Housing boom raises fraud concerns

[lovuian]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=102&go_ahead=doit

NEW YORK - On a cold, damp February morning, a car with two members of Freddie Mac’s special fraud investigation unit pulled up to 2175 Martin Luther King Blvd. in Atlanta.

What they found further stirred suspicions first raised by an internal report at the U.S. housing agency. The investigators would discover that the building, its yard littered with garbage and broken windows, was the linchpin of a $750,000 alleged real estate scam involving 38 condominium units.

“It just didn’t have very good curb appeal,” quipped Kevin Ludden, one of the investigators. “In a minute you could tell it was a problem property.”

more...

I bet the Freddie Mac piggybank is going to go bust!!!

[NVMojo]

1. People had a huge article about such an investigation this past

week ...scary scam too.

[neuvocat]

2. Somewhere on Yahoo

I saw an article that the California housing market is shut off to 86% of the buyers out there due to limited income. That means that only 15% of the market out there is available to sell to. Its going to turn into a buyer's market before too long.

[barb162]

6. yeah but people have been saying that for decades and it just keeps

booming

[neuvocat]

7. Not in San Diego, not anymore.

There's three houses I see on the way to work every day that have yet to be sold after several months. One has had at least 3 companies trying to sell it and it isn't a dump. Another one has advertised a reduced price.

A friend of mine was supposed to have put his house on the market last month but he said that things won't be very promising once he finally does.

[Digit]

3. Atlanta is a hotbed for this sort of activity

Guess who picks up the tab?
The appraisers should lose their licenses permanently for their complicity in this fraud and all the scammers should do jail time.

[1932]

4. Sopranos did this story. Carmela's cousin, the investment guy,

showed Tony how to run this scam.

That was almost three years ago.

[zoeb]

5. Greenspan has been harping on Freddie and Fannie

portfoliios and the need to reduce them. Now we know why. Great post.