MFI-Miami Blog

Internet Scammers Steal $77,000 From Treasure Coast Family In Real Estate Closing Scam It was love at first sight for Susan Spofford and her Treasure Coast family. They fell in love with a property in Jensen Beach was just right for her family. She remembers: We walked in and it was perfect. Spofford bought the home with her boyfriend, mother, sister and brother-in-law, Larry Beach. They were overjoyed when their offer was accepted. Everything was proceeding smoothly until they received shocking news.  Read more at MFI-Miami

CFPB Accused BSI Financial Services Of Improperly Handling Mortgage Servicing Transfers The CFPBannounced Wednesday that it had concluded an investigation into BSI Financial Services. The agency found that BSI Financial Services had violated multiple federal laws over several years. As a result, the company agreed to pay a penalty of $200,000 and pay restitution estimated at least $36,500. CFPB states that BSI Financial Services violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010. They also violated RESPA and or TILA at various points between 2012 and 2016. Read more at MFI-Miami

Morgan Stanley Says Bond Market Sending Warning Signals That American Economy Is Heading Into Recession Morgan Stanley warned the stock market and economic outlook in the United States are deteriorating. Renewed trade tensions and a slump in economic data has put U.S. profits and economic growth at risk.  Chief Equity Strategist Michael Wilson of Morgan Stanley warned Tuesday: Recent data points suggest US earnings and economic risk is greater than most investors may think. Specifically, the stock strategist highlighted a recent survey from financial data firm IHS Markit that showed manufacturing activity fell to a nine-year low in May. That report also revealed a “notable slowdown” in the U.S. services sector, a key area for an American economy characterized by huge job gains in health care and business services. Read more at MFI-Miami

The Only Nassau County Foreclosure Defense Team That Has Beaten Wall Street MFI-Miami has created the most aggressive Nassau County foreclosure defense team New York has ever seen! We are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the strength to successfully challenge any Wall Street lender in Nassau County or New York courtroom. Our competitors show off one or two victories 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 Nassau County foreclosure defense team has become a lender’s worse nightmare. Why? MFI-Miami has successfully challenged some of the most arrogant foreclosure mill lawyers and Wall Street lenders in New York. Read more at MFI-Miami

Quicken Loans CEO Jay Farmer Confirms Quicken Loans Owner Dan Gilbert Has Had A Stroke Quicken Loans owner Dan Gilbert suffered a stroke in the hospital Sunday. As a result, doctors had to immediately perform a catheter-based procedure. Gilbert suffered the stroke while hospitalized for an unrelated issue. Gilbert was moved to the intensive-care unit to recover after the procedure. The catheter-based procedure revealed further details about what sent Gilbert to initially seek medical treatment. Quicken Loans CEO told Detroit media: Dan is awake, responsive and resting comfortably. Dan and his family are immensely grateful to the doctors and nurses whose early intervention is already paying dividends toward his recovery. Farner also stated Gilbert had not been feeling well Sunday morning and a family friend took him to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. Farmer also stated: While under care at the hospital, he suffered a stroke. Farner added that Gilbert’s companies will...

Tampa Pastor Luckner Stimphil And His Daughter Get 57 Months Of Slammer Time For $11 Million Tax Fraud Tampa Pastor Luckner Stimphil was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison. Stimphil pleaded guilty for conspiracy to defraud the IRS out of $11 million. The Tampa Pastor’s daughter, Elwolfine Dufort was sentenced to two years in federal prison for her role in the conspiracy. The court also ordered Stimphil and Dufort to pay $11 million in restitution to the United States. Judge Steven D. Merryday imposed a $10,000 fine against Stimphil. Stimphil and Dufort had pleaded guilty in February 2019. Read more at MFI-Miami

Arnold Schwarzenegger Intervenes In Eviction Of 102-Year-Old Woman By Heartless Landlord The scumbag landlord thought evicting 102-year-old Thelma Smith from her apartment to please his daughter would be easy. However, he didn’t know who Smith was friends with. Smith has powerful friends like former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The  Los Angeles Times reports  Smith is a former executive secretary for the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation. Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation is a nonprofit for underprivileged youth. Smith has also lived in the residence for nearly three decades. An official notice dated March 8 states that Smith must end her month-to-month lease for the home. Her landlords also noted that they were ending the lease after 30 years because their daughter is graduating from law school. Landlord claimed in the notice that his daughter needed the unit as her primary residence. A landlord can evict a tenant to accommodate a rela...

Brooklyn Deed Theft Victims May Get Relief From The New York State Assembly And State Senate Brooklyn deed theft has become a crisis and Albany is finally acting on it. Senator Velmanette Montgomery and Assemblymember Helene Weinstein have introduced a bill  that will help victims of Brooklyn deed theft. The bill would help homeowners get their property back. The legislation has passed both the New York Assembly and the state Senate. The bill is awaiting the governor’s signature. Local officials and housing advocates say deed fraud has turned into a  crisis in Brooklyn’s gentrifying neighborhoods. The legislation provides greater protections for homeowners who are in default or foreclosure. It also strengthens laws regulating shady property consultants. Read more at MFI-Miami

Federal Savings Bank CEO Indicted For Approving Manafort Mortgages In Attempt To Get Job With Trump White House Federal Savings Bank of Chicago CEO Stephen Calk was indicted for approving $16 million in mortgage loans for Paul Manafort. Manafort allegedly offered to help Calk landing a senior post with the Trump White House. The DOJ claims Calk used his position to issue millions in high-risk loans in a quid-pro-quo deal. In 2017, the Federal Savings Bank lent Manafort millions of dollars. Robert Mueller was said to be  looking into the loan as part of Russia collusion investigation The DOJ alleges Manafort approached Calk in late 2016 looking to borrow millions of dollars. Manafort was facing foreclosure proceedings on multiple properties. Read more at MFI-Miami

Girl Scout Dad Used Daughter’s $700 Girl Scout Cookie Money To Pay For Happy Ending At A Local Rub And Tug  An Oregon Girl Scout father staged a break-in of his house in order to steal $700 of his daughter’s girl scout cookie money. Brian David Couture pleaded guilty Monday to filing a false police report and staging the robbery. He admitted to stealing the money so he could pay for a $700 erotic massage. Couture called 911 on March 6 reporting that an intruder had entered his home near Portland. When officers arrived they found Couture unresponsive and the house ransacked.  Police also discovered $700 missing from a jar containing the proceeds of his daughter’s Girl Scout cookie sales. Couture told police he had struggled with an intruder and was taken to the hospital. Read more at MFI-Miami

Sandals Resorts Scammed Guests With A Bogus 12% Tax In Secret Deal With Caribbean Governments Sandals Resorts has been slapped with a  $5 million class-action lawsuit  by former guests in Florida. The lawsuit accuses the company of charging guests 12% tax rates meant for Caribbean governments. Yet, they are pocketing the money. The lawsuit alleges Sandals Resorts pocketed nearly $37.5 million in the tax fraud scheme in Antigua and Barbuda alone. The plaintiff in the suit is Vitali Feldman. He hired Miami-based law firm Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman to represent him. Feldman claims he vacationed at a Sandals Resorts in 2017, 2018 and 2019 with his wife and two young children. He claims he and others fell victim to the tax scheme. Feldman alleges Sandals charged him and others the bogus tax rate of 12% for the cost of his stay.  Feldman’s lawyers  claim  current and past customers were deceived into paying such tax. The resort told gu...

Michael Scott Fitzgerald Trolls The Streets Of Fort Lauderdale Enticing Junkie Prostitutes For Sex With Weed And Coke I hate to say it but Michael Scott Fitzgerald really is the  village idiot of Naples . In the wee hours last Thursday morning, Fitzgerald was prowling the streets of Fort Lauderdale trying to entice sex from women with $40 and some a half a joint of weed and little coke. He met up with my friend Jessica (not her real name) who is my source for some upcoming articles. Jessica is one of the many millennial heroin and crack addicts that live on the streets of south Fort Lauderdale. Many of whom will prostitute themselves for money to get their fix. Usually, it’s just a scam. Girls like Jessica usually don’t have sex with the men. Especially when the agreed amount is a third of the going rate. She will bolt from the car as soon as the money is in her hand. The wannabe budget minded john should know this. In addition, the john will look like an idiot and be ...

Ditech Customers Win Protections in Ditech bankruptcy As Ditech Promises To Fight Back Ditech customers won a major victory in the long and winding saga of Ditech’s bankruptcy. The bankruptcy Trustee granted a request to create a committee to protect consumer interests in the proceedings. The Trustee’s decision riled Ditech’s attorneys. As a result, they filed a motion objecting to such a committee. They asked the trustee to disband the committee or limit the scope of its involvement in the bankruptcy proceedings. The drama began when a group of Ditech customers formed a consumer committee drama began last month. They soon  filed petitions  with the bankruptcy trustee asking for the creation of a committee to represent the interests of Ditech customers. Read more at MFI-Miami

Deed Fraud Alert: Long Island Woman Recovering From Heart Surgery Evicted From House She Thought She Owned MFI-Miami has issued a deed fraud alert for Long Island. Juliette Devonish had a deed and spent tens of thousands of dollars renovating the house. However, it turns out the deed was fake. Devonish got duped and it could have been avoided. Why? She thought she could do the real estate transaction herself. She didn’t hire an attorney and title company to do the property research. Now Juliette Devonish is scrambling to find a place to live after she received an eviction notice. Devonish says she signed a deed in May 2017 with Ramel Smith. Smith presented himself as the owner of the house and she gave him at least $40,000 as a down payment. Read more at MFI-Miami

Student Loan Debt Alert: US Treasury Collected $6.2 Billion In Student Loan Debt In 18 Months MFI-Miami has issued this student loan debt alert because your Uncle Sam is calling in your student loan debt. The Trump administration is doing everything in its power to collect from you. It is unknown if Trump plans on calling in the fat guys in tracksuits from the Bronx. The U.S. government stepped up collections on delinquent student debt to $2.9 billion last year. The government has collected on average about $1,000 from 2.9 million former students according to the  Treasury Department . The US Treasury is expected to collect $3.3 billion for the first half of the fiscal year of 2019. The federal government fiscal year runs from October 1st through September 30th. Read more at MFI-Miami

Amateur Home Flippers Get Harsh Wake Up Call As They Learn As It’s Not As Easy As They Show On TV A new generation of amateur home flippers is getting caught with their pants down.  The last generation of amateur home flippers thought they could make millions after watching four or five episodes of  The Apprentice . These clueless and wannabe Donald Trumps made up nearly 50% of the foreclosures in Florida after the crash. This latest generation of amateur home flippers has emerged  thanks to HGTV . However, home flipping isn’t as easy as it appears on TV.  Prashant Gopal at Bloomberg reports: Many newbie investors are encountering their first slowdown and facing losses from houses that take too long to sell. Meanwhile, they face steep payments on a kind of high-interest debt—known as ‘hard money’ loans—that helped power the boom. Property flips made up 6.5% of U.S. sales in the fourth quarter of 2018.  Read more at MFI-Miami

Former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo Says Financial Crisis Wasn’t His Fault And To Quit Blaming Him Former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo claims he had nothing to do with the financial crisis. He wants people to quit blaming him. The disgraced CEO of Countrywide Financial told hedge fund executives that he doesn’t care that he is still being  held responsible for the 2008 financial meltdown.  Mozilo told the SALT Conference in Las Vegas: A lot of years went by, my wife passed away, I turned 80 years old, and now I don’t care. There are other things more important in life. Mozilo was  charged with insider trading and securities fraud by the SEC in 2009  tied to his Countrywide stock sales and emails detailing concerns about the company’s subprime products at a time when he was publicly touting the stock. He settled the case for $67.5 million and accepted a lifetime ban from serving as an officer or director of a public company. However, Mozilo didn’t ad...

New York City Taxes Are Creating A 1300 Mile Conga Line Of Businesses Making The Exodus To Miami The Conga line of former NYC business owners escaping New York City taxes has arrived in Miami. New York City taxes are starving small business owners. However, businesses are not shutting down. They’re just moving to South Florida and it’s showing in the numbers. Biz2Credit  states Miami overtook New York City in small business development last week.  The report underlines how thousands of New York’s most enterprising residents are fleeing to places like the Sunshine State. Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora states: Although New York is still booming, the cost of doing business for small business owners continues to rise which conducted the research for the rankings by measuring revenues, credit scores, and other variables. Rents continually increase, and labor costs are high and will continue to increase since New York has enacted a law to raise the minimum wage to $15. ...

Bronx Man Sentenced To 39 Months In Prison For Ride Sharing Scam Louis Pina was sentenced to 39 months in prison for defrauding drivers of two ride sharing companies. The scammers accessed drivers accounts without authorization. They then diverted driver funds to bank accounts controlled by Pina and his associates.  Pina previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud. He also pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft in federal court. Pina is also the eighth defendant to have pled guilty in the ride sharing scheme. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  Louis Pina was a leader of a criminal consortium that deceived the drivers of two ride sharing companies. Thus enabling the criminals to access drivers’ accounts and steal millions of dollars.  Hard-working men and women who worked long hours to make a living had their hard-earned money stolen. Read more at MFI-Miami

Reverse Mortgage Lender Live Well Financial Abruptly Stopped Originating Loans On May 3rd With No Advance Notice Reverse Mortgage lender Live Well Financial has ceased originating loans. The company announced on its  website Friday  it would not be originating new loans as of May 3, 2019. Live Well claims it is due to unexpected circumstances. The announcement took some wholesale partners by surprise. The Reverse Mortgage lender also originated conventional as well as FHA and VA loans. Live Well also operates a servicing arm. The company has not indicated if it will continue to service loans or sell off that business. Live Well has also not stated if they will close completely. Virginia-based Live Well is a long-time player as a reverse mortgage lender. Live Well most recently ranked 7th with a 3.1% market share. The Reverse Mortgage lender is also an issuer of reverse mortgage securities. The company ranked 7th in the first quarter of 2019. They had issued 22 poo...

CFPB Accuses Credit Repair Companies Lexington Law and CreditRepair.com Of Violating Federal Consumer Laws The CFPB has targeted two of the largest credit repair companies in the nation.  CreditRepair.com and Lexington Law are accused of illegally charging customers for credit repair services. The CFPB also alleges they used deceptive advertising to trick and cheat consumers. The CFPB filed a lawsuit against the two companies alleging they violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The watchdog agency alleges the companies requested and received payment of prohibited upfront fees for credit repair services. The lawsuit also alleges the companies made false claims in its ads or by assisting others in doing so. This would be a violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. The lawsuit also names sever other companies related to or associated with CreditRepair.com and Lexington Law. The CFPB lawsuit also names PGX Holdings and subsidiaries Progrex...

American Teachers Can’t Afford Homes In Some Of America’s Largest Housing Markets The latest Employment Situation Summary report  revealed  the average American income has grown 3.2% over the year.   Unfortunately, new data from Trulia indicates as home price acceleration outpaced wage growth. Hardest hit are American teachers, first responders, and restaurant workers. All three groups are still struggling to afford to live in the communities they serve. Trulia writes: The people we rely on to educate our children are struggling to afford a home in the same places where they work. Trulia’s analysis shows the list price for a for-sale home nationwide rose 19.2% in the last three years. However, wages for American teachers and others have only increased by 6.7% over that same period. This is due to drastic cuts to education spending across America. American teachers earning an annual salary of $38,640 have to spend 46.1% of their income on a $285,000 h...

Russian Hacker Indicted For Hacking Tax Preparation Companies And Scamming $1.5 Million From The IRS Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn handed down an indictment against Russian hacker  Anton Bogdanov . The feds charged the Russian hacker with wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Bogdanov used stolen personal information to file fake federal tax returns. Consequently, he obtained $1.5 million in tax refunds from the IRS. The Russian hacker on November 28, 2018, in Thailand. Thai law enforcement extradited Bogdanov to the United States in March 2019. Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York: Bogdanov combined sophisticated computer hacking and identity theft with old-fashioned fraud to steal more than $1.5 million from the U.S. Treasury. This Office, together with our law enforcement partners, will use all our available resources to target and bring cyber criminals to justice. Read more MFI-Miami

Michigan Democratic Party Operative Jennifer Suidan Gets Slap On The Wrist For Embezzling $140,000 Michigan Democratic Party operative Jennifer Suidan has been sentenced to probation and community service for embezzling. Jennifer Suidan has pleaded no contest to embezzling money from the campaign funds of Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner. Suidan could have received a prison term of as many as 20 years. However,  Oakland Circuit Judge Nanci Grant sentenced  her to five years of probation and perform 100 hours of community service. Suidan is also to write apology letters and pay back more than $140,000 in stolen funds. In addition, Suidan is required to repay $90,304 to Meisner’s campaign. She is also to repay $51,000 to Goodman Acker as part of the plea deal. In addition, She also must receive mental-health treatment. Her sentence included credit for one day of jail served upon her arrest.  Read more at MFI-Miami