Archive for March, 2007

Biscay Update

Saturday, March 24th, 2007

1581 Biscay Ct, Aurora, CO  80017 –  this item originally posted in February, 2007.  The deeds report now shows a 100% mortgage loan made by the good people at Universal Lending.  The listing history tells the story.  Is this one of the last mortgage fraud loans?  Or not?

tags

rex02 realty+executives+of+aurora robert+c+mcclure EI278911 rob+mcclure mb+mcclure wells+fargo universal+lending richard+andrew+higgins

Comp Check for Joseph Harmes III

Wednesday, March 14th, 2007

March 14th, 2007

Colorado Division of Real Estate
1560 Broadway, #925
Denver, CO  80202
Attn:  Cary Whitaker

This is a complaint against Joseph Harmes III and Mason-Financial, see below for contact info.  My investigation leads me to believe this person and/or company are acting as a mortgage broker without a license.  See attached comp check form.

Mr Harmes wants a comp check on 3278 S Evanston St, Aurora, CO  80014. He is hoping for a value of $230,000 to make his deal work.  Mr Harmes called me on 3/13/07 and claimed to already have one bid from a local appraiser at $215,000 with a 7 day turn around.  He was hoping I could do better.  Mr Harmes told me that once he finds a “good” (his word) appraiser, he keeps that name and phone number and from then on, that “lucky” (my word) appraiser gets all of Mr Harmes business in that area.

All things considered, I have formed an opinion that Mr Harmes statements have “less than perfect” (my words) credibility.

Joseph R. Harmes III
Loan Officer, Mason-Financial inc..
619.829.2222 cell
619.660.3400 fax
888.660.3401 toll free
JHarmes@mason-financial.com

Thank you

Phil Rice
11268 E Linvale Dr
Aurora, CO  80014
720-282-3376
phil.rice@mkgappraisal.com

Tags: Joseph Harmes

mortgage fraud real+estate joseph+harmes mason+financial comp+check atenafu+tige

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Comp Check for Craig C Michael

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007

March 06th, 2007

Colorado Division of Real Estate
1560 Broadway, #925
Denver, CO  80202
Attn:  Cary Whitaker

This is a complaint against Craig C. Michael and Berkshire Capital, see below for contact info.  This person and/or company are acting as a mortgage broker without a license.  Please listen to the audio clip.

Audio message dated 03/05/07, available at:

http://www.mkgappraisal.com/images/blog_2007mar/michael.wav

Mr Michael wants a comp check on 17785 E Ohio Cir, Aurora, CO  80017.  Mr Michael is somewhat address impaired – he left off the city and added “Camel Back”.  Mr Michael reports this property sold for $166,000 2 years ago, and he is now hoping for a value of $200,000 to make his deal work.

MLS listing, history, and deeds report tell the story.  Brian Wilcox bought the property as an REO sale in December of 2005 (about 14 months ago).  He paid about $150,000 and got a loan of $160,000 from the good people at Sebring (a Tieskotter lender).  Sebring has since gone kaput.  The deeds report shows another loan 7 months later in the amount of $60,900 (maybe an equity line) by the good people at Sterns Lending.

This email received 03/05/07, with “Value Check Order Form” attached.

Hello, I was hoping you could do a value check on this home for me please. I appreciate it.  Thanks,
Craig C. Michael
Berkshire Capital®
3290 W. Big Beaver Rd., Suite 503
Troy, MI 48084

Phone: 248.822.7121 Ext. 1265
Fax: 248.822.7136
Cell: 586-634-8794
E-mail: cmichael@berkshirecapital.com
Site: www.berkshirecapital.com
Berkshire Capital your mortgage banking partner

P.S. My business is 100% referrals. Who do you know that needs to be pre-approved to purchase a home? Can you think of anyone that needs to refinance to lower their monthly payments, consolidate debt, or take money out for home improvements? I appreciate your support!

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

This Internet message may contain information that is privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure. It is intended for use only by the person to whom it is addressed. If you have received this in error, please (1) do not forward or use this information in any way; and (2) contact me immediately. Neither this information block, the typed name of the sender, nor anything else in this message is intended to constitute an electronic signature unless a specific statement to the contrary is included in this message. BERKSHIRE CAPITAL LLC

Thank you

Phil Rice
11268 E Linvale Dr
Aurora, CO  80014
720-282-3376
phil.rice@mkgappraisal.com

Tags: Craig C Michael

mortgage fraud real+estate craig+c+michael berkshire+capital comp+check brian+wilcox

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Train Wreck

Monday, March 5th, 2007

For several months beginning (about) August 2005, I tried really hard to notify Fremont and New Century of the mortgage fraud. At first, I thought they were a victim. I thought if they just knew what was going on, surely they would want to stop it. I was wrong about that. It took a few weeks/months for me to “get it”, but eventually I realized they were not a victim, they were actively involved. I described their business plan as – “act dumb and repeat the process as often as possible”.

I tried telephone, email, snail mail. I sent letters to upper management, and in the case of NEW, I exchanged emails with a major stockholder. Did they listen? Did they take me serious? Maybe – but one thing is for sure, they didn’t do anything to stop the mortgage fraud. They continued to act dumb and repeat the process as often as possible.

I notified “the authorities” – basically everyone I could think of that might be in a position to make a positive difference. See for example – letter #2 dated Sept 26th, 2005, and the distribution list.

New Century (NEW)

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Several analysts agreed Monday [03/05/07] that New Century Financial Corp., one of the nation’s largest subprime mortgage lenders, likely faces liquidation or bankruptcy following revelations that it’s under criminal investigation and in violation of debt covenants with several lenders.

My comments: About 2 months ago, NEW was trading at $35 per share. Now they are facing possible bankruptcy and possible criminal charges. As I write this – NEW is trading at $6.25 per share, down $8.50 for the day. And the news about Fremont is even worse (see below).

I reported 2/15/07 (3 weeks ago) the common stock of New Century got hammered on wall street. I wrote:

New Century was one of the original Shawn Tieskotter lenders. The common stock got hammered last week. I expect to see this get much worse. It’s going to be ugly.

I reported 2/22/07 (2 weeks ago), I wrote:

What is going to happen when Countrywide and/or National City has to face the music? If they go kaput – it’s going to be a very big deal.

and

if (when?) the ‘nothing down’ loan goes away, the immediate (short term) impact on the local real estate market is going to be a large decrease in the number of people who can buy a house. And therefore, a large decrease in the $amount homes sell for. I am not talking about a 3% – 5% correction. There will be no polite way to describe it. I use the term “train wreck”.

Fremont (FMT)

My comment: The item printed below is copied from an unconfirmed site on the Internet – it could be legit, it could be bogus. All things considered, I tend to believe it and accept it at face value.

: Brian Daily
Sent: Sun 3/4/2007 4:22 AM
To: *Tampa 2 Office; *Tampa 1 Office; *ResRe Tampa 1 AE
Subject: Fremont ceasing doing business.

Teams,

It is with great regret that I must inform you that Fremont Investment and Loan will cease funding loans and doing business.

At 12:35 (pst) Saturday, Fremont General received notice from the FDIC that they are not permitting any more loans to be funded by Fremont. In short, our funding available was terminated by the Federal Home bank.

The suddenness of the change and the shift from our communication literally less then 24 hours previously simply perplexes me. However, this simply validates the volatility on our business. None of us in Hawaii realized or appreciated the gravity of the situation we were facing.

There are many questions that many of you have. There is a conference call that will be conducted on Monday that will answer many of these questions that you will have.

Jerry Casanova will be able to communicate with you more specifics on Monday morning. Please show up for work to receive these instructions. I will be leaving the meeting here in Hawaii early and attempting to return to the office sometime on Monday.

In order to assist our clients with some instructions- I have listed some Q and A’s to assist you in your communications:

Q: Do I continue to solicit loans?
A: No. As of the 3rd, we are no longer sourcing new business.

Q: Will I close what is in the pipeline?
A: This will be clarified on Monday. I would suggest to sent back all loans to the broker

Q: What do I tell the brokers?
A: Fremont Investment and loan is no longer conducting business. Any files that are pending or have been submitted will be returned to you.

Q: Will I get paid for the loans closed?
A: Yes.

Q: Does termination take effect immediately?
A: Clarification on this item will be determined on Monday.

Q: What about benefits and severance?
A: This will all be clarified on Monday or the early part of the week.

Everyone, I cannot tell you how sadly I am disappointed this industry has trended so deeply in this direction. You all have accepted me so warmly upon my arrival at Fremont and I will always cherish those relationships forever. At this point, I wish I had more information to share with all of you but I simply do not. My travel logistics are extremely complicated right now and hopefully I will have more information in the next 24 hours.

So I do not lose valuable contact with any of you, please forward to Jo Haynes your cell phone, home phone and home address. I would like to keep this information as we begin to search for alternative strategies to consider