There are some advantages to being 100 miles from Seattle. I seldom see their newspapers!
Recently, a friend dropped by a front page Seattle Times article she found on MORTGAGE FRAUD, an expose about a Bellevue loan officer guilty of a huge housing scam who was recently sentenced to 7 years in prison. While his jailing is great news, I object to how 'loan originators' in this article are misrepresented.
Their colorful half page graphic names "loan originators/mortgage brokers" as the culprits in this scam. The term 'loan originator' happens to be the legal definition of a licensed employee of a broker, like myself. Chris Brooks, the perpetrator of this particular scam, worked as an unlicensed loan officer of a mortgage BANK. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008793819_webbrooks27m.html
What amazed me about the article is that his bank (American Mortgage) is barely mentioned leaving one to assume what they will.
I took the liberty of posting my concerns on Active Rain, a Real Estate social network followed by some 137,762 members of the Real Estate Industry across the nation. Here is a link: http://activerain.com/blogsview/966935/Is-It-True-Loan-Officers-HAVE-MORE-FUN
Mortgage Brokers applaud a higher national standard that holds all parties accountable for their deeds, but in so doing, does not malign the innocent. I have asked the Times to retract and clarify on behalf of honest mortgage brokers. Stay tuned on that!
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