Thousands with criminal records work unlicensed as loan originators (Miami Herald spec report pt 2)

[nashville_brook]

http://www.miamiherald.com/static/multimedia/news/mortgage/originators.html

Thousands with criminal records work unlicensed as loan originators

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN, ROB BARRY and JACK DOLAN
[e-mail]

Gary Kafka, former body builder uith a long rap sheet and violent past, wrote millions of dollars in mortgages in South Florida without ever applying for a state license. Fresh out of prison after serving time for bank fraud, he never went through a criminal background check before selling loans. He never took a competency exam.

He never had to.

More than half the mortgage professionals registered in Florida -- 120,563 -- entered the industry this decade without being licensed by the state, The Miami Herald found.

Known as loan originators, they perform the same job as mortgage brokers but aren't bound by the same rules. Time and again, industry leaders asked Florida regulators to bring this group under their watch by imposing mandatory licensing. But regulators refused to press for any changes, claiming that lawmakers would never approve.

The state's refusal proved costly during the biggest housing boom in Florida history: Thousands of loan originators entered the industry with criminal histories, state records show. While The Miami Herald found breakdowns in the state's licensing system for mortgage brokers, the lack of controls over originators created even more problems for an industry steeped in the highest fraud rate in the nation.

The special group was created by state lawmakers 17 years ago to make it easier for lenders to hire people as the industry was growing. But in the past eight years, more people with criminal records jumped into the business as loan originators than as any other category of mortgage professionals.

[fasttense]

1. Putting former convicts to work. What's not to like about this?

:sarcasm:

[Dr.Phool]

2. More nonsense.

I'm more than willing to bet that the majority of the fraud was committed by people without criminal records. This goes up to the top policy makers, and just plain old greed.

Somebody is looking for a handy scapegoat.

They have so many occupations locked out to people with a record, I think ditch-digger, dishwasher, pizza delivery are about all that's left. And politicians wonder why they have repeat offenders.

[flashl]

3. Revisionist history making at work, this is what future researchers/economists will be taught

as cause for the housing market collapse.