State To Look Into How 10,000 Convicted Criminals Were Allowed To Sell Mortgages In Florida

In Florida, The Associated Press reports (appearing at Forbes.com):

• The head of a state agency that allowed thousands of criminals to sell home loans in Florida has acknowledged that his office did not follow a screening law, but blamed legislators for failing to provide money to enforce it. That's one of the explanations in a 40-page response to a Miami Herald investigation, which found that more than 10,000 people with criminal records were permitted to work in Florida's mortgage industry between 2000 and 2007.

For more, see Florida to address criminals in mortgage industry.

See also, The Bradenton Herald: State to investigate criminals in mortgage industry:

• Saying he's outraged that thousands of people with criminal histories were allowed to peddle home loans in Florida, Attorney General Bill McCollum called for an investigation into the state agency overseeing the mortgage industry.

Go here for the Florida Office of Financial Regulation head Don Saxon's 40-page response; and go here for his Letter to the Editor, presumably sent to multiple print media outlets around the state.