***UPDATE***Monday, November 9, 2009:

Oh snap! Just as I thought: Headlines in today’s Jacksonville Business Journal:
“Mortgage Fraud Defendant Gets 7 years”….. here is an excerpt from that story:

“According to court documents, during 2004 and 2005, Gonzalez contracted to purchase 55 properties. For each property, Gonzalez directed an appraiser to significantly inflate the property’s value and submitted the inflated price to a lender to support a mortgage loan based on that price.”

OK HOLD ON A MINUTE. HE “directed” the Appraiser to do this? WOW. What a farce! I have a question: HOW did he direct the Appraiser do this? HOW? Damn, I tried to “direct” an Appraiser 10 years ago to include the REAL value of the swimming pool I had just paid to install (I even presented the receipts and cancelled checks!) and he told me to go to hell! It wasn’t worth crap when it came to the value of the house.

So…what did Mr. Gonzalez do to get his better outcome? Threaten the guy? Pay him off? Is anyone but ME asking that?
Seriously.

This guy seems to have been riding the greed train, and I am not saying he doesn’t deserve his 7 years given the scope of the mortgages and properties – I mean, hell, I didn’t have the guts to take out ONE mortgage during this real estate frenzy because I was afraid — after living here 35 years I KNEW the bottom was going to fall out – and I didn’t want to go down the tubes with it!

Like I said, this guy got really REALLY greedy, so he needs to pay the piper – but still, no one is asking the hard questions here.
That is what is getting my ire up!

The rest of the story: Jacksonville Business Journal (via email newsletter today)

—November 5, 2009 – Original Post—–
Oh seriously! Florida is #2 in Mortgage Fraud. Florida is “ground zero”. .. NO!

More like NO KIDDING!

I would bet you, right now, that ZERO of those arrested are from Wall Street, bankers or mortgage brokers! If they are, I would be SHOCKED.

Let me tell you, in 2008 I had to quit going into my bank’s branch office in order to prevent myself from being accosted by the employees who wanted me to “sign and drive” a mortgage loan. No qualifying necessary! Just make it up!

My first instinct? RUN LIKE HELL.
Trust me, there is always a reprecussion! Here is a headline that proves it, not more than a year later.

Tell me WHY investors and regular people are the first to be arrested and not all the “professionals” who were involved in these transactions. Tell me!

I am livid. Back on a rant. It’s either health care or mortgage foreclosure or jobs that get me going. I was having a fairly nice spell of just focusing on health care. Not any more.

DOES ANY OF THIS IMPROVE WHAT THE REST OF US ARE GOING THROUGH?? NO!

I think if they broke the law, they should pay the price, but let me ask you something. Doesn’t this seem like the Feds are more interested in the “easy cases” than really going after the troublemakers….you know, the ones we bailed out – Wall Street, etc.

I really don’t know what this Country has come to stand for. Right now it clearly looks like greed and a lot of other negative things and I frankly am sick of it!

Source: Jacksonville Business Journal