This was the headline in today’s Tribune. Wow. The U.S. Attorney is calling this crackdown Operation Malicious Mortgage. That’s appropriate. The article says they are arresting local mortgage brokers, loan officers, Realtors, home builders and lawyers.
www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-mortgage-fraud-web-jun20,0,6840199.story
This tugs at my heart. I have always been the type of agent who tries to do the right things by working the best interest of my client. I have that faith in my colleagues as well. This tests that faith. I always give the benefit of the doubt that the cooperating agent is working in the best interest of their client, that the mortgage professional is working to get the best rate available, that the builder is building and the lawyers are lawyering. I am not so naive as to think there are no bad seeds out there, obviously there are people looking for shortcuts in every field. Usually I chalk up poor performance to inexperience or a bad day. I equate it with sports. Even the best athletes have bad days. Tiger Woods doesn’t win every golf tournament, Michael Jordan didn’t hit every shot, so I don’t expect that every Real Estate professional will be perfect every single day. But if these charges stick, then there is a malicious intent and that does not sit well with me. There is a silver lining to every gray cloud. In this case, it seems there will some accountability for some of the mess that has been created. My honest opinion is that this is just scratching the surface and if the letter of the law were followed, there would be 1000’s charged with mortgage fraud. My desired consequence is a future with capitalism with a conscience. Conscientious Capitalism. I like it. More to come.
0 Responses to “67 charged with Mortgage Fraud in Chicago Area.”