Queens Brokerage Suspected Of Mortgage Fraud; Faces Administrative Charges

In New York City, The Daily News reports in an I-Team Special Investigation reports on allegations that real estate brokerage 2000 Homes arranged for the purchase by a local woman of a Queens home for $538,000 even though the brokerage knew she had bad credit and "lived on an amalgam of government subsidies". The brokerage also reportedly had the woman sign a blank loan application and listed her as a $9,000-a-month "marketing manager" for a company owned by her loan officer's husband, even though she has no full-time job. The woman is now facing foreclosure. According to the story:

• [The woman's] mess is increasingly common among vulnerable low-income borrowers, facilitated by questionable brokers like 2000 Homes, a Daily News investigation has found.

[...]

• With an office in Queens Village and 20 licensed brokers, 2000 Homes has been fined $3,900 for violating regulations aimed at curbing aggressive sales tactics, officials say. Next month, the company faces a hearing and possible loss of its real estate broker's license in the 2005 sale of a home in St. Albans, Queens, records show.

For the whole story, including the stories of a couple of others who were allegedly duped by 2000 Homes, see Queens woman victimized in brokers' mortgage scam.