West Palm Beach Mortgage Fraud Attorney

Charged with mortgage fraud?

Thanks to the downturn in the housing industry, mortgage fraud has become a major issue throughout the nation. Unfortunately, Florida has been hit particularly hard by the foreclosure crisis and as a result, is consistently one of the top five states for mortgage fraud. To combat the problem, prosecutors and law enforcement are cracking down hard; in fact, in 2007 the Florida Attorney General established a specialized Mortgage Fraud Task Force devoted solely to investigate such offenses. What can happen however is that innocent people or those who thought they were telling white lies may be ensnared in the same net as serious criminal conspirators. Are you being questioned about or charged with mortgage fraud? At Seltzer Law, PA we highly recommend that if so, you avoid speaking with police or the prosecutor's office about the alleged crime and instead invoke your right to an attorney and begin protecting yourself immediately. Contact a knowledgeable West Palm Beach criminal defense lawyer at our firm as soon as you can and let us take charge of your criminal defense.

Mortgage Fraud Criminal Defense Lawyer in West Palm Beach

Mortgage fraud is any action that defrauds people involved in buying, selling or lending money for the purchase of a home. Mortgage fraud, as well as other white collar fraud offenses such as insurance fraud, credit card fraud and bankruptcy fraud, is a complex crime that involves an astounding amount of investigation and documentation. Anyone in the loan process can commit mortgage fraud: buyers, sellers, brokers, insurers, and real estate and title agents, even bank employees. In fact, the most elaborate mortgage fraud schemes can include people in several of these roles who have conspired together. In such schemes, the goal is to convince a bank to lend to someone who would not qualify at all or who would have skilled for a lesser loan. Although some borrowers may live in the homes and make payments, others simply pocket the loan proceeds and allow the home to go into foreclosure immediately or resell to a co-conspirator before allowing the home to go into default.

Some of the most common types of mortgage fraud include:

• Loan application lies about income, employment and debt
• Supporting documentation falsification, e.g., tax returns and bank statements
• Misrepresentation of an investment purchase as a primary home
• Appraisal inflation
• Use of stolen identities or straw buyers to purchase a home
• Multiple loans on the same property totaling much more than the purchase price
• Mortgage rescue scams

Although federal and Florida mortgage fraud laws vary regarding penalties for conviction, depending on the amount of fraud alleged and the role of the accused, an offender can receive up to 30 years in prison plus fines and restitution to victims. In cases involving organized crime, penalties may include heavy fines, restitution or even asset forfeiture. Our firm is fortunate to have lengthy criminal defense experience and a lead attorney with years of experience as a prosecutor with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. Our background on both sides of the courtroom allows us to use our extensive knowledge of the prosecution and the mistakes they sometimes make to successfully defend our mortgage fraud clients. With this knowledge and our superior skill level, your rights will be better protected and you will be better helped to obtain a positive outcome by retaining our law firm to represent you.

For aggressive representation in your criminal case, we urge you to contact a West Palm Beach mortgage fraud attorney and former Miami-Dade Cyber Crime Prosecutor at our firm immediately.