MFI-Miami Blog

MFI-Miami Is Closing March 1st And We Want To Go Out With A Bang! We’re Offering Our Investigations For $450.00 All good things must come to an and MFI-Miami is no exception! We will not be accepting any new foreclosure clients after March 1, 2019. However, we want to go out with a bang. We want to help as many people as we can before we shut the doors forever. So MFI-Miami is offering our famous mortgage fraud investigations for $450.00. This is 1/3 of our regular price. If you’re in foreclosure or you think your lender screwed you, now is the time to act.  MFI-Miami has sent shivers up the backside of Wall Street executives for 11 years. They know who we are and we know who they are. So when they know we are involved in your foreclosure or we are looking at your file, they take you seriously. Why? Because they know we are one of the top mortgage and foreclosure experts in the US and we don’t play games or by their rules. Also, we have an unparalleled record of kicking thei

Chemical Bank Acquires TCF Bank In $3.6 Billion All-Stock Deal. Deal Creates $45 Billion Power House The parent company of Chemical Bank has announced that has acquired TCF Bank for $3.6 billion. The combined company will operate under the TCF Bank brand name and will make TCF the largest bank in the midwest. The all-stock deal will make the new TCF Bank the 27th-largest in the country with $45 billion in assets. The new TCF Bank will more than 500 bank branches and nearly 10,000 employees.  The combined companies will be based in Detroit. However, it will maintain a significant operating presence in Minneapolis as well as Midland and Chicago. TCF Bank is based in Wayzata, Minn., a western suburb of Minneapolis. TCF Financial CEO and Chairman Craig Dahl said in a statement: We are confident that this merger will enhance our ability to deliver stronger and more sustainable growth and greater value creation than either company could achieve alone. Read more at MFI-Miami

The Only TCF Bank Foreclosure Defense Team That Has Brought TCF Bank To Their Knees! MFI-Miami  has created a specialized TCF Bank Foreclosure Defense Team just for Flagstar customers. The team’s focus will solely on developing strategies for homeowners to defeat Flagstar in a foreclosure battle. MFI-Miami will also give homeowners their own personalized TCF Bank Foreclosure Defense Team. We also are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the resources to successfully challenge TCF. Our competitors show off one or two victories against TCF. They can’t beat our track record. How do we know this? Because  we have the 10-year track record  to prove it!  MFI-Miami’s  TCF Bank Foreclosure Defense Team is Citizens’ worst nightmare. Why? MFI-Miami has successfully challenged some of their most arrogant foreclosure mill lawyers. For nearly 10-years,  MFI-Miami  CEO Steve Dibert has developed a reputation of bringing TCF to their knees. As a result, he has even humiliated

NYPD Detective Michael Bonanno Pleads Guilty To Operating A Six Figure Bank Fraud Scheme  NYPD Detective Michael Bonanno has pleaded guilty to his role in a bank fraud scheme. The scheme used stolen checks and bank account numbers from New York-based victims.  Bonanno pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Bonanno’s co-conspirator, Domenic Aiello also pleaded guilty three weeks ago. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  Michael Bonanno broke the law by brazenly attempting to swindle hundreds of thousands of dollars from residents of New York.  I commend the FBI and the Internal Affairs Bureau of the NYPD for their outstanding work in this investigation. NYPD Detective Michael Bonanno was a member of the NYPD Crime Stoppers unit. The unit receives and investigates anonymous tips about criminal activity from members of the community. Bonanno and Aiello stole and attempted to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from

United Van Lines Survey Says New Jersey Had The Most Outbound Truck Rentals In 2018 United Van Lines says more people moved out of New Jersey than any other state last year. New York came in fourth behind Connecticut and Illinois at the dismay of Know-It-All New Yorkers in the Hudson Valley. New Yorkers like to brag that they’re number one in this category. Why? Who knows. These are also the same people who went bat shit crazy over Andrew Cuomo wanting to name the new Tappan Zee Bridge after his father, the late Governor Mario Cuomo. New Jersey topped the list of the “most moved from” states last year. This was followed by Illinois, United Van Lines National Movers Study found. Connecticut and New York ranked third and fourth on the list, respectively. Read more at MFI-Miami

Lender Security Breach Leaves 24 Million Homeowners Private Information Exposed To Identity Thieves A massive lender security breach has left the private information of  24 million homeowners exposed on the internet for two weeks. TechCrunch is  reporting that more than 24 million mortgage and banking documents were found online in an unprotected database. The server had more than a decade’s worth of data. The data contained loan and mortgage agreements and other sensitive financial and tax documents. TechCrunch  reports that the database was only exposed for two weeks. However, that was long enough for independent security researcher Bob Diachenko to find the data. The database contained mortgage and financial documents stretching back to at least 2008. The documents came from Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Capital One. The documents also include millions of loan information from HUD and FHA. Read more at MFI-Miami

Existing Home Sales Plummet By Double Digits In December. NAR Downplays Effect Of Government Shutdown. Existing home sales plummeted by double digits in December compared to the year before. Both  October  and  November  saw gains in existing home sales. Yet, that all abruptly changed according to the latest Existing Home Sales report from the National Association of Realtors. Total existing home sales decreased 6.4% from November to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.99 million sales in December. Existing home sales fell a full 10.3% from December 2017’s 5.56 million sales. This is the first time in three years that existing homes sales slipped below 5 million sales. Read more at MFI-Miami

Federal Prosecutors Charge Trump Tax Attorney Ed Burke With Extortion  Trump tax attorney Ed Burke was slapped  with federal charges  according to the  Chicago Sun-Times.  The Trump Organization hired Burke to challenge his Chicago tax assessments.  Federal agents have also raided Ed Burke’s  government office  and  personal business office  in the last two months. It is unclear if the federal investigation is related to the president’s finances or something outside of Burke’s work for Trump. The Trump tax attorney did tax-related work for the Trump Organization for twelve years. However, the two parties severed the relationship in 2018. Burke announced his  breakup with Trump  in letters filed with the Cook County courts and the Illinois State Property Tax Appeal Board. He wrote that irreconcilable differences have led his firm to stop representing Trump’s company. He also stepped aside in five current cases that seek refunds of millions of dollars in property taxes the p

Ditech Holding Corporation Continues To Dodge Creditors After Emerging Bankruptcy And Sacking COO Ditech Holding Corporation is in trouble again. The company formerly known as Walter Investment Management  emerged  from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year. The company restructured and  eliminated $800 million  in corporate debt. It also changed its name to Ditech Holding. Ditech Holding Corporation has also had a  revolving door  in its CEO’s office for several years. Yet, the bankruptcy didn’t end the company’s financial problems. In June,  Ditech warned  investors that it was exploring “strategic alternatives to enhance stockholder value,” which included possibly selling the company. Ditech Holding Corporation ran into more trouble when it was  kicked off  of the New York Stock Exchange in November. Read more at MFI-Miami

Creditors Are Hunting “To Catch A Predator” Host Chris Hansen For Millions Of Dollars Of Unpaid Debt! Former TV Host Chris Hansen is now the one being hunted. Hansen is the former host of NBC’s “To Catch A Predator.” Hansen owes over a million dollars owes over $1 million to creditors and his multi-million dollar home in Connecticut is in foreclosure. The host of Crime Watch Daily owes $57,931.72 to American Express. He also owes $126,356.35 to TD Bank and over $15,000 to Ally Financial  Hansen also owes over $250,000 in back taxes. US Bank Trust is suing Hansen for foreclosure. The lender claims he owes $1,078,164.73.  Hansen was recently arrested for  allegedly writing $13,000 worth of bad checks . Hansen was also arrested Monday after a police investigation found that he had written $13,000 worth of bad checks to pay for marketing materials. The former To Catch a Predator hosted was charged with issuing a bad check and released on his own recognizance. Chris Ha

New York City Claims Metropolitan Property Group Made $21 Million Through Illegal Airbnb Rentals The  City of New York has filed a suit  against Metropolitan Property Group. NYC is claiming that MPG pocketed $21 million operating at least 130 illegal Airbnb rentals. Metropolitan Property Group was allegedly warned by the city to stop violating the city’s short-term rental laws. However, they chose to continue to do so. Thus earning more than $21 million in illegal revenue from Airbnb. The city alleges MPG operated illegal short-term rentals in five residential buildings in Manhattan. However, those buildings only allow permanent residences. NYC lawyers also allege MPG alleged malfeasance goes beyond just those five buildings.  Metropolitan Property Group has allegedly cultivated and operated illegal short-term rentals. MPG allegedly used 30 permanent residential buildings to convert 130 different apartments from permanent to transient units. It is illegal under New Yor

Chris Hansen The Former Host Of “To Catch a Predator” Chris Busted Bouncing Two Checks For $13,000 In Connecticut Chris Hansen has been busted writing bad checks following a $13,000 purchase. Hansen the former host of NBC’s  To Catch a Predator. Hansen turned himself in to cops on Monday after allegedly bouncing two checks over the last two years with a Stamford store. Stamford Police claim Hansen ordered the expensive items from Promotion Sales Limited in the summer of 2017. He wrote a check in the summer of 2017 that bounced. He also wrote another bad check to the same store last year that also bounced. The  Stamford Advocate  is reporting the TV personality ordered 355 ceramic mugs, 288 shirts, and 650 vinyl decals.  Read more at MFI-Miami

Democrats Move To Stop Foreclosures And Evictions On Unpaid Federal Employees 22 House Democrats have introduced legislation to protect 800,000 federal workers who are either furloughed or working without pay thanks to the  government shutdown. FHAhas  already asked  the mortgage industry to help FHA employees with their mortgages. However, House Democrats want more protection than that. A group of 22 Democrats introduced a series of bills that would protect federal workers and their families from foreclosures, evictions, and loan defaults during a government shutdown. The legislation is called the  Federal Employee Civil Relief Act. The bill would prohibit creditors from taking action against federal workers affected by a government shutdown. Read more at MFI-Miami

The Only Rushmore Loan Management Foreclosure Defense Team That Delivers A Knock-Out Punch! MFI-Miami  has created a foreclosure defense team exclusively for Rushmore Loan Management. The team’s focus will solely be on helping homeowners develop strategies to fight Rushmore Loan Management in their foreclosure! We are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the strength to successfully challenge Rushmore Loan Management. Our competitors show off one or two victories against Rushmore. They can’t beat our track record. How do we know this? We have the  10-year track record  to prove it! MFI-Miami’s  Rushmore Loan Management foreclosure defense team is Rushmore’s worst nightmare. Why?  MFI-Miami  has successfully challenged some of their most arrogant foreclosure mill lawyers. MFI-Miami  CEO Steve Dibert has developed a reputation of staring down the Wall Street banks. He has even humiliated SPS’s lawyers and made their executives sob like babies during depositions.

Realtor Group Says Housing Sales Down 25% Due To Government Shutdown. Groups Demand End To Shut Down! The National Association of Realtors released its assessment of the shutdown’s impact on real estate. The Realtor group estimates the shutdown is having an impact on about 25% of home sales. The government shutdown is affecting 11% on current clients. It is also affecting 11% on potential clients and 8% on other impacts. The main reason for this impact is simple. The report showed 25% of affected homebuyers told the realtor group they decided not to buy due to general economic uncertainty. And another 17% were affected by the delay of USDA loans and 13% experienced a delay due to IRS verification (which it just announced it will resume  again .) Read more at MFI-Miami

Hamptons Couple John Ficarra and Mara Ficarra Targeted Thousands of Elderly Victims In Elder Fraud Scam Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging John Ficarra and Mara Ficarra with operating a massive elder fraud scam. John and Mara Ficarra are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.  Federal prosecutors are also charging them with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Richard P. Donoghue and Philip R. Bartlett from United States Postal Inspection Service, New York Division (USPIS), announced the charges: The defendants preyed upon some of the most vulnerable members of our community. They were stealing their personal information and defrauding financial institutions. Protecting the elderly from financial fraud remains a priority of the Department of Justice. The Ficarra’s exploited victims by fraudulently using their bank routing numbers and bank account number to produce

Former USC Basketball Coach Faces 5 Years Behind Bars After Pleading Guilty To Bribery In Manhattan Federal Court Former USC Basketball Coach  Anthony Bland pled guilty in Manhattan federal court last week. Bland allegedly took cash bribes from athlete advisers. The bribes were in exchange for using his influence over USC college basketball players. He used his influence to retain the services of the advisers paying the bribes.  The former USC Basketball Coach pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos.  Financial Planner Munish Sood previously pled guilty and signed a cooperation agreement with the Government. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:   Tony Bland abused his position as a mentor and coach to student-athletes and aspiring professionals.  He treated his players not as young men to counsel and guide, but as opportunities to enrich himself. Read more at MFI-Miami

The Government Shutdown Halts Reverse Mortgage Funding Because Lenders Can’t Get FHA Endorsements President Trump’s government shutdown is approaching the two-week mark. It has now brought the reverse mortgage sector to screeching halt. The government shutdown has HUD is working with a skeleton crew. That means FHA cannot underwrite or endorse reverse mortgages or any FHA products.  FHA released a notice stating it will not be underwriting or issuing insurance endorsements for HECM loans during the shutdown.   The agency also stated assistance will not be provided for lenders with issues regarding the Collateral Risk Assessment.  In addition, lenders must adhere to guidelines for the automated process if the first appraisal was submitted on or after November 30, 2018.  Read more at MFI-Miami

Dementia Victim’s Family Files Federal Lawsuit Against Wells Fargo Alleging Dual Tracking Scam In His Foreclosure A Mississippi daughter and father have filed a federal lawsuit against Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. They allege Wells Fargo unlawfully foreclosed on the father’s home using illegal dual tracking methods. Patty Parrish filed the lawsuit on behalf of her father, Norman Frossard. Frossard suffers from dementia. The lawsuit alleges Wells Fargo and foreclosure law firm, Dean Morris engaged in unlawful dual tracking with Parrish and Frossard. Wells Fargo and Dean Morris also allegedly continued to negotiate with them after the foreclosure auction had already occurred. Read more at MFI-Miami

Department of Justice Accused Celink Of Wrongfully Collecting Interest On FHA Insurance  Celink has settled a federal lawsuit alleging that it violated the False Claims Act servicing of reverse mortgage loans. The Michigan-based servicer agreed to fork out $4.25 million to resolve the matter. However, they did not admit liability nor did they accept responsibility for collecting the illegal fees. The suit alleged that Celink received interest on insurance payments from FHA for loans that were ineligible for such payments. The Department of Justice alleged the loans did not meet the requirements for interest payments. Federal lawyers allege they were not eligible for a number of reasons. The loans did not meet deadlines for obtaining a property appraisal. They also failed to meet deadlines when commencing foreclosure proceedings. The mortgage servicer also failed to exercise reasonable diligence in completing the foreclosure. The reverse mortgage servicer allegedly receiv

Are You Armed With The Right Weapons To Take On Celink Reverse Mortgage Servicing? MFI-Miami  has created a foreclosure defense team exclusively for Celink Reverse Mortgage Servicing. The team’s focus will solely be on helping homeowners develop strategies to fight Celink Reverse Mortgage Servicing!  We are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the strength to successfully challenge Celink Reverse Mortgage Servicing. Our competitors show off one or two victories against Celink Reverse Mortgage Servicing. They can’t beat our track record. How do we know this? We have the  10-year track record  to prove it!  MFI-Miami ‘s Celink Reverse Mortgage Servicing foreclosure defense team is Celink’s worst nightmare. Why?  MFI-Miami  has successfully challenged some of their most arrogant foreclosure mill lawyers. MFI-Miami  CEO Steve Dibert has developed a reputation for staring down the Wall Street banks. He has even humiliated Celink’s lawyers and made their executives s

PulteGroup Settles With Florida AG Over Allegations Of Hiding Shoddy Homebuilding Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi alleges PulteGroup allegedly built homes that were not to code. PulteGroup also hid that information from homebuyers. Bondi’s office announced that it reached a settlement last week with Pulte and it’s subsidiaries. A two-year investigation found that PulteGroup allegedly failed to disclose that some of its homes violated building codes. The complaint against PulteGroup also alleges the homebuilder violated the Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The complaint alleged that Pulte unfairly denied homeowners’ repair claims for various reasons. Pulte made the bogus counterclaims that homeowners failed to maintain their property. In reality, Pulte’s defective construction caused the problems. Bondi’s office alleged that Pulte unfairly denied certain repair claims without performing an adequate inspection of the home.  Read more at MFI-Miami

The Only Flagstar Bank Foreclosure Defense Team That Has Brought Flagstar Bank To Their Knees! MFI-Miami  has created a specialized Flagstar Bank Foreclosure Defense Team just for Flagstar customers. The team’s focus will solely on developing strategies for homeowners to defeat Flagstar in a foreclosure battle.  MFI-Miami  will also give homeowners their own personalized Citizens Bank Foreclosure Defense Team. We also are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the resources to successfully challenge Flagstar. Our competitors show off one or two victories against Flagstar. They can’t beat our track record. How do we know this? Because  we have the 10-year track record  to prove it!  MFI-Miami’s  Flagstar Bank Foreclosure Defense Team is Citizens’ worst nightmare. Why? MFI-Miami has successfully challenged some of their most arrogant foreclosure mill lawyers. For nearly 10-years,  MFI-Miami  CEO Steve Dibert has developed a reputation of bringing Flagstar to their