Occupancy Mis-statements Lead to Fraud Charges

Over the years I've had more people than I can count find reasons to apply for loans as owner occupied, rather than investor owned.  They might move in the house . . . they might move in the house for a month and then move out of the house . . . they might buy it and decide not to move in the house.  Those what if questions scream investment property.

When I explain that false occupancy statements are punishable by law, and that law governs them as well as me, they've generally moved on to another lender.  When they haven't, I've sent them to another lender.  My feeling is if they are prepared to lie about one thing, they'll lie about anything.  Here's proof:

From the Mortgage Ledger, under the heading, Industry Scandals:

Dave Mark Fox, a television sports anchor and host of “Talkin’ Sports,” pled guilty last week to mortgage fraud in an attempt to flip a home for profit, prompting his network to place the broadcaster on “administrative leave.”

Fox has been a sports anchor for KUTV in Utah since September of 1987.

Until recently, Fox could be found reporting on local and national sports weeknights at 5 and 10 p.m., along with hosting the hour-long “Talkin’ Sports” on Sunday evenings.

Television audiences will not be seeing Fox for some time, though.

Last week, the sports anchor pled guilty to a second-degree felony charge of communications fraud for illegally obtaining a lower mortgage rate with a false loan application in April 2006.

According to prosecutors, Fox falsely suggested that he planned to live in a home in order to obtain a residential loan, rather than a more costly investor loan that could take longer to approve.

Fox had no intentions of living in the Utah residence, prosecutors claimed, and instead planned to quickly re-sell the property as an investment.

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Dont' even think about it - if you don't like the interest rate, or think you can't afford it on an investor loan, maybe you really can't afford to own extra residential real estate.  The consequences certainly aren't worth the risk.