Discussion Forum

Marty Couch
Investor

Identity Theft and Real Estate

Tuesday, January 15 2008 11:31 PM

Hi All,

As Jim and Randy are always talking about the importance of privacy, I thought I would share a couple stories I saw on the net.

For information on how to protect yourself against Identity Theft, go to http://www.PPLChicago.com

Both of these stories are from www.mortgagefraudblog.com

Mortgage Brokerage Sued for Identity Theft Exposure
Randall Mortgage Services Inc. and its owner and president, Robert Shepherd, was sued by Attorney General Marc Dann and the Ohio Department of Commerce for allegedly abandoning customers? loan and personal financial information after the mortgage broker company closed its offices. Randall Mortgage Services surrendered its mortgage broker certificate of registration on August 29, 2007. The company?s main office was in Dublin, and it had branch offices in Fairlawn and Cincinnati, Ohio.

?We need to protect our personal information to prevent identity theft,? said Attorney General Marc Dann. ?Businesses that collect our personal information are responsible for protecting it just like they would protect their own information. It must be properly maintained, so that no one else will gain access to it. If they don?t, we will hold them accountable.?

Randall Mortgage Services? landlord informed the State that its tenant left behind personal information of its customers. On October 25, 2007, the Department of Commerce sent a warning letter to Shepherd informing him to take possession and to safeguard the records. Shepherd did not respond to the letter and has not taken possession of the records.

The suit alleges violations of the Ohio Mortgage Broker Act and the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act. The State is seeking a permanent injunction, civil penalties against Randall Mortgage Services Inc. and Robert Shepherd, and a declaratory judgment stating that their acts or practices violate the Consumer Sales Practices Act. The suit also seeks attorney fees and court costs from the defendants.

Randall Mortgage Services initially registered as a mortgage broker in 1993. The company took mortgage loan applications from consumers and obtained their financial information, including current loan account information, wages, credit reports, bank account information and social security numbers.

Would Be Fraudster Caught Before Striking
Robert Michael Stewart, 26, Timonium, Maryland, was sentenced to 66 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for fraud in connection with identity theft and aggravated identity theft in a scheme to sell stolen personal and financial information.

According to the plea agreement, Stewart sought to sell 325 folders of personal and financial information of individuals who had previously obtained a mortgage.  He gained or had access to this information from his employment at a Pikesville, Maryland mortgage company.  In January 2007, Stewart had approximately 200 folders at his residence, which he intended to be sold to others, who would use the information to obtain funds from existing accounts and obtain additional extensions of credit.

On January 4, 2007, Stewart provided a cooperating witness with three ?samples? of the mortgage files to sell to buyers.  The files included social security numbers, bank account and credit card numbers, copies of driver?s licenses, tax statements, payroll and statement of earnings, and bank account statements. The next day, Stewart negotiated the price of each file, and told the cooperating witness to sell 325 files for $50 each to a buyer who would use the information to commit identity theft.

On January 10, 2007, the individual helped Stewart carry additional files from the mortgage company office to Stewart?s vehicle.  The next day, agents observed Stewart load boxes from his residence into his vehicle.  Stewart and the cooperating witness moved the boxes from Stewart?s vehicle into the vehicle of the cooperating witness, who paid Stewart $8,000.  FBI agents arrested Stewart outside his vehicle and took possession of all the stolen files.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, ?People disclose sensitive personal and financial information every time they apply for mortgage loans and other forms of credit.  Law enforcement agencies will continue to be aggressive in catching and punishing criminals who seek to use that information.  Under federal law, every identity thief serves at least two years in federal prison in addition to the sentence for the fraud scheme.?

The parties agree that the expected losses from the information in these files would have been at least $500,000 had the files not been recovered by the FBI and had instead been sold to identity thieves.

Makes you think about the exposure investors have out there.

Marty Couch
http://www.PPLChicago.com

REPLY

daveg
Investor/Rehabber

Re:Re:Identity Theft and Real Estate

Thursday, January 31 2008 05:31 AM

Marty, can you call me?? I need to resked this Saturday. I need to know where you are located because I have another meeting I'm setting up in Hyde Park but I need your location so that I can try and arrange meeting both of you...Friday is best !!!

REPLY