Real Estate News – October 6, 2011
Bank of America Corp. should face fraud proceedings after its Countrywide unit submitted faulty data to back up claims for reimbursement on federally insured mortgages, according to an audit by a U.S. watchdog (via Businessweek.com):
Some of the nation’s biggest banks and mortgage companies have defrauded veterans and taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars by disguising illegal fees in veterans’ home refinancing loans, according to a whistleblower suit unsealed in federal court in Atlanta (via washingtonpost.com): http://wapo.st/p9alJ8
A new bill introduced in Congress this week, if approved, would allow home owners to withdraw funds tax-free from their retirement accounts to help pay for their mortgage (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/o3Mrez
Two central Ohio couples say that their homes became giant magnets and they want to sue their builder, Centex Homes, for damages. The case now stands in the Ohio Supreme Court to decide whether the home owners have the right to sue (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/r1hDJ0
Steven J. Baum’s foreclosure law firm, one of the largest in New York state, will pay the U.S. $2 million and change its practices, including those related to Merscorp Inc.’s mortgage database, to resolve a probe of its foreclosure filings (via Businessweek.com): http://bit.ly/qkmiJN
U.S. Senate lawmakers said Thursday they want to be cautious about scaling back or eliminating the popular home mortgage-interest deduction to avoid further upsetting the troubled housing market (via foxbusiness.com): http://fxn.ws/nrNtBd
A Long Island real estate developer previously jailed for laundering bribes to a California congressman has been sentenced to nine years in prison for a Queens and Brooklyn-based mortgage fraud conspiracy that resulted in more than $98 million in losses, the U.S. attorney for New York’s Eastern District said (via Douglaston.patch.com): http://bit.ly/q5nRkA