At the beginning of the year, the fraud surrounding the homebuyer tax credit program attracted a lot of national attention; the numbers and circumstances connected to these schemes were quite astounding.
Scott Van Voorhis of the Boston Globe wrote that $139 million was wasted on “homes that had not yet been purchased or never were.”
(Hopefully the sarcasm in the title was duly noted.) Recent taxpayer frustrations are the reason why we’re delving back into the topic of the homebuyer tax credit. Homebuyers are frustrated over the delays they have been experiencing as they wait for their tax credit. One of reasons behind the delay is because Washington decided to work backwards.
Was getting a homebuyer tax credit too easy from the very beginning? Apparently so.
Various financial initiatives became lost in shuffle during this Year of the Bailout, as the now infamous $700 billion financial-rescue plan took much of the spotlight. One of those initiatives lost along the way was identity theft.
Back in July the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the required implementation of the “Red Flag Rules” — a mandate for financial institutions and creditors to develop and put into action a written identity-theft program. While the deadline to jump start the program has been delayed from November 1, 2008 until May 1, 2009, Federal regulators haven’t lost any steam trying to stem the prevention of stolen identities.
The Miami Herald reported on Sunday that Florida approved over 10,000 mortgage broker licenses for convicted felons since 2000. The Herald launched an eight-month investigation that prompted the state’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink to call for the resignation of Dan Saxon, Florida’s commissioner of the Office of Financial Regulation. Sink is also calling for an executive order to stop issuing mortgage broker licenses to convicted felons.
Florida’s current law is supposed to deny mortgage broker licenses to felons who have been convicted of fraudulent crimes. The investigation reported that over 4,000 licenses were issued to felons who were convicted of crimes such as fraud, extortion, racketeering, and bank robbery.
HSH.com's daily blog focuses on the latest developments in the mortgage and housing markets. Our mission is to relate how changes in mortgage rates and housing policy, as well as the latest financial news, impacts consumers, homebuyers and industry insiders alike. Our 30-plus years of experience in the mortgage industry gives us an edge as we break down the latest changes in an ever-changing market.
