Media Probe Finds Bank Robbers, Identity Thieves In Tennessee Mortgage Brokerage Industry

In Nashville, Tennessee, WTVF-TV Channel 5 reports:

• You trust them with personal information and to help you buy your home. Yet, an exclusive NewsChannel5 investigation found bank robbers and identity thieves working in the mortgage business. Incredibly, they all received a license from the state.

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• For years the state allowed convicted felons to enter a profession that gave them access to personal information and opened the door to mortgage fraud. Take convicted bank robber Charlton Hildreth. In 2001, he walked into a bank wearing a wig, claiming to have a bomb. After prison, he applied for a mortgage license from the state and was accepted.

• The state licensed Toran Hampton while he was on probation for bank fraud. Hampton's criminal record is pages long. But his biggest crime involved obtaining private bank account numbers and stealing thousands of dollars.

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• Surprisingly, state regulators say during the height of the sub-prime lending crisis there was nothing to keep bank robbers or anyone else from getting a license.(1) [...] A recent Miami Herald Investigation found more than 10,000 convicted criminals in the mortgage industry in Florida. Authorities in Wisconsin confirm hundreds of convicts working there. We may never know how many felons are still working in Tennessee because state officials won't release basic information about who they've licensed.

For the story, see Convicted Felons Approved As Licensed Mortgage Brokers.

(1) A new federal law now requires the state to review the criminal background of loan officers and revoke their license if they were convicted of a financial felony, according to the story.