Predatory Lending and Mortgage Fraud
On February 24, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Case No. 12-cv-01392, against the Company alleging that for over a decade Flagstar had been improperly approving thousands of residential home mortgage loans for government insurance. Specifically, the DOJ alleges that the Company: (i) used unauthorized staff employees in the loan approval process; (ii) paid substantial incentive awards to these unauthorized employees for exceeding certain quotas; (iii) permitted underwriters to submit false certifications to the Federal Housing Administration ("FHA") and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"); and (iv) misled FHA and HUD by certifying that the loans had been fully underwritten by properly registered and sufficiently experienced underwriters when they had not. The DOJ further alleges that as a result of the foregoing, thousands of loans were approved for government insurance that did not qualify for insurance and when the loans defaulted, HUD was forced to cover the losses.
On March 13, 2012 it was announced that shareholder rights firm Robbins Umeda LLP was investigating possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of the law by certain officers and directors at Flagstar Bancorp, Inc.
In particular, the firm investigated allegations that Flagstar violated the False Claims Act when it improperly endorsed federally-insured mortgage loans that eventually defaulted and falsely certified its loan underwriting practices to federal housing authorities. On February 24, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint against Flagstar, which alleges that Flagstar utilized under-qualified underwriting assistants to approve thousands of residential home mortgage loans for Federal Housing Administration insurance. The complaint also alleges that Flagstar improperly set daily quotas for the underwriting assistants and paid them substantial incentive awards for exceeding their quotas. While engaging in this scheme, the officers and directors of the company not only exposed Flagstar to significant liability, but represented to the investing public that Flagstar was operating in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
Read more about this topic: Flagstar Bank
Famous quotes containing the words lending, mortgage and/or fraud:
“If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 15:7,8.
“The mortgage is still in our name but, increasingly, the house is theirs. One diaper, one vote.”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)
“He saw, he wish’d, and to the prize aspir’d.
Resolv’d to win, he meditates the way,
By force to ravish, or by fraud betray;
For when success a lover’s toil attends,
Few ask, if fraud or force attain’d his ends.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)