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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Say the name! Say the name!

A banker friend of mine told me he had a conversation with a real estate agent who was complaining that I was not "flexible" about how something should be done in a real estate transaction. He knows how I operate, and he asked, "Well, was he right?" To which the real estate agent responded, "I guess so. Technically....." I was so proud.

Speaking of flexibility, I came across the following press release from the Department of Justice District of New Jersey website.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/press/press/files/pdffiles/cart0813%20rel.pdf

Here is a brief quote:

"According to the Indictment, the borrowers attended closings at a Garfield law office where Gebbia worked. There, at the closing attorney’s direction, Gebbia prepared fraudulent HUD-1 Uniform Settlement Statements that were signed by the borrowers, Ugwu and others reflecting deposits that had never been made. The closing attorney then allegedly distributed proceeds of the fraudulently-obtained mortgage loans to the conspirators by checks made payable to companies controlled by Eliasof, who in turn paid kickbacks to Carti, the closing attorney and others. "

I can only hope they did not name the closing attorney because they have something really "special" planned for him/her. Not only do attorneys have a lot to lose by playing these games, they violate their duty to their clients by allowing these transactions to go through this way. Perhaps if a few more attorneys would have stood firm, we might not be in the mess we are in right now. Sure, some real estate agent might complain that we are "not flexible," but isn't that our job?

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