Really? Do you have a link with more details on that statistic?

Thank you.

With regards to a Loan Officer working for an agency that does not have a license requirement currently, it’s my suggestion that the legislation include language that like FERA mandates that “All” practitioners performing duties as defined by FERA/RESPA/TILA be subjected to the same requirements by 2011.

I believe the NMLS will reduce the Fraud overall in the coming years since the practice will enable better enforcement.

I think the problem for that state and other states are the same. If somone really wants to be a crook, they are going to be a crook. I think however, they should do a national background check through the FBI instead of just a State background check. I also feel that maybe the licensing time should be longer than 30 days. Maybe 60 days, but they should also have the right to revoke a license at any time if they find out that any material fact in their application has changed or that they lied on their initial application.

I do not feel that all convicted felons are bad. I think there are some that may have gotten into trouble when they were young and are totally rehabilitated. I think it depends on the nature of their crime. Obviously if it is a theft crime, fraud, larceny, etc, they should not be admitted into this industry.

What about the ability for a loan originator to escape licensing by working for a different type of institution that does not screen for felony convictions? I think in this day and age almost every institution are doing background checks and in Washington State you will not have the ability to become an originator without having gone through extensive pre-licensing education, screening and testing.

Do you believe the National Mortgage Licensing System coming our way in 2009 will reduce the problem of mortgage fraud, make it better, or no change? Why?

I agree with some of the comments. I am not sure that the National Mortgage Licensing system will provide you with more than knowing if someone obtained a license in a different state. It would be different if with every applicant they did their own independent background check on each licensee. They are primarily relying on the State Regulatory to manage it. They are collecting huge fees but I am not quite sure what the fee goes for.

I think in order to cut down on identity theft, that maybe credit reports are done a little bit differently. Maybe the borrower calls in their ssc# to an approved credit reporting/employment verification (Like the Work Number) agency, gives the credit reporting agency their Mortgage Broker’s identifying office number (for instance NWMLS assigns a four digit office number to each Real Estate Broker office)the credit reporting agency then forwards the credit report only displaying the last four of the ssc# and also employment information. The Loan originator can then finish processing the application for submission. It limits the amount of information that is shared or seen by the originator, processor (who is not licensed and has access to the clients information as well) escrow, etc. There are a lot of people in this industry creating fraud, not just the mortgage broker or originator, everyone needs to be policed to reduce fruad.

What is it that makes those who work in the courthouse more worthy as human beings than myself? I pay my taxes, I educated myself in Florida colleges, and I suffer devastating health issues just as those courthouse workers do. The only difference is that my mold came in the form of mortgage and disclosure fraud and misrepresentation, perpetuated by the OFR’s negligence in giving a mortgage brokers license to a known to them criminal.

I have been victimized not only once by the crooked mortgage broker colluding with the sellers to put me in the contaminated home with a forged signature and altered documents. (I didn’t buy more than I could afford, nor did my finances warrant a predatory loan, I’m a veteran of the USAF).

Now I find I am victimized twice in finding that the OFR gave the brokers license to Art Seaborne, the mortgage broker, just 9 years after the OFR revoked his real estate license for mortgage fraud, oh and just one year after a chapter 7 bankruptcy… it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see what is going to take place there does it??? (All this information was not easily accessible to find out before a closing).

Those of us left with nothing by the mortgage criminals the State of Florida licensed are again ignored and victimized by our Presidents mortgage assistance bill, which completely ignores those in this position who are the real victims of predatory lending and mortgage fraud. So it looks to me like its time the State of Florida stepped-up and took responsibility where it is most definitely due, they licensed the crooks after all.

I have moved from the house, which sits in Sarasota rotting to the ground from water intrusion and toxic black mold, with 2 liens on it for foreclosure. But I still pay each and everyday. I am awakening daily struggling to breathe. I take 2-4 pills each day just to get air in my lungs and go through a box of tissues daily before I can even start my day. It’s like getting a life sentence for a crime someone else committed, and no home to show for it. This is just plain wrong! Not to mention criminal actions by the State.

My court case has stalled because the sellers and the mortgage broker can afford high priced lawyers who just keep the case going to use up what little money I can make while they use the money they stole from me to fund their criminal activities and representation. This alone is where the States fraud victims fund is owed in assistance to those of us stuck fighting the criminals you licensed for our inalienable rights. After all OFR, you are supposed to be working through regulations to protect us from this type of crime.

I am a 48-year-old divorced woman who had so much promise for my future. I had planned to go back to UFS for my masters’ degree but can barely afford living expenses and a lawyer now.

I know through research that I am not the only one in this situation. That is why the victim’s fund must be brought back and used to assist us in our struggle, after all our hard earned money is now paying for the high priced lawyers your licensed criminals are hiding behind. The State of Florida cannot continue to hide the egg on their face. But you do have the opportunity to make good on this.

I would like the opportunity to address the legislature concerning the victim’s fund. We who are the victims are not just another situation we are human beings, tax-paying citizens who deserve to live and breathe and have our lives back.

Receiving assistance from this fund could very well mean the difference of living a full life or living a lifetime of sickness and financial disability to so many of us… your victims made so by your mistakes. I was raised that when you realize that you made a mistake and you are given the opportunity to rectify that mistake doing so is the only right thing to do. I am pleading with the State of Florida to rectify their mistake and save our lives. This is the State of Florida in the year 2009 for God’s sake, not the Wild West. I am on a mission to make things right, won’t you please stand-up and help me as you are the only ones who can?

A quote from OFR Terry Straub said… “We look at all the facets around, you know, whatever file, and we predicate on the fact that everybody deserves another chance,” said Terry Straub, director of the OFR’s Division of Finance, which regulates the mortgage industry in Florida.

Where is another chance for us Terry Straub? We did nothing wrong and lost everything!

NMLS should help prevent mortgage fraud by creating consistency across state lines. Persons with criminal historys would be prevented from simply crossing into another state to continue criminal activity when background checks are at the national level.