Posted by MW/VA on 6/23/08 7:44am
Msg #252562

Predatory Lending

I know this is a very touchy subject, but does anyone know where someone could report a company for Predatory Lending Practices?

Reply by Loretta on 6/23/08 8:26am
Msg #252564

I don't have an answer but that's a great question since there have been about 300 arrests in the last couple of weeks. Loan officers and others in the mortgage busines are getting busted for inflating appraisals and borrowers income. This put them into loans that they could not afford. Maryland is being hit hard by this and it's going to get worse.

Reply by NCLisa on 6/23/08 8:44am
Msg #252567

Try some of these:

http://www.homeloanlearningcenter.com/ConsumerHelpDesk/haveacomplaint.htm

Reply by Becca_FL on 6/23/08 9:07am
Msg #252569

http://www.mortgagefraudwatchlist.org/ is one place you can go to report fraud. You can also call the lenders fraud department if it is a broker involved in the predatory lending and report the incident to the state agency that regulates the perpetrator of the fraud. Last, but not least, there's the FBI. I'm sure you have seen the FBI Fraud Warning statement now included in many packages.

Reply by Sharon Taylor on 6/23/08 9:51am
Msg #252577

Sad how often some brokers lied to borrowers

I remember one case in particular, an elderly couple with health problems on a very fixed income, not a penny's worth of wiggle room in their budget. The loan was an 2/28 adjustable-rate with a 2-year penalty.
I carefully and factually went over the loan with them, and they called the broker several times during my visit. He was very high-pressure butter-wouldn't-melt-in-my-mouth treacly sweet to them about how he was going to refinance them into a better loan long before the adjustable rate kicked in. What really frosted me was his refrain of "Trust Me", asking the borrowers "Would I lie to you?" I mean, what were they going to say to that? Of course they kept reassuring him that they trusted him to do the right thing by them, and they signed the loan papers.
Unfortunately as the notary all I could do was make sure they fully understood the terms of the loan and that they had a right to refuse to sign if they didn't want to, but I was no match for that predatory broker. Grrrrrrrr.

Reply by PAW on 6/23/08 1:02pm
Msg #252599

Mortgage News Daily has a pretty comprehensive list of agency to contact. Visit http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_fraud/National_Resources.asp for details.

Reply by PAW on 6/23/08 1:04pm
Msg #252600

Re: Predatory Lending - Correction

That should read - comprehensive list of agencies to contact.