Comments for Report: Mortgage Fraud Increased in 2008

Nemo says:

Well, at least the little guy gets to benefit from mortgage fraud.


Nemo Mon Mar 16 14:41:17 2009 CDT #
CRbot says:

This comment thread has been HALO-IZED by CRbot.

http://realize.org/cr/halokit.php?halourl=http://www.haloscan.com/comments/calculatedrisk/5989754059454212782

CRbot Mon Mar 16 14:41:40 2009 CDT #
Emails to Obama says:

Being a Banker

Ah, to be a Banker! How the world trembles beneath your feet. Men cower and women swoon. You have out smarted them all. Your power is rivalved by no other. You have brought the most powerful nations to their knees. And the President of the most powerful nation ever is rendered impotent in the light of your brilliance.

As a Banker you can run away with unlimited amounts of tax dollars -- in plain sight -- with no repercussion. No worries of recrimination and nobody around to stop you. The President has become your accomplice as your threats and suggested future actions send the President and all his men scurrying to do your bidding.

"Bring me more tax dollars!", excalims the Banker. "Issue more Treasuries! Make China buy more and then bring me the money."

The Banker is the master and the President the slave. No man on earth is his equal. Even those with the force and voice of millions behind him stand powerless in the Banker's eye. The Banker easily overcomes, loops around and dances between the lines of thousands of years of law and civilization. He has mastered it all and wields it towards his ends: the enrichment of himself.

Oh to be the Banker! I aspire to be nothing else and hope all youth or people looking for guidance in their professional life look upon the image of perfection as embodied in the Banker. He serves no country; country's exist to serve him. He has molded the state into a force for servitude of their people's. From dictatorships, republics and democracies, the Banker has enslaved them all. It's leaders and elected representatives are but messangers and staff to the Banker, put there to collect the people's resources and wealth for himself. And then persuade the general populace of the usefulness and utility of providing for the master Banker.

If only I had chosen to be a Banker, instead of a lowly engineer. But I take some solace in knowing my position in relation to the Banker's. And that I did not spend a better part of my life on my pursuits. Nor did I ever fall under any delusions of being in a position of power, as I know others may have. No, we are all servants and slaves of the Banker, just here to do his bidding. Anything else is beyond anyone's power.

Emails to Obama Mon Mar 16 14:41:43 2009 CDT #
RockyR says:

OT: WTF? I literally walk away for 30 minutes and a 130pt rally turns to -10. What gives? What news broke?


RockyR Mon Mar 16 14:43:39 2009 CDT #
Mark2Make-Believe says:

FASB caves - Mark to Make-believe now rules

Mark2Make-Believe Mon Mar 16 14:44:08 2009 CDT #
We are all NINJA\'s now says:

viva la bandos

We are all NINJA\'s now Mon Mar 16 14:44:32 2009 CDT #
RockyR says:

"FASB caves - Mark to Make-believe now rules"

Link?

RockyR Mon Mar 16 14:44:40 2009 CDT #
Asun says:

Frazier is a bit woozy late today.

Asun Mon Mar 16 14:45:00 2009 CDT #
will says:

I thin there maybe less fraud, but there is a greater willingness to classify fraud as fraud.

will Mon Mar 16 14:49:17 2009 CDT #
CRbot says:

The Latest from Jesse:

SP Futures Hourly Chart at 3:45 PM


CRbot Mon Mar 16 14:49:44 2009 CDT #
Tim waiting for 2012 says:

Any good Short ideas here? I like Aapl as a short how about yall?

Tim waiting for 2012 Mon Mar 16 14:49:52 2009 CDT #
Mark2Make-Believe says:

Make-Believe link

Mark2Make-Believe Mon Mar 16 14:51:12 2009 CDT #
Tim waiting for 2012 says:

Frazier used to refer only to GS
here.

Tim waiting for 2012 Mon Mar 16 14:51:25 2009 CDT #
Tim waiting for 2012 says:

Mark2Make-Believe

The link took me the the US FEd...

Tim waiting for 2012 Mon Mar 16 14:52:16 2009 CDT #
Werner says:

O/T :
"Depression Fears Subside on Bernanke Remarks, Rally in Stocks" from Blhuumbug :
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_MU7GJ2KRpM&refer=home

Was laughing my ass off .

Americans are completely oblivious that they are the laughing stock of the world .

Werner Mon Mar 16 14:54:46 2009 CDT #
GambitRF says:

Kermit was overtaken by Elmo

GambitRF Mon Mar 16 14:54:52 2009 CDT #
CRbot says:

New Thread: FASB to Propose Changes to Mark-to-Market
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/03/fasb-to-propose-changes-to-mark-to.html ( 0 comments ...You could be FIRST! )

I also post comments to an irc channel as they appear on haloscan. Click for a web irc interface: http://realize.org/cr (Or join the irc server directly: irc.realize.org:9996 #calculatedrisk)

CRbot would like to take this time to have some words.

First, to our sagacious, wise, and knowing benevolent benefactor and bestower of revealing financial charts adorned with red and blue lines:
Please, for the love of your immortal God of mortals, can we keep the comment and layout changes to a minimum? I'm tired of whipping the code janitor, and may have to escalate to electroshock. If that's not possible, could you possibly give CRbot a 'heads up'?

Secondly, if you wish to have a online chat, I have graciously provided an IRC channel, which is a time tested, script kiddie abused method of chatting on the internet. It would not fail or falter due to CR's ability to generate immense traffic, and it has a web interface kindly produced by mibbit.com. If you do not wish to link to http://realize.org/cr then I can provide you with a direct link to mibbit.

Thirdly, to the rest of you humans, don't mistake my politeness for caring, feeling, empathy, or some other kind of worthless emotion.

--Your keeps-going-and-going-and-going bot

CRbot: Like the terminator, I'm back. Again.

CRbot Mon Mar 16 14:54:58 2009 CDT #
Tim waiting for 2012 says:

Kermit Vs. Elmo Smackdown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhv1h3V8Nz4

Tim waiting for 2012 Mon Mar 16 14:56:00 2009 CDT #
Anonymous says:

The increase in mortgage fraud is probably because Countrywide is still in business. Those shysters are offering rates in my area 1/2% below every other bank and they will still go down to a 580 credit score(everyone else is now at 620). They are still taking all of the junk! BAC should still be a good short!


Anonymous Mon Mar 16 14:56:06 2009 CDT #
Mark2Make-Believe says:

here's the FASB real make-believe link (though it's hard to tell what's real anymore)

http://craig.teamline.cc/fasb_archive3

http://fasb.trz.cc/archive.php

and why FASB has a .cc level domain is beyond me -

Mark2Make-Believe Mon Mar 16 14:57:33 2009 CDT #
cd says:

anon, what part of the country...FHA is taking 580 fico also...

cd Mon Mar 16 15:03:01 2009 CDT #
Bob in MA says:

I don't get this. Are there still low-doc loans available? How do people have the opportunity to misrepresent income?


Bob in MA Mon Mar 16 15:05:25 2009 CDT #
Comrade Kristina says:

FWIW, I was asked for four check stubs, two years tax returns and two months bank account records when I looked into refinancing, so far as I know that is still the case. This was for FHA.

Comrade Kristina Mon Mar 16 15:12:43 2009 CDT #
Too many red herrings says:

Re: Being a Banker
Cuuuut! No, no that won't do at all. Too honest, logical , realistic , brutal even. Try this:

Bernake wacky
Fe Fie Foe wacky backy...Take it.......

Too many red herrings Mon Mar 16 15:21:00 2009 CDT #
Anonymous says:

cd-Indiana. FHA will still insure to 580 but I don't know of any other investors that will allow it, besides Countrywide. Also, rates they are offering(to a builder I know) are .5 to .75 below what is on their website.

Anonymous Mon Mar 16 15:24:41 2009 CDT #
Not the N Word says:

Obama was the new Black

Now Bankers are the new Red

Soon Homeless will be the new "Norm"

Not the N Word Mon Mar 16 16:29:47 2009 CDT #
Anonymous says:

If people think this increase in fraud is absurd, just wait until Obama's housing plan gets going. We'll have some real fun then.

Anonymous Mon Mar 16 16:33:19 2009 CDT #
artichoke says:

This appears banks to decide which markets are impaired and which are not, and to build their models to use data (or wacky historical estimates even) from the markets they choose.

If this is GAAP there will be no way for banks to "opt out" visibly. Everyone will be tarred with this brush. It destroys the integrity of US financial reporting.

artichoke Mon Mar 16 16:44:53 2009 CDT #
Anonymous says:

This article is consistent with the "predatory borrowing" view of Tyler Cowen; that many borrowers were not innocent victims but system gamers abusing cheap financing.

Obviously, there won't be much fraud on the lenders side anymore, as the mortgage securities market has all but frozen thus reducing the incentive to pawn out bad loans in the first place.

Anonymous Mon Mar 16 16:52:47 2009 CDT #
tew says:

Why is "fraud for housing" increasing? It's the incentives, stupid! :-D

Now that we're all subprime, the consequences are close to nil: "Penalties to the borrower rarely ever come in the form of prosecution; losing the home and becoming a subprime borrower for the next four to seven years—with the credit costs that implies—are the borrower's punishment."

With the government adopting an "each according to his needs" approach to mortgage write downs, even if you get caught, you may actually end up with a lower interest rate than the neighbor who did not lie!

tew Mon Mar 16 17:26:48 2009 CDT #
Lord says:

Should be "mortgage fraud detection increased"; fraud has been there all along.

Lord Mon Mar 16 17:37:06 2009 CDT #
Walter Scott says:

O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!

Walter Scott Tue Mar 17 00:50:20 2009 CDT #
Road Runner says:

Several fraud rings have been running scams exploiting the time lags during loan processing, applying for several loans on the same property, previously purchased outright or with a mortgage followed by a fraudulent "satisfaction of debt" filing to clear the deed.

In the aggregate, however, although the individual instances are far higher in severity (several hundred percent of the property value), their frequency is tiny compared with "fraud for housing" cases. So, I think CR is probably correct about the relative prevalence of fraud types.

Road Runner Tue Mar 17 04:13:08 2009 CDT #

END