Banks fail to claim properties after foreclosing In NE Ohio

From WKYC

AKRON — Neighbors say the Hite Avenue home has set empty for more than six months, another casualty of the foreclosure epidemic that has ripped across Northeast Ohio. After Friday’s sheriff’s sale, the home will likely sit empty a while longer.

Wells Fargo, the bank that foreclosed on the South Akron home, failed to show up at the auction to at least match the opening bid on the property.

County rules mandate foreclosures be offered at two-thirds of the home’s appraised value. The single-family home near Manchester Road is appraised at $60,000, so it was offered at auction for $40,000.

Wells Fargo wasn’t alone.

Of the 60 properties offered at Friday’s weekly sale, 33 went unclaimed due to banks that failed to show up. Since neither the bank holding the mortgage nor another buyer placed a bid, the properties remain in the name of the homeowner, who accumulates additional property taxes as the property often sits empty.

It also means the bank is not taking steps to reclaim and sell the property, leaving vacant homes vacant for a while longer.

“We’ve had break-ins around here before,” said Ryan Hawkins, who lives next to the Hite Avenue home. “Some people off the streets could just be living here.”

© 2010 WKYC-TV

Arrest Warrant Issued To JP Morgan-Chase CEO Jamie Dimon

Adam Murphy, CBS Atlanta Consumer Investigator

ATLANTA — Atlanta City Solicitor Raines Carter told CBS Atlanta News that the city has issued an arrest warrant for the person they believe is responsible for an illegal tire dump located at 1462 Memorial Drive.

“We have filed a citation against this entity and it is our intention to prosecute this entity in court for that violation,” said Carter.

The city solicitor said a bank executive in New York is the person responsible for cleaning up the hundreds of tires that are piled up on the property. The arrest citation names James Dimon as the responsible person. He’s the CEO of JPMorgan Chase Bank.

“It is certainly our intention for him to be aware of this because we want something done about this as soon as possible,” said CarterCarter said that the arrest warrant was issued because no one from Chase Bank showed up in Atlanta municipal court last week regarding the illegal dumping charges.

“So your tax records show that Chase Bank is the responsible party?” asked CBS Atlanta’s Adam Murphy. “Yes, as of the date of this violation,” said Carter.

CBS Atlanta News contacted a representative with JPMorgan Chase Bank and they said they were looking into the matter. They also said they had contacted Atlanta’s municipal court and they will work with them, if in fact they are responsible.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair Committed To Independent Consumer Agency

Shahien Nasiripour, Huffington Post/AP

One of the nation’s top banking regulators reiterated her support for an independent agency to protect borrowers from predatory lenders, putting her at odds with her fellow regulators and the industry she oversees.

“Consumer abuses were one of the root causes of the financial crisis and regulatory reform legislation should address this problem,” Andrew Gray, a spokesman for Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair, wrote in an e-mail to Huffington Post. “The FDIC has been on the record that the ideal way to do this is through an independent agency with the power to write rules for the banks and non-banks alike.”

The statement follows Bair’s remarks Monday on consumer protection before a conference of state attorneys general in which she said that the proposed agency “would help community banks, not hurt them,” reports The Associated Press.

Read more here:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/02/fdic-chairman-sheila-bair_n_482556.html

Annapolis Mortgage Broker Pleads Guilty in $2.3 Million Fraud Scheme

Stole Millions of Dollars to Day Trade and Pay Personal and Business Expenses

David Wehrs, Sr., age 54, of Annapolis, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud investors and financial institutions of more than $2.3 million.

The charge was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to his plea agreement, Wehrs owned Maryland Title and Escrow Company, Inc., located in Annapolis, and operated a small home remodeling company called Show-Me. From 2007 to October 2009, Wehrs induced individuals to invest money through Maryland Title into a purported FDIC-insured money market fund that Wehrs “guaranteed” would pay monthly interest payments of 10.85%. Instead of depositing the money into an “American Funds Fixed Rate Money Market” as promised, Wehrs deposited investor funds into one of two bank accounts he controlled in the name of his title company. Wehrs wire transferred a large portion of these investor funds to a brokerage account in the name of his title company, then used the money to “day trade.” Day trading is the rapid buying and selling of securities throughout the day in the hope that the stocks will continue climbing or falling in value for the seconds to minutes that they are owned, allowing a person to lock in quick profits. During the scheme, Wehrs conducted millions of dollars of stock trades per month. From early 2008 until mid-2009, Wehrs lost approximately $1 million.

In addition to day trading, Wehrs used some of the investor funds to: pay “monthly interest” and “redemptions” to other investors; pay expenses of his other businesses, including Show-Me; make escrow payments for his title company; buy real estate and personal property; and pay other personal expenses.

Wehrs admitted that in June 2009, when he had no money left in his personal bank accounts or day trading accounts to pay interest due to investors, he used $630,611 earmarked to pay lending institutions for mortgage payoffs from his escrow account at Maryland Title to pay investors, causing that amount of loss to the title insurance company for Maryland Title. He also used $100,000 from the Maryland Title escrow account that was earmarked as earnest money for the purchase of an individual’s home to pay interest to investors, causing a loss of $100,000 to the home buyer.

The total loss as a result of Wehrs’ scheme is $2,371,061 to investors and the title insurance company. U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg has scheduled sentencing for May 19, 2010 at 3:00 p.m.

Wehrs faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. As part of his plea agreement, Wehrs is required to pay restitution of $2,371,061 and to forfeit any assets derived from the scheme. Any forfeited assets will be applied to the restitution amount.

Mr. Rosenstein and Mr. McFeely gave special thanks to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Maryland Insurance Administration for their work in the investigation and prosecution of this case.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Tonya Kelly Kowitz, who is prosecuting the case.

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