The following is from a recent news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, where you can read more of the gory details:
Two attorneys are among four defendants who have been indicted in two separate mortgage fraud cases, federal law enforcement officials announced today. In one case, an attorney, a real estate investor, and a loan originator were charged with allegedly participating in a scheme to fraudulently obtain at least five residential mortgage loans totaling approximately $1.5 million from various lenders. In the second case, an attorney was charged with allegedly participating in a scheme to fraudulently obtain at least 12 residential mortgage loans totaling nearly $3.75 million from various lenders.
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Since 2008, several hundred defendants have been charged in Federal Court in Chicago and Rockford with engaging in various mortgage fraud schemes involving more than 1,000 properties and more than $300 million in potential losses, signifying the high priority that federal law enforcement officials give mortgage fraud in an effort to deter others from engaging in crimes relating to residential and commercial real estate.
Mortgage and appraisal fraud have been a pervasive problem throughout the south and west sides of Chicago. Law enforcement resources have been woefully inadequate to the scale of the problem – and, at the state and local level, virtually non-existent.
If you have any doubts about the continuing existence of this problem, simply take a look at the highest-priced listings in West Englewood, where the median selling price last month was $14K and the median list price was $29K.