What exactly is a “mortgage fraud charge”? While the whole process might seem vague to some, the government is certainly cracking down on the “crime”. It can be seen as a criminal action when there is intent to misrepresent or omit information on a mortgage loan application. Or to obtain a larger loan than would have been obtained if the lender or borrower had known the truth.
Mortgage fraud can be an umbrella that covers many other charges such as identity theft, conspiracy, “cash-back” schemes and numerous kinds of other fraud (wire, mail, bank, income, employment, appraisal, etc.). If you are charged with this or anything similar, you will need a defense lawyer with experience in handling fraud cases. Taking on a potential federal case means you are up against the government and all of their resources, which seem limitless. It can be a daunting task if you don’t have a solid defense attorney by your side.
If you think mortgage fraud cases are rare, think again. A few months ago in Florida, a woman was convicted of wire fraud affecting a financial institution. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution totaling $415,282! Pretty serious stuff. She was an employee of a mortgage company based in Florida and was responsible for preparing loan packages and forwarding the documents to investor financial institutions. She was accused of signing multiple loan documents using multiple names. Alvarez forwarded these documents to multiple investor financial institutions, one of which was M&T Bank.
It didn’t take long for the long arm of the law to reach her. Just an example of how thorough the U.S. government is when it’s taking on a mortage fraud case.
