The Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) has changed its licensing requirements: Earlier this year the OFR passed a mandate that mortgage processors and underwriters must become licensed as loan originators. This requirement has been reversed, because "underwriters did not clearly fit [the] description" of a "loan originator."

On Aug. 17, 2010, the OFR provided a legal opinion, issued by Jenny S. Kim, the OFR's Assistant General Counsel, which gave the following clarification to substantially the following question:Read more

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and J. Thomas Cardwell, Commissioner, State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation, have announced that defendant John Fisher of Jupiter, Fla., has plead guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and to one count of substantive mail fraud.Read more

Inlanta Mortgage has announced the opening of its newest branch, which will be serving Ft. Myers and the surrounding areas. Jim Marcinkowski, branch manager, brings more than five years of experience to the area that he has been living in for over 13 years. Jim has been in the business since 2005 and has had experience as a mortgage broker, a loan officer in a mortgage bank and as a branch manager. His experience within various aspects of the mortgage industry, along with the Inlanta Partnership, will provide him with the tools and support to be successful.Read more

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has announced his office has launched three new investigations into allegations of unfair and deceptive actions by Florida law firms handling foreclosure cases. The Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division is investigating whether improper documentation may have been created and filed with Florida courts to speed up foreclosure processes, potentially without the knowledge or consent of the homeowners involved.Read more

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has announced that a Pinellas County, Fla. woman has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $8 million in a real estate fraud scheme. Cheryl Wehlau, owner of Gulf Coast Title Offices, entered her plea in a case prosecuted by the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution. Wehlau masterminded a scheme to funnel funds held in escrow for real estate closings into a business operating account, then spent the cash on a lavish lifestyle. Gulf Coast Title was placed into receivership by their underwriter Commonwealth in January 2006.Read more

Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, has announced that Karen Washam-Hawkins of Carson, Calif. and Gerald William Bartlett of Tampa, Fla,. were indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a credit history fraud that allegedly contributed to a nearly $3 million mortgage fraud scheme in Lee’s Summit, Mo. Washam-Hawkins and Bartlett were charged in a six-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo.Read more

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announced that Diego L. Siman of Miami, Fla., has been sentenced  to 84 months’ imprisonment by United States District Judge James I. Cohn, after having previously pled guilty to committing wire fraud. According to court documents, Siman sought potential investors interested in purchasing properties that were allegedly soon to be in foreclosure.Read more