Mortgage fraud

A new documentary that aired Tuesday on PBS raises questions about why prosecutors targeted a small bank after the financial crisis and left bigger institutions untouched.

The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Fla., and two homeless assistance agencies are the surprise beneficiaries of a successful lawsuit against a notorious South Florida foreclosure attorney, who was later disbarred.

Loan application defects were unchanged for July compared with June, the first time in eight months there has not been an increase, according to First American Financial Corp.

Kidder Matthews, the top commercial real estate firm on the West Coast, is being sued by a former employee who alleges its brokers engaged in a scheme to defraud property owners and that higher ups knew about it and did nothing.

A Collier County, Fla., man was arrested last week after he forged signatures to obtain mortgage loans totaling $180,000, state investigators said.

Laurance H. Freed, a Chicago developer, has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $825,000 in fines and restitution in connection with a double-pledging scheme.

Reporting requirements for title insurers and agents have been expanded to cover more types of high-end real estate transactions, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said.

A Lexington, Ky., man was sentenced Monday to five months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements to a federal agency after he was paid for home appraisals he didn't do.

The North Carolina Department of Justice is warning real estate agents and companies about an email scam aimed at potential home buyers.

Loan application defects increased for the seventh consecutive month in June, due to the highly competitive purchase market, according to First American Financial Corp.