In the mortgage industry, lenders and servicers are not the only parties who have to comply with federal rules and regulations. Title agents and brokers have to follow the rules, and if they don't adhere to the laws, their new home is going to be inside a prison.
Las Vegas mortgage broker Steven Grimm, who controlled limited liability companies Select Equities and WP Davenport, is having trouble adhering to several federal regulations.
Already facing a trial scheduled to begin this month for allegedly being involved in a $107 million mortgage fraud scheme where he used straw buyers to buy homes at inflated prices and defrauded lenders with misstated documents about the income, assets and employment of the buyers, Grimm now also has to battle a lawsuit filed by Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. for stealing $100,000 from a homebuyer.
The lawsuit, filed in Clark County District Court on June 14, claims that in February 2006, a couple arranged to sell their Las Vegas home and purchase a new property from WP Davenport. Grimm allegedly told the sellers to have their escrow agent, Lawyers Title Insurance, send $100,000 of the sales proceeds to WP Davenport. Grimm allegedly instructed the escrow agent to send the money to Select Equities.
“Grimm fraudulently misrepresented to Lawyers Title that he had the authority to redirect the escrow funds,” Fidelity said in its lawsuit. “The sellers advised Lawyers Title that they did not authorize the requested redirection of said escrow funds made by Grimm. The proceeds in question were stolen from the sellers.”
Fidelity is looking for Grimm and his companies to return the $100,000 they stole from this homeowner.
