| Georgia Broker Loses License
Dept. of banking revokes Preferred Mortgage’s license July 21, 2005 By PATRICK CROWLEY |
| Hiring a convicted felon has cost a Georgia mortgage broker its license.The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance Department has revoked the license of Preferred Mortgage Services of Atlanta for alleged violations of the Georgia Residential Mortgage and Georgia Fair Lending acts, the department said in a statement.
The department said Preferred was cited for making numerous misrepresentations in loan files submitted to mortgage lenders; employing a convicted felon; transacting business with an unlicensed entity; and failing to comply with the state’s procedures for handling subprime loans. The company could not be reached to comment. “Our department is aggressively seeking to revoke the privilege to do business as a Georgia residential mortgage licensee for anyone consistently violating Georgia laws,” department Commissioner David Sorrell said in a statement. “Preferred Mortgage Services, Inc.’s numerous and serious violations do not meet the licensing requirement that activities and operations be in compliance with the laws of the state of Georgia and be conducted in a matter that protects the contractual and property rights of the citizens.” Pressed for specifics, deputy mortgage Robert Braswell said he was restricted by state law from revealing too many specifics. “Our privacy laws do not allow me to elaborate on the specifics of the action in any greater detail than what is actually listed in the official Order of Revocation,” Braswell said in an e-mail response to questions posed by MortgageDaily.com. “However, I can tell you that the (Georgia) Residential Mortgage Act does not allow felons of any kind to be employed by a licensee,” Braswell said. “Whether the felony conviction involved financial crimes or not is irrelevant.” Georgia has been identified as a hot bed for mortgage fraud. And while Preferred Mortgage Services is not accused of breaking any crimes the state has been tightening its oversight of the state’s mortgage industry. According to Mortgage Asset Research Institute, Georgia is the top mortgage fraud state in the nation. And the FBI has identified Georgia and neighboring Florida as the worst problems with mortgage fraud in the state. |
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Patrick Crowley is a MortgageDaily.com feature journalist and blogger, and a reporter and columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer. e-mail Patrick at: PatCrowley@MortgageDaily.com |
