Disgusting report on a screwed homedebtor, a foreclosure nightmare and the conmen and sharks now circling in scum central Las Vegas Nevada

Morgan Brown @ Blown Mortgage predicts the death of the mortgage broker. "Dead Man Walking" as the channel shuts down

There we have it HP'ers. The first mortgage broker to admit that mortgage brokers are going away. Now we just need a realtor to admit the truth - that realtors are going away too.

Mortgage brokers and agents will be first though. The banks and lenders are cutting them off, focusing on retail vs. wholesale.

So goodbye fraudsters. Goodbye conmen. Goodbye used car salesmen, bartenders and call center jockeys. You perpetuated the housing bubble (and crash) with your commission-fueled fraud. And you destroyed an industry. Your own.

Check out Morgan's post and also the REIC comments.

Dead Man Walking - Wholesale Lending is Marching Towards Extinction

There has been a whisper in the mortgage-lending winds, subtle at first, but growing louder everyday: wholesale lending by mortgage brokers is on its death bed. It hasn’t been proclaimed, in fact the big players are adamantly voicing support for their affiliated brokers, but the actions of large banks belie their big talk. For all of the kudos and reassurances as an important business channel lavished on top of brokers by lending institutions, the rug is slowly and silently being pulled out from under the broker population.

This isn’t a conspiracy theory - the facts are clear for all who choose to look past the PR spin put out by lenders; whose only motivation is to drain the last red cent out of this feeble business model before finally cutting off its oxygen with the heel of their mighty boot.

..The court of public opinion will demand a fall guy for this mess; and probably more than one. While everyone is pointing out Angelo Mozilo, watch for the mortgage brokers to take the brunt of legislative changes and regulatory action that will shut that channel down.

FLASH: The NAR announces they're run by monkeys. In related news right on schedule they lower their home sales forecast for the EIGHTH STRAIGHT MONTH

A HousingPANIC message to the incompetent monkeys polluting the head office of the National Association of Realtors:

The nation is laughing at you. You've lost all credibility and respect. You are not only harming the homedebtors of America, you're also harming your 1.3 million suckers, err, I mean dues-payers.

Lower your damn forecast once and for all. "Drama-forecast". Lower 2007. Lower 2008. Lower 2009. You know the truth of what's happening, so say it. And believe it or not, the truth will actually HELP your suckers, err, I mean your dues-payers, start selling houses again.

Why? Because the truth will freak out the homedebtors who need to get the message that prices are going to fall dramatically, and they'll lower the damn prices.

Stop sending Yun out to lie to America. Stop with your lies and spin. And stop being the most evil and distrusted organization in America. You're not fooling anyone anymore.

Realtors Group Lowers Forecast for Existing Home Sales for Eighth-Straight Month

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The decline in sales of existing homes this year will be steeper than previously anticipated, a trade group for real estate agents said Wednesday.

The eighth straight downwardly revised forecast from the National Association of Realtors calls for U.S. existing home sales to be 10.8 percent lower than last year as housing market struggles persist.

In its October report, the association predicts 5.78 million existing homes will be sold in 2007, down from 6.48 million last year. Last month, the association predicted an 8.6 percent drop from a year ago.

Still, the group maintains an optimistic message. It's senior economist, Lawrence Yun, noted in a statement that markets including Austin, Texas, Salt Lake City and Raleigh N.C. are showing price growth and 2007's home sales will be the fifth-highest on record.

"The speculative excesses have been removed from the market and home sales are returning to fundamentally healthy levels, while prices remain near record highs, reflecting favorable mortgage rates and positive job gains," Yun said.

When we look back at the housing crash years from now, it'll be the unlicensed mortgage officers most to blame

Realtors are licensed

Appraisers are licensed

Homebuilders are licensed

Banks are licensed

People who drive cars are licensed

Fishermen are licensed

Strippers (in AZ) are licensed (so I hear)

Yet the one group who had the most to do with the housing bubble, "mortgage officers", have no regulations, no licenses, no rules, no oversight, no nothing. Just get the sale at any cost, make the commission, screw the buyer, and move on.

And look where that got us to today.

The system got gamed. An unregulated rouge collection of con men, swindlers, call center jockeys, bartenders, strippers, used car salesmen and generally the scum of society banded together under the seemingly professional title of "mortgage broker" and "mortgage officer" these past few years and screwed America.

And nobody in government thought it would be a good idea to step in.

Hmmm... maybe because the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Homebuilders, who wanted to maintain the status quo, have your corrupted leaders in their pockets?

Here's a report from the cesspool of mortgage fraud and fraudsters, Phoenix Arizona:

Rules sought on mortgage officers
Bill to require licensing would help curb fraud, backers say

Many of the people in Arizona who help home buyers finance what is often the biggest purchase of their lives are not licensed. In the rapidly growing mortgage industry, many of these unlicensed people who handle home loans can put consumers at risk.

It's estimated that there are as many as 18,000 unlicensed people taking mortgage applications, negotiating rates and getting loan commissions statewide. Many are enticed by the Valley's housing boom, exotic and often risky mortgages and no licensing requirements.

"I know of mortgage people working out of their bedrooms and selling stereos on the side. They got into the business six months ago and don't know a lot about it. They can give the industry a bad name," said Rick Allen, a branch manager with the Valley mortgage firm O'Dowd and Associates.

22 year old stripper with $2.4 million in debt and 10 foreclosed houses. An REIC spinning out of control. And an epic, devastating housing crash.

Folks, if you haven't gotten the message yet, you really should right about now.

You have witnessed the end of a giant fraud-enabled housing bubble now ending in an historic housing crash that will shake the world.

Ask yourself why places like Phoenix, where housing price increases barely kept up with inflation for decades, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, shot up 55% in one year.

It was fraud folks. Pure unmitigated, unchecked fraud. With a dash of greed of course.

A wave of fraudsters, flippers, investors, and locals caught up in a grand Ponzi Scheme. One giant STD of call center jockeys, strippers, bartenders, realtors, infomercial salesmen, used car dealers and the rest gaming the system, committing mortgage fraud on a massive scale, falsely and temporarily inflating home prices, sucking cash back out of the deals in a massive bank robbery, all under the corrupt and ignorant eyes of regulators, Congress and the media.

And then it ended. Suddenly.

The funny thing is that the 22 year old stripper didn't end up holding the bag. Sure, her credit is wiped out, and she'll be back on the pole. But it's the pension funds, the hedge funds and China who ended up getting burned in the deal. Plus any unsuspecting and underwater homedebtor who listened to a realtor on commission and bought in 2003 - 2006, and neighborhoods blighted by her foreclosures.

22 years old. $2.4 million in debt. Admitted mortgage fraud. 10 foreclosed houses. I think this stripper could be Casey's alter ego!

How many more are out there folks? Jail time anyone? Anyone? Anyone?

'Straw buyer' deals fuel tidal wave of foreclosures

She was 22 and tired of exotic dancing for a living. So Irene Thomas bet her future on real estate, hoping that becoming a landlord would be her first step toward exiting the stage.

With the help of Universal Mortgage Inc., a brokerage company in Brooklyn Park, Thomas signed the papers to buy a house early last year. And she kept signing. And signing.

In 90 days, with none of her money down, Thomas had $2.4 million in debt and 10 houses in her name, most in north Minneapolis. Nine belonged to officials of Universal, the same company that handled the transactions for her.

Less than 18 months later, Thomas was losing every property to foreclosure after the monthly payments weren't made. Her credit ruined, she now says she was duped by a group of real estate insiders who sold houses at inflated prices.

The practice is so commonplace that real estate experts say it is helping fuel the nation's foreclosure epidemic, which is destabilizing neighborhoods as home after home is lost to banks and other lenders.

HP REPOST: A&E Programming Note: "Flip This House" name change. Now "Scam This Country"

I've gotten tons of email and posts today about the A&E Flip This House scam, because yahoo and the AP finally ran a story (weeks later). So here's the repost. HP also got mentioned in the Kansas City Star on this subject. Nice to see the MSM chasing their tail (and the blogs).

____________________________

I'm sorry. I thought today was May 16. I didn't realize it was HousingPANIC Christmas! The gifts just keep coming!

Fox News Breaks "Flip This House" Case

If you ever wanted to know whether the real estate investors who say they make a lot of money are telling the truth or not, don't expect to learn it by watching A&E's "Flip This House."

In a stunning investigative report, Fox News Atlanta actually did their homework and found out that Sam Leccima, one of the 'stars' of the popular Fix/Flip weekly show had been involved in staging phony transactions, performing shoddy renovations, and, in the most bizarre bit of fakery, planting and un-planting landscaping for the cameras.

Mr. Leccima, when asked about the allegations, responded, "It's a television show."

Fox Atlanta also poked fun at A&E for not even bothering to check that Mr. Leccima had recently had his real estate license revoked by the Georgia real estate commission, before the show began airing, and now may be under investigation by the Georgia Attorney General for securities issues.

Dateline expose on mortgage fraudster

There'll be so many stories the next few years on yucky mortgage broker fraudsters out there.

If you ever wanted to see a profession that attracted low-lifes, fraudsters and moral scum, look no further than "mortgage broker". Unregulated, fast money, no education or training required... The perfect Miami, Phoenix and Vegas profession!

Enjoy this one from Dateline - go here for the transcript and all six streaming video links - that's some good TV...

Making fun of the morons who lent the liar's loan money out (that ain't gettin' paid back)

Check out this video - Comedian Kathleen Madigan on CNN talking about moron lenders, and the the stupid idea of a government bailout.

Oh, man, this is ending badly... and yet it's so funny I could cry

Hat-tip to HP'er C for the link

HousingPANIC Stupid Question of the Day

Is the REALTOR® profession now totally and forever DISCREDITED®?

The human face of the housing bubble - Kara Homes buyers lose their deposits ($100,000+)

Decide to chase the "American Dream" of home ownership - check
Find a home you want - check
Trust that nice realtor and homebuilder - check
Pool together your life savings and put down a deposit - check
Lose everything and have your financial life destroyed - check

Welcome to the human face of the late great housing bubble, circa 2007. Man, this has gotta suck. I truly feel sorry for regular folks who got taken in this great swindle. And there's a special place in hell for the conmen and liars who took advantage of their fellow man these past few years. And they know who they are.

Kara Homes buyers may lose deposits

Several prospective Kara Homes Inc. home buyers all but lost their deposits Monday after a bankruptcy court judge approved the sale of six uncompleted developments to developers and a bank.

An option now is to try to recover a portion of their money as unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy case, said Barry W. Frost, a lawyer for some of the Kara buyers. They would only recoup their money once secured lenders, such as banks, are paid.

Jerrold Fried, 42, of Berkeley, who put down $135,000 on a house at Kara's Dayna Estates in Toms River, is not hopeful he'll see any money.

"Unfortunately, in the end of the big bankruptcy, my wife and I are the ones that are going to suffer, and my children," Fried said. "Everybody else goes before me even though he used my money to build the development."

Of the more than 20 prospective home buyers with deposits, four buyers at Woodland Estates have signed a new contract with its new owner, Fenix, with another expected to be finalized shortly.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Michael B. Kaplan said he hopes Magyar Bank will make "similar accords" with other home buyers.

"There are no great solutions," Kaplan said. "There are no great answers."

Kaplan resisted calls by lawyers for home buyers, some of whom put down more than $100,000 in deposits, to reject the auction's results. The deposits "for the most part are the life savings of the contract purchasers," Frost said.

So much fraud. So many con-men. So little oversight. And the biggest Ponzi Scheme in the history of humanity.

Folks, I'm not sure if you realise it yet, but we're witnessing the biggest financial story of all time. The collapse of the US housing market (aka Ponzi Scheme), and the uncovering of the causes and the rampant corruption, will dominate the news cycle for years to come.

Life as America knew it will never be the same. Everyone, every man, woman and child, will be impacted. And the story won't stop at land's end. The housing Ponzi Scheme was worldwide. Even though the US sure did it up good. USA! USA! USA!

Here's just one of many mortgage fraud stories over at the mortgage fraud blog. And there are so, so, so many more to come. Get ready.

Atlanta's largest mortgage fraud trial see's 10 convictions and 12 guilty pleas

David E. Nahmias announced that after an eight week trial, a federal jury today returned guilty verdicts against ten defendants charged with multiple counts in a mortgage fraud scheme that targeted the Atlanta metro housing and condo market from 2000 through part of 2003.

The verdicts returned today included guilty verdicts on charges of loan fraud, wire and mail fraud, and money laundering.

United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said of the verdicts, “The monetary loss calculated to date is in excess of 41 million dollars but we expect it to be significantly higher when we conclude our work. More importantly, this monetary loss, as great as it is, does not fully capture the loss to the many neighborhoods and condominium communities that have been gutted of their value due to this one fraud scheme.

These guilty verdicts condemn the corrupt actions of the key people who were responsible for this fraud scheme, from crooked attorneys and appraisers, to loan officers, to the man at the top, Phillip E. Hill. The verdicts in this case take us one step closer to repairing the corroded cornerstone of a large-scale corrupt housing market that has made the metro Atlanta area one of the most active mortgage fraud locations in the nation.”