lender or finding a way to switch to a repayment mortgage.”

Best content in SpringHill Group | Diigo - Groups - LiveJournal

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"South Korean Police said yesterday they have Busted ares fifteen-Member Group that faked the Adoption of Children to pull off ares Real-Estate Scam.

The ring earned about four hundred eighty million Won ($ four hundred and seventy-nine thousand five hundred twenty) abusing are housing Law that Gives preference to are private Home Buyer Children are healthy and child or with an. The ringleader while WAS 14 Others Arrested, Including Real Estate Brokers and loan shark are, Were charged but not detained, said spokesman for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency are. Government Regulations FIX anti-speculation the price of some Apartments built privately and Reserve ares are seen as what percentage of homes for deserving applicants. Officials are trying to Overcome Traditional reluctance in South Korea are, which places stress on Great Family Bloodlines, to Adopt Children. Police said the loan shark visited ares Street vendor last July and received 10 million won. Return to rights he waived in HIS HIS Daughters are let and Street Cleaner “Adopt” them. The Street Cleaner used to the Adoption Document to Secure rights are Buy Luxury Condominium but are resold the rights to high School Teacher. Using fake Adoption Documents, the Obtained the right ring to Buy Apartments in Seoul and nearby Cities twenty-one. Police also charged 20 biological and nineteen “adoptive parents” for accepting up to 10 million Won in Each Case. AFP"

Springhill Group Home Loans - LiveJournal

http://alanismonisette.livejournal.com/3727.html

South Korean Police said yesterday they have Busted ares fifteen-Member Group that faked the Adoption of Children to pull off ares Real-Estate Scam.

The ring earned about four hundred eighty million Won ($ four hundred and seventy-nine thousand five hundred twenty) abusing are housing Law that Gives preference to are private Home Buyer Children are healthy and child or with an. The ringleader while WAS 14 Others Arrested, Including Real Estate Brokers and loan shark are, Were charged but not detained, said spokesman for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency are. Government Regulations FIX anti-speculation the price of some Apartments built privately and Reserve ares are seen as what percentage of homes for deserving applicants. Officials are trying to Overcome Traditional reluctance in South Korea are, which places stress on Great Family Bloodlines, to Adopt Children. Police said the loan shark visited ares Street vendor last July and received 10 million won. Return to rights he waived in HIS HIS Daughters are let and Street Cleaner “Adopt” them. The Street Cleaner used to the Adoption Document to Secure rights are Buy Luxury Condominium but are resold the rights to high School Teacher. Using fake Adoption Documents, the Obtained the right ring to Buy Apartments in Seoul and nearby Cities twenty-one. Police also charged 20 biological and nineteen “adoptive parents” for accepting up to 10 million Won in Each Case. AFP

Real Estate Scam Used Fake Adoption To Buy Rights - The-looser-it-s-me - Blogger - Wordpress - Onsugar

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South Korean Police said yesterday they have Busted ares fifteen-Member Group that faked the Adoption of Children to pull off ares Real-Estate Scam.

The ring earned about four hundred eighty million Won ($ four hundred and seventy-nine thousand five hundred twenty) abusing are housing Law that Gives preference to are private Home Buyer Children are healthy and child or with an. The ringleader while WAS 14 Others Arrested, Including Real Estate Brokers and loan shark are, Were charged but not detained, said spokesman for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency are. Government Regulations FIX anti-speculation the price of some Apartments built privately and Reserve ares are seen as what percentage of homes for deserving applicants. Officials are trying to Overcome Traditional reluctance in South Korea are, which places stress on Great Family Bloodlines, to Adopt Children. Police said the loan shark visited ares Street vendor last July and received 10 million won. Return to rights he waived in HIS HIS Daughters are let and Street Cleaner “Adopt” them. The Street Cleaner used to the Adoption Document to Secure rights are Buy Luxury Condominium but are resold the rights to high School Teacher. Using fake Adoption Documents, the Obtained the right ring to Buy Apartments in Seoul and nearby Cities twenty-one. Police also charged 20 biological and nineteen “adoptive parents” for accepting up to 10 million Won in Each Case. AFP

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Real Estate Scam Used Fake Adoption To Buy Rights - The-looser-it-s-me - Blogger - Wordpress - Onsugar

http://macyelyse.onsugar.com/Real-Estate-Scam-Used-Fake-Adoption-Buy-Rights----looser--s-me---Blogger---Wordpress-24317329

South Korean Police said yesterday they have Busted ares fifteen-Member Group that faked the Adoption of Children to pull off ares Real-Estate Scam.

The ring earned about four hundred eighty million Won ($ four hundred and seventy-nine thousand five hundred twenty) abusing are housing Law that Gives preference to are private Home Buyer Children are healthy and child or with an. The ringleader while WAS 14 Others Arrested, Including Real Estate Brokers and loan shark are, Were charged but not detained, said spokesman for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency are. Government Regulations FIX anti-speculation the price of some Apartments built privately and Reserve ares are seen as what percentage of homes for deserving applicants. Officials are trying to Overcome Traditional reluctance in South Korea are, which places stress on Great Family Bloodlines, to Adopt Children. Police said the loan shark visited ares Street vendor last July and received 10 million won. Return to rights he waived in HIS HIS Daughters are let and Street Cleaner “Adopt” them. The Street Cleaner used to the Adoption Document to Secure rights are Buy Luxury Condominium but are resold the rights to high School Teacher. Using fake Adoption Documents, the Obtained the right ring to Buy Apartments in Seoul and nearby Cities twenty-one. Police also charged 20 biological and nineteen “adoptive parents” for accepting up to 10 million Won in Each Case. AFP

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Springhill Group Home Loans: Loan Against Properties | Springhill Group Home Lo...

Springhill Group Home Loans: Loan Against Properties | Springhill Group Home Lo...: http://macyelyse.onsugar.com/Loan-Against-Properties-Springhill-Group-Home-Loans-fraud-scam-watch-loans--NEWSVINE--Livejournal---Wordpress-2...

Loan Against Properties | Springhill Group Home Loans, fraud and scam watch loans -NEWSVINE -Livejournal - Wordpress - Onsugar

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Loan Against Properties

Springhill Group Home Equity Loans helps you encash the present market value of the property by taking a loan by mortgaging the property.

Features of Loan Against Property

Purpose

Loan can be for any purpose. However, the funds should not be used for speculation or any illegal purposes. Customers have benefited by taking loans to meet the following funding requirements

Education

Marriage Expenses

Medical Expenses

Property

Residential

Non Residential

- Should be Fully Constructed

- Should be a Freehold property having a clear and marketable title.

Adjustable Rate Home Loan

Conditions apply on this kind of loan, please contact us directly to inquire

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Loan Against Properties | Springhill Group Home Loans, fraud and scam watch loans -NEWSVINE -Livejournal - Wordpress - Onsugar

http://macyelyse.onsugar.com/Loan-Against-Properties-Springhill-Group-Home-Loans-fraud-scam-watch-loans--NEWSVINE--Livejournal---Wordpress-24317304

Loan Against Properties

Springhill Group Home Equity Loans helps you encash the present market value of the property by taking a loan by mortgaging the property.

Features of Loan Against Property

Purpose

Loan can be for any purpose. However, the funds should not be used for speculation or any illegal purposes. Customers have benefited by taking loans to meet the following funding requirements

Education

Marriage Expenses

Medical Expenses

Property

Residential

Non Residential

- Should be Fully Constructed

- Should be a Freehold property having a clear and marketable title.

Adjustable Rate Home Loan

Conditions apply on this kind of loan, please contact us directly to inquire

 

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Springhill Group Home Loans: South Korea Springhill Group - Insurance fraud |... | amorpower | Social Bookmarking .Net

Springhill Group Home Loans: South Korea Springhill Group - Insurance fraud |... | amorpower | Social Bookmarking .Net

U.S. home loan giants Fannie, Freddie post losses in Q4 | Tumblr | Newsvine | Blogger

http://dallyrustan.blogspot.de/2012/07/us-home-loan-giants-fannie-freddie-post.htm

 

Two U.S. housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Thursday announced huge losses in the fourth quarter of last year, fresh evidence of the still struggling U.S. property market.

Fannie Mae registered a net loss of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter last year, and requested an additional 2.6 billion dollars in federal aid, the Washington-based company said Thursday in a statement.

Freddie Mac posted a net loss of more than 1.7 billion dollars in the same period, and asked for an additional 500 million dollars in federal aid, according to a statement released by the company on Thursday.

The Obama administration earlier this month unveiled a report to Congress on reforming the U.S. housing finance market, aiming to wind down the two government-sponsored enterprises, while giving the private sector a bigger say on the multi-trillion-dollar market.

The two companies played a major role in the run-up to the severe financial crisis. The U.S. government stepped in to take over Fannie and Freddie in September 2008 and cost U.S. taxpayers multi-billion dollars, which has drawn criticism from various sectors.

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South Korea Springhill Group - Insurance fraud | Tumblr | Newsvine | Blogger

http://dallyrustan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/south-korea-springhill-group-insurance.html

 

The insurance fraud in Changwon uncovered by the Financial Supervisory Service is both shocking and disturbing. It involved as many as 1,361 people, mostly residents of the South Gyeongsang Province city, who either posed as fake patients or exaggerated their illnesses. Collectively, they claimed 9.5 billion won from 33 insurance companies between 2007 and 2011.

At the center of the scam ― the largest ever in terms of the number of people involved ― were three unconscionable hospitals in the city, which recruited fake patients systematically in cahoots with insurance brokers and solicitors. They did this to increase revenue and ease their financial distress.

The main ploy used by the hospitals was to share a patient, meaning they would arrange for a patient to check in the three hospitals alternately for a different disease. For this, they faked his illnesses and prepared false documents. For close cooperation, they shared patient information among themselves.

This scheme helped patients pocket more insurance money. They all purchased multiple private health insurance policies before hospitalization. On average they received some 7 million won per person. In one example, a man in his 50s was hospitalized for a total of 564 days over three years, collecting 95 million won in insurance.

The Changwon case followed a similar one that took place in Taebaek last November, involving more than 400 people in the declining mining town in Gangwon Province. They got a total of 14 billion won in insurance payments. As with the Changwon scam, three financially distressed hospitals in the city played a central role.

The two cases suggest that insurance fraud is a fairly common occurrence in Korea. According to the FSS, the number of insurance-related crimes has surged in recent years. Last year alone, more than 70,000 people were caught for insurance scams, with the amount of false claims they filed reaching 423 billion won.

Yet the figure represented just the tip of the iceberg. A study by the Korea Insurance Research Institute estimated that domestic insurance companies paid a total of 3.4 trillion won to fraudsters in 2010, up 53 percent from 2006.

The figure accounts for 12.5 percent of the entire sum insurance companies paid to their customers in that year. According to the institute, these false claims had the effect of increasing annual insurance premiums by 70,000 won per person or 200,000 won per household on average.

Health insurance scams inflict damage not only on private insurers but on the National Health Insurance, which is jointly funded by taxpayers, corporations and the government. As insurance fraud increases health care costs, the government needs to crack down on fraudsters.

Yet the problem is that fraud rings employ increasingly sophisticated schemes to beat insurance companies and regulators. For instance, people involved in the Changwon case limited their hospital stay to less than two weeks as a longer one would be scrutinized by the National Health Insurance Corp.

To fight insurance fraud, insurance companies need to be more aggressive in handling suspicious claims. When they encounter questionable claims, they should investigate them. But they often choose to pay the claims and transfer the costs to customers as doing so is cheaper and more convenient.

The NHIC and the FSS are also required to enhance their skills to analyze suspicious claims and beef up their investigation manpower. But these measures alone would not be enough to curb the rising trend of insurance scams.

A more fundamental solution would be to enact a special law, as in many other countries, to deal with insurance fraud differently from fraud of other types. In fact, the FSS has already submitted a bill to toughen punishment for insurance fraud. But lawmakers have not acted on it for years.

The bill calls for canceling the licenses of insurance agents and slapping doctors and hospitals with heavier penalties when they are found to have been involved in a scam. It also proposes to grant insurance companies a limited right to investigate suspicious claims.

Along with these steps, the government will have to find measures to ease the financial hardship of many hospitals in provincial cities. These hospitals are in trouble as patients in their cities prefer big, well-known hospitals in Seoul. If local hospitals put up the shutters, the nation’s entire health care delivery system would be crippled.

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Mortgage Fraud - Blogger

http://melissarocks98.blogspot.de/2012/07/mortgage-fraud-dropjack.html

Mortgage fraud is crime in which the intent is to materially misrepresent or omit information on a mortgage loan application to obtain a loan or to obtain a larger loan than would have been obtained had the lender or borrower known the truth.

In United States federal courts, mortgage fraud is prosecuted as wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, with penalties of up to thirty years imprisonment.As the incidence of mortgage fraud has risen over the past few years, states have also begun to enact their own penalties for mortgage fraud.

Mortgage fraud is not to be confused with predatory mortgage lending, which occurs when a consumer is misled or deceived by agents of the lender. However, predatory lending practices often co-exist with mortgage fraud.

Types
Occupancy fraud: This occurs where the borrower wishes to obtain a mortgage to acquire an investment property, but states on the loan application that the borrower will occupy the property as the primary residence or as a second home. If undetected, the borrower typically obtains a lower interest rate than was warranted. Because lenders typically charge a higher interest rate for non-owner-occupied properties, which historically have higher delinquency rates, the lender receives insufficient return on capital and is over-exposed to loss relative to what was expected in the transaction. In addition, lenders allow larger loans on owner-occupied homes compared to loans for investment properties. When occupancy fraud occurs, it is likely that taxes on gains are not paid, resulting in additional fraud. It is considered fraud because the borrower has materially misprepresented the risk to the lender to obtain more favorable loan terms.

Income fraud: This occurs when a borrower overstates his/her income to qualify for a mortgage or for a larger loan amount. This was most often seen with so-called "stated income" mortgage loans (popularly referred to as "liar loans"), where the borrower, or a loan officer acting for a borrower with or without the borrower's knowledge, stated without verification the income needed to qualify for the loan. Because mortgage lenders have begun to tighten underwriting standards and "stated income" loans are less available, income fraud is increasingly seen in traditional full-documentation loans where the borrower forges or alters an employer-issued Form W-2, tax returns and/or bank account records to provide support for the inflated income. It is considered fraud because in most cases the borrower would not have qualified for the loan had the true income been disclosed. The "mortgage meltdown" was caused, in part, when large numbers of borrowers in areas of rapidly increasing home prices lied about their income, acquired homes they could not afford, and then defaulted.

Employment fraud: This occurs when a borrower claims self-employment in a non-existent company or claims a higher position (e.g., manager) in a real company, to provide justification for a fraudulent representation of the borrower's income.

Failure to disclose liabilities: Borrowers may conceal obligations, such as mortgage loans on other properties or newly acquired credit card debt, to reduce the amount of monthly debt declared on the loan application. This omission of liabilities artificially lowers the debt-to-income ratio, which is a key underwriting criterion used to determine eligibility for most mortgage loans. It is considered fraud because it allows the borrower to qualify for a loan which otherwise would not have been granted, or to qualify for a bigger loan than what would have been granted had the borrower's true debt been disclosed.

Fraud for profit: A complex scheme involving multiple parties, including mortgage lending professionals, in a financially motivated attempt to defraud the lender of large sums of money. Fraud for profit schemes frequently include a straw borrower whose credit report is used, a dishonest appraiser who intentionally and significantly overstates the value of the subject property, a dishonest settlement agent who might prepare two sets of HUD settlement statements or makes disbursements from loan proceeds which are not disclosed on the settlement statement, and a property owner, all in a coordinated attempt to obtain an inappropriately large loan. The parties involved share the ill-gotten gains and the mortgage eventually goes into default. In other cases, naive "investors" are lured into the scheme with the organizer's promise that the home will be repaired, repairs and/or renovations will be made, tenants will located, rents will be collected, mortgage payments made and profits will be split upon sale of the property, all without the active participation of the straw buyer. Once the loan is closed, the organizer disappears, no repairs are made nor renters found, and the "investor" is liable for paying the mortgage on a property that is not worth what is owed, leaving the "investor" financially ruined. If undetected, a bank may lend hundreds of thousands of dollars against a property that is actually worth far less and in large schemes with multiple transactions, banks may lend millions more than the properties are worth. The Robert Douglas Hartmann case is a notable example of this type of scheme.

Appraisal fraud: Occurs when a home's appraised value is deliberately overstated or understated. When overstated, more money can be obtained by the borrower in the form of a cash-out refinance, by the seller in a purchase transaction, or by the organizers of a for-profit mortgage fraud scheme. Appraisal fraud also includes cases where the home's value is deliberately understated to get a lower price on a foreclosed home, or in a fraudulent attempt to induce a lender to decrease the amount owed on the mortgage in a loan modification. A dishonest appraiser may be involved in the preparation of the fraudulent appraisal, or an existing and accurate appraisal may be altered by someone with knowledge of graphic editing tools such as Adobe Photoshop.

Cash-back schemes: Occur where the true price of a property is illegally inflated to provide cash-back to transaction participants, most often the borrowers, who receive a "rebate" which is not disclosed to the lender. As a result the lender lends too much, and the buyer pockets the overage or splits it with other participants, including the seller or the real estate agent. This scheme requires appraisal fraud to deceive the lender. "Get Rich Quick" real-estate gurus' courses frequently rely heavily on this mechanism for profitability.

Shotgunning: Occurs when multiple loans for the same home are obtained simultaneously for a total amount greatly in excess of the actual value of the property. These schemes leave lenders exposed to large losses because the subsequent mortgages are junior to the first mortgage to be recorded and the property value is insufficient for the subsequent lenders to collect against the property in foreclosure. The Matthew Cox and Robert Douglas Hartmann cases are the most notable example of this type of scheme.

Working the gap: A technique which entails the excessive lien stacking knowingly executed on a specific property within an inordinately narrow timeframe, via the serial recording of multiple Deeds of Trust or Assignments of Note. When recording a legal document in the United States of America, a time gap exists between when the Deed of Trust is submitted to the Recorder of Deeds & when it actually shows up in the data. The precision timing technique of "working the gap" between the recording of a deed & its subsequent appearance in the recorder of deeds database is instrumental in propagating the perpetrator's deception. A title search done by any lender immediately prior to the respective loan, promissory note, & deed recording would thus erroneously fail to show the alternate liens concurrently in the queue. The goal of the perpetrator is the theft of funds from each lender by deceit, with all lenders simultaneously & erroneously believing their respective Deeds of Trust to be senior in position, when in actuality there can be only one. White-collar criminals who utilize this technique will frequently claim innocence based on clerical errors, bad record keeping, or other smokescreen excuses in an attempt to obfuscate the true coordination & intent inherent in this version of mortgage fraud. This "gaming" or exploitation of a structural weakness in the US legal system is a critical precursor to "shotgunning" and considered white-collar crime when implemented in a systemic fashion.

Identity theft: Occurs when a person assumes the identity of another and uses that identity to obtain a mortgage without the knowledge or consent of the victim. In these schemes, the thieves disappear without making payments on the mortgage. The schemes are usually not discovered until the lender tries to collect from the victim, who may incur substantial costs trying to prove the theft of his/her identity.

Falsification of loan applications without the knowledge of the borrower : The loan applications are falsified with out the knowledge of the borrower when the borrower actually will not qualify for a loan for various reasons. for example parties involved will make a commission out of the transaction. The business happens only if the loan application is falsified. For example borrower applies for a loan stating monthly income of $2000 (but with this income $2000 per month the borrower will not qualify), however the broker or loan officer falsified the income documents and loan application that borrower earns a monthly income of $15,000. The loan gets approved the broker/loan officer etc. gets their commission. But the borrower struggles to repay the loan and defaults the loan eventually.

Other background

Mortgage fraud by borrowers from US Department of the Treasury
Mortgage fraud may be perpetrated by one or more participants in a loan transaction, including the borrower; a loan officer who originates the mortgage; a real estate agent, appraiser, a title or escrow representative or attorney; or by multiple parties as in the example of the fraud ring described above. Dishonest and unreputable stakeholders may encourage and assist borrowers in committing fraud because most participants are typically compensated only when a transaction closes.

During 2003 The Money Programme of the BBC in the UK uncovered systemic mortgage fraud throughout HBOS. The Money Programme found that during the investigation brokers advised the undercover researchers to lie on applications for self-certified mortgages from, among others, The Royal Bank of Scotland, The Mortgage Business and Birmingham Midshires Building Society.

In 2004, the FBI warned that mortgage fraud was becoming so rampant that the resulting "epidemic" of crimes could trigger a massive financial crisis. According to a December 2005 press release from the FBI, "mortgage fraud is one of the fastest growing white collar crimes in the United States".

The number of FBI agents assigned to mortgage-related crimes increased by 50 percent between 2007 and 2008.[8] In June 2008, The FBI stated that its mortgage fraud caseload has doubled in the past three years to more than 1,400 pending cases.Between 1 March and 18 June 2008, 406 people were arrested for mortgage fraud in an FBI sting across the country. People arrested include buyers, sellers and others across the wide-ranging mortgage industry.

Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009
In May 2009, the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, or FERA, Pub.L. 111-21, 123 Stat. 1617, S. 386, public law in the United States, was enacted. The law takes a number of steps ([1]) to enhance criminal enforcement of federal fraud laws, especially regarding financial institutions, mortgage fraud, and securities fraud or commodities fraud.

Significant to note, Section 3 of the Act authorized additional funding to detect and prosecute fraud at various federal agencies, specifically:

$165,000,000 to the Department of Justice,
$30,000,000 each to the Postal Inspection Service and the Office of the Inspector General at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD/OIG)
$20,000,000 to the Secret Service
$21,000,000 to the Securities and Exchange Commission
These authorizations were made for the federal fiscal years beginning October 1, 2009 and 2010, after which point they expire, and are in addition to the previously authorized budgets for these agencies. 

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Top 5 Home Loan Scams - TravelBlog

http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-731949.html

Recent headlines about the troubled subprime lending industry are making Americans more aware of the consequences of risky lending practices. But unscrupulous lenders and scam artists continue to prey on unsuspecting loan shoppers and homeowners. 

Unfortunately, loan-related scams aren’t restricted to tricking consumers into loans with outrageously high interest rates. Today’s sophisticated scammers are using loans as a vehicle to do everything from stealing sensitive personal information to virtually stealing a credit-challenged homeowner’s own home. The mortgage experts at Loan.com have identified five top scams that all consumers - mortgage shoppers and homeowners alike - should be on the look-out for. 

1. Unsolicited phone calls 
Americans across the country have reported receiving phone calls from telemarketers posing as representatives from well-known organizations such as Fannie Mae offering to refinance loans at low rates. These “representatives” often ask for personal information, claiming they need it to qualify a victim for a loan. This information is then used to steal a victim’s identity. 

Loan.com’s Advice: Be wary of any phone call offering remarkably low interest rates on loans, especially if you have registered your phone number with the Do Not Call Registry. Most major nationwide lenders do not solicit business over the phone. Never give out personal information over the phone unless you are absolutely sure who you are speaking with. 

2. “Helpful” contractors 
Many homeowners have reported contractors – often roofing or remodel professionals – approaching them with an offer to perform upgrades on their home at a reasonable price. These contractors offer financing through low-interest loans. It’s not until after signing numerous forms that too many homeowners realize they have signed off on a high-interest home equity loan, and that the contractor has been hired by unscrupulous lenders to sell loans, not improve homes. 

Loan.com’s Advice: It’s fine to make improvements to your home, but do so on your own terms. A contractor appearing on your doorstep out of the blue should be a red flag, as should high-pressure sales pitches that focus on “easy” financing options. 

3. Unexpected change of lenders 
With the lending industry constantly evolving, it’s not uncommon for a mortgage to get transferred to a different lending agency more than once over a period of years. But some homeowners have received official-sounding but fraudulent letters informing them that their mortgage has changed hands and instructing them to mail payments made out to a new organization to a new address. 

Loan.com’s Advice: Always confirm any major mortgage payment changes with your current lender. Many organizations will notify you of upcoming changes months in advance, and will provide contact phone numbers and Web resources for more information. Be skeptical of any unexpected letter telling you to immediately mail payments to a different location or organization. 

4. “Rescue” agencies 
Scam artists are using public records to identify homeowners facing foreclosure. They then approach desperate homeowners with an offer to help them out of their financial situation by signing deeds transferring the title of the home to an “interested buyer” for a short period of time. In reality, the transfer is permanent and the “buyer” is fraudulent, often created out of a stolen identify. The “buyer” takes out a second loan for the current value of the home and pays off the original mortgage, keeping the difference. The “buyer” then disappears and stops making payments on the second loan, throwing the home into foreclosure and leaving the original homeowner with nothing. 

Loan.com’s Advice: If you’re facing foreclosure, contact your lender to review all of your options. Be extremely wary of any unsolicited individual or agency that appears with promises to help you out of your situation – especially if it involves transferring titles. 

5. “We finance anyone!” 
The classic predatory loan, mostly targeted at people who don’t yet own a home. Often advertised in newspaper ads, on fliers posted on telephone poles, and online through banner ads and spam e-mail, these lenders provide loans to credit-challenged consumers at extremely high rates. Many of these lenders expect homeowners to eventually be unable to make payments, allowing lenders to seize homes or refer homeowners to an affiliated second predatory lender. 

Loan.com’s Advice: Though unethical, these predatory loans are legal. Be absolutely sure you are financially prepared to purchase a home. When you’re ready, check with agencies such as the FDIC, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and use resources like the ones on this site andBestRate.com to find a verified lender.

California - States - Prevent Loan Scams - TravelBlog

http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-731948.html

Asia
July 22nd 2012 

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http://www.preventloanscams.org/states?id=0005 

Statewide 

California Indian Legal Services 

Assistance: Foreclosure to all Native Americans living in California and other Residents of select Counties 

Location: Escondido, Bishop, Eureka, and Sacramento 

Website: http://www.calindian.org/ 

Phone: Escondido: (760) 746-8941 or (800) 743-8941 

Bishop: (760) 873-3581 or (800) 736-3582 

Eureka: (707) 443-8397 or (800) 347-2402 

Sacramento: (916) 978-0960 or (800) 829-0284 

Services: 

The various offices provides free and low-cost legal services to Native Americans and Native American tribes and residents of the Counties of Alpine, Inyo, Kern, Mono, Tuolumne, Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lassen, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Trinity , Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Kings, Lake, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Yolo, Yuba. 

California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) 

Assistance: Foreclosure and Loan Modification Scams for California Residents in Rural Areas in English and Spanish 

Location: Coachella, Delano, El Centro, Fresno, Gilroy, Lamont, Madera, Marysville, Modesto, Monterey, Oceanside, Oxnard, Paso Robles, Salinas, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Maria, Santa Rosa, Stockton, Watsonville 

Website: http://www.crla.org/ 

Phone: To find the contact information for the office closest to you, please visithttp://www.crla.org/index.php?page=office-locations-amp-staff 

Services: 

CRLA provides free legal services to low-income residents in various rural counties. The organization assists with foreclosure and loan modification scam issues. In particular, CRLA operates free foreclosure intervention workshops out of the Marysville office. Please note that the offices can differ in the services they provide and the service areas in which they practice. Contact your local CRLA office for more information about services available in your area. 

Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA) 

Assistance: Foreclosure and Loan Modification Scams in English, Spanish, and French 

Location: Oakland 

Website: http://www.heraca.org/ 

Phone: (510) 271-8443 

Email: inquiries@heraca.org 

Services: 

HERA focuses on the needs of vulnerable populations, including lower-income people, the elderly, immigrants, people of color, and people with disabilities. Its core practice areas include unfair mortgage lending, foreclosure prevention and fair housing. Direct legal representation services are available primarily in Northern California, while legal advice and referrals are available statewide. 

Legal Services of Northern California - Senior Legal Hotline (SLH) 

Assistance: Foreclosure and Loan Modification Scams to California Residents Age 60 and Older in English, Farsi, Hmong, Hebrew, Punjabi and Spanish. Assistance in additional languages is also offered when possible. 

Location: Sacramento 

Website: http://www.seniorlegalhotline.org/ 

Phone: (800) 222-1753 or (916) 551-2140 

M-F 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 

Th 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 

Services: 

SLH offers free legal advice by phone on any subject to California residents age 60 and over. Written materials and some additional advocacy may be provided, and clients who need more extensive assistance are referred to an appropriate legal services program, or other source. A mediation program can help resolve some disputes. Depending on call volume, callers during those hours may receive immediate service or get in queue for a same-day callback. Callback appointments may also be made. Seniors can also submit questions to the website and receive a phone appointment with a SLH advocate. 

Central California 

Central California Legal Services, Inc. 

Assistance: Foreclosure and Loan Scams in English, Spanish, Khmer, Laotian, Hmong 

Location: Offices in Fresno, Merced, and Visalia 

Website: www.centralcallegal.org 

Phone: Fresno (559) 570-1200 or (800) 675-8001 

Merced (209) 723-5466 or (800) 464-3111 

Visalia (559) 733-8770 or (800) 350-3654 

Email: fresno@centralcallegal.org 

Services: 

Central California Legal Services provides free legal assistance to low-income families and individuals in the Counties of Fresno, Kings, Mariposa, Merced, Tulare, and Tuolumne. The attorneys provide services related to foreclosure prevention and consumer issues. 

Council on Aging Silicon Valley 

Assistance: Foreclosure and Loan Scams 

Location: Santa Clara County 

Website: www.coasiliconvalley.com/site/ 

Phone: (408) 296-8290 

Services: 

The Council’s Fair Lending Project for Seniors provides legal and social work services to seniors seeking to protect themselves against harmful mortgage lending practices. The Project also gives outreach presentations covering a wide range of issues, including predatory lending, smart refinancing, reverse mortgage alternatives, foreclosure prevention, and how to spot a loan modification scam. Seniors wanting more information should call the phone number above. 

Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance, Inc. (GBLA) 

Assistance: Foreclosure and Loan Scams in English and Spanish 

Location: Bakersfield 

Website: www.gbla.org 

Phone: (661) 325-5943 or (888) 292-GBLA 

Email: gbla@lightspeed.net 

Services: 

GBLA is a non-profit legal services program providing free legal assistance in civil matters to low-income and seniors residing in Kern County. The organization handles foreclosure and consumer issues, including unfair and unjust business practices for low-income consumers.