By Esther Cho | 04/12/2012
As of December 31, 2011, the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF), which is meant to fund innovative measures to help families through the housing crises in hardest hit states, has spent just 3 percent of its budget since its February 2010 inception, a report published by a watchdog organization for taxpayers revealed Thursday. More specifically, as of the end of 2011, HHF spent $217.4 million of the $7.6 billion available for the program, and has provided assistance to just 30,640 homeowners, which is about 7 percent of the 458,632 to 486,536 homeowners it is estimated to help over the life of the program, which ends in 2017.
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By Esther Cho | 04/10/2012
Christy L. Romero was sworn in as Special Inspector General of SIGTARP Monday. Romero was nominated by President Barack Obama on February 1, 2012 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 29.
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By Esther Cho | 02/20/2012
A former bank president and real estate developer were charged in a one count bill of information for conspiracy to commit mortgage bank fraud. The case, which is being investigated by agents from the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) and the FBI, involves Reginald Harper, 58, former president and CEO of First Community Bank in Hammond, Louisiana, and Troy A. Fouquet, 43, a developer based in Covington, Louisiana. Both men were charged for their roles in a scheme involving the cover up of delinquent loans for "sham" loans.
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By Krista Franks Brock | 02/06/2012
A New York housing counselor has been sentenced to 72 months in jail and three years supervision by a U.S. District Court judge after defrauding 136 homeowners who reached out for help as they attempted to avoid foreclosure. The judge also ordered Lori J. Macakanja to pay $298,639 in restitution to the homeowners affected. Macakanja reportedly required upfront fees from homeowners and promised in return to help them achieve mortgage modifications in order to stave off foreclosure.
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By Krista Franks | 12/02/2011
Three government agencies are combining efforts to address mortgage modification scams through a joint task force. With the announcement of the task force, the participating agencies -- the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Treasury Department -- released a consumer fraud alert to ensure homeowners understand that only their mortgage servicer has discretion to grant a loan modification.
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By Krista Franks | 11/21/2011
The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced Monday that it intervened to block 40 mortgage modification schemes advertised on Yahoo! and Bing. In response, Microsoft terminated 400 advertising contracts with the perpetrators of the schemes. Microsoft is the founder of Bing, and its technology backs Yahoo! Search. Monday's notice follows an announcement last week in which SIGTARP reportedly shut down 85 mortgage modification scams advertised on Google.
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By Krista Franks | 11/16/2011
The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) is vigilantly targeting mortgage and foreclosure rescue scammers that advertise online. SIGTARP announced Wednesday that it recently halted 85 online scams that promised to help homeowners pursue mortgage loan modifications. Google has cooperated with SIGTARP in its investigation and since the discovery of the 85 mortgage fraud schemes, has suspended 500 advertisers.
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By Carrie Bay | 10/28/2011
Federally funded mortgage relief programs continue to struggle to reach homeowners, according to the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP). A new report from the watchdog agency says only $2.5 billion of the $45.6 billion in TARP funds earmarked for housing programs has been spent. Regarding the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), the agency estimates that as many as 600,000 homeowners who are eligible will not receive a permanent mod before the program expires next fall.
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By Carrie Bay | 10/11/2011
A federal grand jury in San Francisco has indicted two former bank executives of the now-defunct United Commercial Bank for using fraudulent accounting maneuvers to misrepresent loan losses to federal agencies as the bank took money from taxpayers through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed separate civil charges accusing the same two executives and the former CEO of misleading investors about the bank's mounting loan losses, to the tune of $65 million.
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By Krista Franks | 10/06/2011
Federal housing programs came under attack during a congressional hearing Thursday titled "The Obama Administration's Response to the Housing Crisis." Members of the Senate challenged witnesses with questions about the effectiveness of several programs, including the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and the Home Affordable Modification Program. Industry experts also discussed the potential of new initiatives, such as the REO rental proposal.
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