Protect Yourself from Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud: Preserving the American Dream of Homeownership [Paperback]

Ralph R. Roberts (Author), Rachel Dollar (Author), Joe Kraynak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 2007

According to the FBI, real estate fraud is one of the fastest growing white-collar crimes in the United States. From 2003 to 2004, reports of mortgage fraud jumped 146% and jumped another 28% from 2004 to 2005.With seven out of ten Americans owning their own homes, a huge number of people are potentially susceptible to this burgeoning crime epidemic.

 

In Protect Yourself from Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud, real estate investors, professionals, and consumers will discover how to spot the signs of a scam and learn how to recover should they fall victim to fraud. With detailed overviews of each type of real estate fraud and compelling case studies illustrating exactly how these scams unfold, this comprehensive book will arm anyone with the necessary information to spot the warning signs, avoid becoming an unwilling victim or unwitting accomplice, and stop the con artists in their tracks.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ralph R. Roberts, CRS, GRI, dubbed by Time magazine as “the best-selling REALTOR® in America,” is a highly sought after speaker on detecting, stopping, and reporting fraudulent real estate activity. The author of six books, Roberts collaborates with Federal law enforcement to help educate consumers, as well as state and local law enforcement, regulators, and financial institutions on the problems associated with real estate fraud.

 

Rachel Dollar, Esq., CMB., is a recognized expert in the mortgage lending industry. She speaks nationwide and frequently teaches seminars on real estate and mortgage fraud, represents lenders in lawsuits seeking recovery of fraud losses and routinely consults with law enforcement in investigation and prosecution of fraud cases. Dollar was named by Inman News in 2005 as one of the top 100 most influential people in the real estate business.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing (August 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1427754799
• ISBN-13: 978-1427754790
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,088,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent consumer info any buyer could benefit from, August 20, 2007

By 

Cindy Schnackel - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Protect Yourself from Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud: Preserving the American Dream of Homeownership (Paperback)

I'm a consumer advocate for an organization that specializes in homebuilding complaints. I've noticed an increase in predatory lending and mortgage fraud in complaints about shoddy construction and breach of warranty. With regard to new houses, this seems especially so when a buyer has used the builder's in-house lender. A common element is the builder requiring the buyer to use the builder's lender, a RESPA violation. While some buyers did make bad decisions, some were victims of fraud; in any case, the industry knew what it was doing was ethically and often legally wrong. It seems hypocritical that anyone in the industry would think consumers had a greater likelihood or duty to know lending laws than the lenders themselves.



This book would have educated many now-struggling buyers on how to avoid what will probably end in foreclosure and lasting credit damage. It explains why it's risky to go along with lenders who assure buyers that certain "creative" financing is ok, as well as why certain tactics are outright illegal. I hope to see updated editions that keep up with and expose the ever-evolving scams, and that encompass problems just now being dealt with by law enforcement but have not yet resulted in convictions. This book is an easy to understand, "must-read," for anyone buying a house in today's atmosphere of spiking white collar real estate crime.



Cindy Schnackel

National Secretary

Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings

[...]

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative, January 3, 2008

By 

B. Melody (Yonkers,, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Protect Yourself from Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud: Preserving the American Dream of Homeownership (Paperback)

Valuable information for anyone who's thinking of getting into Real Estate or just interested in the workings of the industry and the Mortgage process in general. The authors gave very good insights of how to spot Real Estate fraud and how to remedy the situation. With all the talk right now, about the sub-prime lending, this book is a very good read and never boring.