MFI-Miami Blog

Equifax Spanking Is Coming By The CFPB And Federal Trade Commission Over Mass Data Breach An Equifax spanking is coming! The company is expecting various forms of punishment from both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. The spanking is from the credit reporting agency’s  massive data breach  that exposed the  personal information  of 148 million U.S. consumers to hackers last year. The company revealed the expected sanctions in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Equifax states the CFPB and FTC have both notified the company that they expect to seek injunctive relief damages in regards to the data breach.  The company added that it will cooperate with the agencies in their investigations. The company did not provide an expected timeline for when the potential punishment will be announced, but the fact that the CFPB is seeking to levy a fine against the company for the breach represents a shift from the burea

Disgraced Attorney Mark Stopa Says He Wants To Retire From Practicing Law But The Florida Bar Won’t Let Him  Disgraced attorney Mark Stopa has fought nearly four years for the right to keep practicing law. In a stunning turn of events, Stopa now says he never wants to practice again. However, he says the Florida Bar won’t let him retire.  Stopa is seeking permanent retirement with Florida Supreme Court. The unusual petition even calls for no leave to apply for readmission to the Bar. Stopa unsuccessfully attempted to head off a January 22nd hearing.  The hearing was to have a judge review new Bar complaints against him that include allegations of fraud. Disgraced Attorney Mark Stopa wrote in his petition: Since July 27, 2018, Petitioner has made clear, in every way he knows how that he no longer desires to be a member of the Florida Bar. Unfortunately, even at this late date, the Florida Bar has provided no response to the petition for Permanent Retirement nor has it giv

Pennsylvania Couple Accused Of Stealing $1.2M from Church For Walt Disney Vacations And Pittsburgh Pirates Tickets A trusted Pennsylvania church administrator and his wife are accused of stealing around $1.2 million from the church. The Pennsylvania couple used the cash on Disney vacations, sporting events, and restaurants, officials said. David Reiter had allegedly been stealing the funds from the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Upper St. Clair for nearly 17 years.  Head Pastor Jim Gilchrist learned of the alleged fraud in November 2018. Gilchrist discovered Reiter had impersonated an auditor. As a result, Gilchrist confronted Reiter. Reiter then told Gilchrist he needed to resign because he did some  “bad things.” Reiter also confessed to stealing $500,000 to $530,000 from the church over a period of 10 to 12 years. He claimed he needed,  “to make things better at home.” Read more at MFI-Miami

Obese Racist Who Called Michelle Obama An “Ape In Heels” Pleads Guilty To Ripping Off FEMA Obese racist Pamela Taylor is going to jail for ripping off FEMA. The former West Virginia non-profit director became famous in 2016 after she  lost her job after she called Michelle Obama an “ape in heels” Taylor pleaded guilty to embezzling $18,000 intended for flood victims by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  Taylor falsely claimed her home was damaged after deadly June 2016 flooding hit West Virginia. She also later applied for FEMA benefits. The obese racist claimed she was also forced to stay in a rental unit. As a result of the guilty plea, Taylor agreed to pay back more than $18,000 worth of FEMA benefits. She also faces 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000. Read more at MFI-Miami

PHH Settles With Oregan Combat Veteran Jacob McGreevey For $125,000 In Illegal SCRA Foreclosure Case Jacob McGreevey Marine Jacob McGreevey discovered he had been a victim of an illegal SCRA foreclosure when he returned to his Oregan home after four years in Afghanistan and Iraq war zones. Last week, the Marine won. PHH Mortgage last week agreed to pay $125,000 to McGreevey. PHH is also paying settlements to five other servicemembers it foreclosed on. The firm did so after the USDOJ sued it for violating federal law when it illegally grabbed the servicemembers’ homes. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects military members from foreclosures and other collection efforts while deployed overseas. It also covers them in the ensuing 12 months. Federal attorneys claimed PHH knew or should have known the homeowners were deployed servicemembers.   McGreevey said of the settlement: This is great news. The $125,000 fully covers the losses he suffered in the foreclosure. Re

FHFA Inspector General Report Finds Mel Watt Sexually Harassed An Employee  The FHFA Inspector general issued a report that found former FHFA Director Mel Watt guilty of the sexual misconduct.   The report states: We found that the FHFA director violated Section 702 when he attempted to coerce or induce the PMO Manager to engage in a personal relationship with him by suggesting or implying he would use his official authority to assist her in attaining an executive position with FHFA. The FHFA Inspector General sent the report to the White House in November. However, President Donald Trump  took no action against Watt. Simone Grimes began to  speak out publicly  about the 2017 incident with Watt after news leaked about the investigation. Grimes released tapes where Watt made comments such as: Well, you probably want to know what I wanted to talk to you about. I mentioned to you there is an attraction here that I think needs to be explored. In my experience, there are

Abu Dhabi Investment Council Is Selling Its Stake In NYC’s Iconic Chrysler Building  The iconic Chrysler Building in mid-town Manhattan is on the market. The Dubai sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Council is selling its 90% ownership in the 77-story stainless steel skyscraper. Tishman Speyer also owns a 10% stake in the building. It is unknown what Tishman plans to do about their minority stake in the building. Darcy Stacom, chairman and head of New York City Capital Markets for CBRE stated: It’s exciting. I’m getting inquiries from all over the world. Tishman acquired the property in 1997. The real estate company immediately commenced with a $100 million renovation to the 1.26 million square foot building. Tishman later reduced its holding. The sovereign wealth fund paid $800 million on eve of the 2008 financial crisis. The building’s occupancy rate is in the low 80% range. The Chrysler Building’s occupancy rate is below the city average. Stacom also refused

Former Fannie Mae Employee Found Guilty Of Making Millions On Shady REO Foreclosure Sales Former Fannie Mae employee Shirene Hernandez is facing 40 years in prison. She was found guilty of accepting millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for selling Fannie Mae REO properties. Federal prosecutors charged Shirene Hernandez in  January 2018  with accepting bribes for steering foreclosures to certain brokers. She also allegedly bought some foreclosures herself at below market value. Hernandez was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud counts. The former Fannie Mae employee worked as an REO foreclosure specialist in California. Her job was to find buyers for Fannie Mae REO properties foreclosed on by Fannie Mae. Hernandez would assign Fannie Mae-owned properties to real estate brokers and approve sales of the properties based on offers the brokers submitted from 2010 through 2015. Read more at MFI-Miami

Former LandCastle Title CEO Nat Hardwick Sentenced to 15 Years In Federal Prison For $26 Million Scam A federal judge has sentenced former LandCastle Title CEO Nathan Hardwick to fifteen years in federal prison. Hardwick is also former managing partner of Morris Hardwick Schneider. The former LandCastle Title CEO was  found guilty  of embezzling more than $25 million from his former companies in October. The court ordered Hardwick to serve 15 years in prison after convicting him on 21 counts of wire fraud. Hardwick was also accused of conspiring with Morris Hardwick Schneider CFO Asha Maurya. The Hardwick scandal first exploded back in 2014. Hardwick’s former partners with the law firm sued him for  allegedly embezzling $30 million  from the firm and the firm’s subsidiary, LandCastle Title. Read more at MFI-Miami

Feds Fine Sierra Pacific Mortgage $3.67 Million For FHA Lending Violations Under False Claims Act Sierra Pacific Mortgage will pay a fine of $3.67 to the federal government. The company is settling allegations that it knowingly violated lending standards more than a decade ago. The USAO alleges Sierra Pacific Mortgage violated the False Claims Act. They alleged the company falsely certified that it complied with FHA mortgage insurance requirements between 2007 and 2009. Sierra Pacific Mortgage acted as a “direct endorsement lender” in the FHA insurance program. Direct endorsement lenders have the authority to originate, underwrite and endorse mortgages for FHA insurance without approval from the FHA. The program allows lenders to bypass the FHA approval process to endorse loans for FHA insurance. Read more at MFI-Miami

Ditech Alert: Ditech Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy For The 2nd Time In 14 Months. Is This The End Of Ditech? It appears the financial troubles for Ditech Holdings is are getting worse. A Ditech Alert has been issued by the company. The company has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for the second time in 14 months. The company  emerged  from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year after completing a financial restructuring plan that  eliminated $800 million  in corporate debt and  changed its name  to Ditech Holding. But that wasn’t enough to put the company’s troubles behind it.  The Ditech Alert was issued yesterday by the company. The announcement stated that  Ditech Financial and Reverse Mortgage Solutions have entered into a restructuring agreement with its creditors. Read more at MFI-Miami

BB&T Bank Buys SunTrust Bank For $66 Billion. Here’s What Customers Need To Know Large regional bank BB&T Bank buys SunTrust Bank. They plan to combine in a roughly $66 billion all-stock merger. This is easily the largest bank merger since the 2008 financial crisis. The merged entity will become the sixth largest bank in the U.S. with around $442 billion in assets, $301 billion in loans and $324 billion in deposits. SunTrust’s and BB&T’s customers aren’t the only people who will be affected by this merger. Greg McBride, a chief financial analyst at personal-finance website Bankrate: This deal’s going to open the floodgates to a number of more bank acquisitions and a renewed wave of consolidation.  A number of factors are driving the wave of mergers the banking industry. Regulatory requirements introduced after the financial crisis has driven up the cost of business. Bank mergers are one way to reduce those costs. Read more at MFI-Miami

The Only BB&T Bank Foreclosure Defense Team With A Track Record Of Delivering A TKO To BB&T Bank  MFI-Miami has created a specialized BB&T Bank Foreclosure Defense Team. The team’s focus will focus solely on developing strategies to give homeowners some serious foreclosure help!  We are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the strength to successfully challenge this company in any courtroom in the USA. Our competitors show off one or two victories against BB&T Bank but 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 BB&T Bank Foreclosure Defense Team is BB&T’s 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 for bringing BB&T to their knees. He has even humiliated their lawyers.  Steve Dibert has also helped keep BB&

Third Vanguard Funding Executive Edward Bohm Admits Guilt in $8.9 Million Embezzlement Scheme The saga of the $8.9 Million Vanguard Funding  embezzlement scheme  continues. Edward Bohm became the third Vanguard executive to admit to being involved in the scheme. Bohm  pleaded guilty  to conspiring to commit wire fraud and bank fraud in connection with a scheme. COO Matthew Voss and CFO Edward Sypher have already pleaded guilty in a scheme. Sypher and Voss were  sentenced  to 18 and 24 months in prison in December. They also pleaded guilty and were ordered to pay restitution. The USAO for the Eastern District of New York claims Bohm, Sypher, and Voss obtained warehouse lines of credit for Vanguard from various lenders by falsely stating that the proceeds would be used to fund mortgages or refinance mortgage loans. Read more at MFI-Miami

Detroit Land Bank Owned Properties Used As Distribution Points For Drug And Sex Trafficking To Posh Suburbs Many people in Detroit have never heard of the Detroit Land Bank. The few people that have heard of it have only heard about it from the  demolition scandal  from two years ago. The Detroit Land Bank basically buys homes from the county no one wants at a tax auction. The Land Bank then demolishes the house or sells the property to real estate investors. The Detroit Land Bank’s inventory is made up of abandoned homes. Homes that have been vacant for decades.  The Detroit Land Bank is supposed to secure these properties. They are also supposed to maintain them. However, that very rarely happens. Many of these properties become havens for neighborhood drug addicts and drug dealers. Except for one property less than a quarter mile south of 8 Mile. 8 Mile is also the northern boundary of Detroit and it borders both suburban counties of Oakland and Macomb.  Read more at

You Need The Only Seterus Foreclosure Defense Team That Counts MFI-Miami has created a Seterus foreclosure defense team exclusively for Seterus. The team’s focus will solely be on helping homeowners develop strategies to fight Seterus! We are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the strength to successfully challenge Seterus. Our competitors show off one or two victories against Seterus. 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 Seterus foreclosure defense team is Seterus’ 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 Seterus’ lawyers and made their executives sob like babies during depositions. Read more at MFI-Miami

Westchester Attorney Pleads Guilty To Mail Fraud For Attempting To Embezzle From A Decedent’s Estate Westchester attorney Guy Parisi pleaded guilty this week to mail fraud. It seems like Parisi attempted to embezzle funds from an estate for which he also served as a court-appointed administrator.   U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  Guy Parisi flouted his fiduciary duty to the estate for which he was the administrator.  He attempted to direct fees from the estate to a company he himself formed with a relative.   Federal prosecutors also allege: Parisi was appointed an administrator of the estate of a former resident of Mount Vernon in or about April 2017.  His duties as administrator included collecting the assets of the estate.  As an administrator, PARISI had a fiduciary duty to the estate and to the decedent’s son, the sole beneficiary of his father’s will.  New York law provided for a fee for estate administrators like PARISI based on a percentage of the value o

Bungling Bank Robbers Attempt To Dig Tunnel To Rob South Florida Chase Bank Would be South Florida bank robbers thought  life was like the movies . They thought they could tunnel their way in through a basement of a Chase Bank. Unfortunately, the tunnel leading toward the bank from a wooded area was discovered in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The FBI and Broward County Sheriff’s Department is investigating. FBI Special Agent Michael Leverock told reporters: A public works crew responded to what appeared to be a sinkhole near the Chase branch.   When they looked into the hole, they noticed a power cord running into nearby woods. Read more at MFI-Miami