{"id":135,"date":"2022-09-04T14:42:04","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T14:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iamfacingforeclosure.com\/2022\/09\/04\/i-am-facing-foreclosure-com-will-i-go-to-jail-for-mortgage-fraud\/"},"modified":"2022-09-04T18:43:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-04T18:43:00","slug":"will-i-go-to-jail-for-mortgage-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamfacingforeclosure.com\/will-i-go-to-jail-for-mortgage-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Will I Go to Jail for Mortgage Fraud?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Jail
[Photo by !borghetti<\/a> used with permission.]<\/span><\/p>\n

In this blog entry I’m explaining all the potentially “shady” loan practices over the last 12 months as a real estate investor. <\/p>\n

I am trying to figure out the following:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Did I commit mortgage fraud?<\/li>\n
  2. To what extent?<\/li>\n
  3. What are the consequences?<\/li>\n
  4. Will I go to jail?<\/strong><\/li>\n
  5. Should I take this blog down immediately, run to Russia and change my name?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I will be researching the above questions in the next few days. I will be reading articles online and will be talking to attorneys, lenders and fraud specialists. If you have any pertinent links, articles, advice or professional referrals, please leave a comment or email me. Thanks to everybody who commented on previous articles. The advice has been helpful.<\/p>\n

    First a little background…<\/p>\n

    A Year of Buying Houses:<\/h3>\n

    In 2005 I bought a home study course on making money in Real Estate. I also went to a few weekend seminars – “bootcamps” to learn more on the topic. [I am not going to mention names. I do not blame the real estate education or the gurus. The education received was very good quality and above-board as far as I can tell.] <\/p>\n

    Armed with basic knowledge, I went out and bought 8 houses between October 2005 and May 2005<\/strong>, loosely in this order:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Calla Way, Sacramento CA – 100% financed, got cash back at close and traded for Burdett Way in January<\/li>\n
    2. Burdett Way, Sacramento CA<\/a> – 100% financed, fixed and lease optioned, lease option didn’t work out, tenants are moving out – trying to sell now<\/li>\n
    3. Guadalajara Rd, Rio Rancho NM<\/a> – lease back to builder for 10 months, lease back is almost over – trying to sell now<\/li>\n
    4. Sonora Ave, Albuquerque NM – 100% financed, got cash back at close, fixed and sold via round robin auction this summer<\/li>\n
    5. Larchmont Dr, Sacramento CA<\/a> – 100% financed, got cash back at close and started fixing it but ran out of cash – trying to sell now<\/li>\n
    6. Muncy Dr, Modesto CA<\/a> – 100% financed, got cash back, fixed it – trying to sell now<\/li>\n
    7. W 10250 N, Highland UT<\/a> – 100% financed, got cash back and just recently sold it on a wrap<\/li>\n
    8. Angleridge Rd, Dallas TX<\/a> – brought about 30K down and financed rest with hard money loan, fixed and am trying to sell now<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The first property Calla Way is what got the whole train started. I got 30K cash back at close which allowed me to pay off the 30K of credit card debt. Most of that debt was the real estate education I mentioned. Some of the debt was from the wedding in 2004. <\/p>\n

      We were very happy to have that debt paid off and the burden lifted. We have been paying minimum payments of about $600\/mo on those credit cards for a long time. In one deal it was all wiped clean! <\/strong> The real estate education and desire to make things happen paid off this time. <\/p>\n

      The maxed out credit cards were keeping my credit score low. After paying them off my credit score jumped by 50 points to over 660 and I was able to qualify for better loans. The new sense of confidence got me going for more deals. <\/p>\n

      Here are the details of some of the potentially<\/em> “shady” aspects of the deals. <\/p>\n

      1) Cash Back at Close<\/h3>\n

      Out of 8 houses I got cash back at close on 5 of them. The amount of cash ranged between 15 and 50K. <\/p>\n

      I used the cash for: <\/p>\n