DA's Don't Have the Resources or Manpower to Fight New Wave of Mortgage Scams Amid Foreclosure Crisis.
New national legislation would send millions to DA's offices in NY and federally funded (2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act) Mortgage Fraud Units in DA offices across the country
The creation of Real Estate Fraud Units will employ staffers who will be able to focus exclusively on real estate crimes that plague homeowners and prosecute scammers for their crimes.
“Housing scams are a nationwide problem and they require a nationwide solution,” Senator Schumer said. “Homeowners in New York and across the country have suffered for too long because of scam artists who feel they can take advantage of people without any repercussions. These fraud units will help protect homeowners from these criminals and ensure that rather than walking away from their crimes, they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Fighting Real Estate Fraud Act of 2009 establishes a competitive grant program in the Department of Justice for local District Attorney’s offices to fight real estate fraud. Under this bill, real estate fraud includes crimes involving misrepresentations and forgeries to general applications, tax returns, and financial statements, appraisals and valuations, verifications of deposit and employment, escrow and closing documents, and credit reports.
The Attorney General is authorized to make grants on a competitive basis through the Bureau of Justice Assistance to DA’s offices to assist them in investigating and prosecuting real estate fraud. The bill authorizes $100 million in grants for FY2010 and each year through FY2013. These grants will be used for hiring specialized staff to offices in need of specialized resources to combat scams.
Schumer added, “The recent foreclosure and refinancing crisis, following a sharp increase in home values created a perfect storm for these housing scammers to swoop in and fleece homeowners. With this bill, these criminals will be stopped.”
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