FBI officials say mortgage fraud is a big problem in St. Louis.
Originally published February 9, 2010 at 10:53 a.m., updated February 9, 2010 at 10:53 a.m.
FBI officials said mortgage fraud is the top priority of the white collar crime squad in the St. Louis area.
Mark Aldrich, supervisory special agent for white collar crime squad said mortgage fraud hasn’t hit Missouri as hard as Arizona, California and numerous other states--but it is still a problem.
A problem that officials say can cause victims to lose their homes, file for bankruptcy and rack up bad credit.
FBI officials said they most often see scam artists taking advantage of individuals whose homes are foreclosed upon.
Aldrich said these fake companies encourage home owners on the brink of foreclosure to sign their deeds over to them.
The company agrees to act as landlord and pay the owner’s bills if the owner pays them--but the companies take the money, don’t pay and the home goes into foreclosure.
“They agree to A but by the time they get to B things have changed.” Aldrich said.
Aldrich said another situation the FBI has seen in St. Louis, is buyers submitting documents with overstated bank accounts to mortgage lending companies and brokers selling the loans to a larger company and letting the loans go into default.
Aldrich said homeowners are not likely to be the subject of mortgage fraud if they read carefully over their documents before closing on a home or dealing with a foreclosure rescue company.
The FBI official also recommended researching and checking with the Better Business Bureau when dealing with a company that claims they rescue foreclosed homes.
“Do research in the company that is going to help you and make sure they‘re going to help you,” he said.
St. Louis County is doing their part in preventing mortgage crime by now offering a free property fraud alert service for residents.
County property owners can register their names in the “Property Fraud Alert” through the county’s recorder of deeds web site.
Those who enroll will be alerted by their choice of phone or e-mail anytime a document is registered and recorded in their name.
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said he hopes the service will help catch fraud before it’s too late to save residents “headaches and lawyer fees” to get property back.
“In these economic times there are so many more scams going on,” Dooley said. “For some reason crooks find a hole and they use it against others.”
Dooley said signing up is simple and can be done by visiting the Property Fraud Alert web site www.propertyfraudalert.com and selecting St. Louis from the list of counties offering the service.
Interested residents may also call 1-800-728-3858 to sign up.
Aldrich said the county’s property fraud alert service is a good educational tool for the community.
“The more information the public has to be aware of mortgage fraud will help prevent it,” he said.
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Comments
JPL (anonymous) says...
Sounds like CountryWide has a new business model.
February 9, 2010 at 11:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
stlninja (anonymous) says...
Capitalism is beautiful.
February 9, 2010 at 1:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
beebee (anonymous) says...
Finally an article about GREEDY people where greedy does not preceed 'corporations'
February 9, 2010 at 5:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )