Oh this has NOT begun to get anywhere near the center core. Over 700 people talking as fast as they can. Can you imagine the stories. BUT no fear to Appraisers those arrested were your FRIENDS Remember??
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Who Got Arrested?
- Thread starter CindyR
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Oh this has NOT begun to get anywhere near the center core. Over 700 people talking as fast as they can. Can you imagine the stories. BUT no fear to Appraisers those arrested were your FRIENDS Remember??
xmmcsmielr
Junior Member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2002
First Magnus principals now are Stonewater Mortgage and Fiddling in Phoenix
Doug Underwood posted about Felix Guzman's transaction back on 1/24/06 @ $943,000 that involved a house that is now foreclosed on and has subsequently been listed at $618,000. Doug also pointed out that the $943,000 transaction was financed by First Magnus Financial.
Coincidentally, First Magnus Financial and its affiliate Charter Funding were involved in at least a couple of the mortgage frauds in Tucson that were enabled by their in-house appraiser:
1. $650,000 appraisal ignored a prior sale one month earlier at $480,000; and
2. $555,000 appraisal ignored an underlying contract paying a seller $370,000, with the balance raked off by the perps.
According to a newspaper article not too long ago in the Arizona Daily Star, the principals of First Magnus received distributions ~$20 million during 18 months preceding First Magnus' recent bankruptcy.
Now, due to the corporate shield deflecting liability from those principals via the bankruptcy, and without paying employees the last part of their pre-bankruptcy salaries, those people have formed Stonewater Mortgage and apparently are planning to do it all over again.
At one point, Long Realty provided "free" appraisal coupons to buyers for originating mortgage loans through Charter Funding. In at least one case, a Long agent sold a Long listing that was over priced by ~$50,000. The unsuspecting buyers used their "free" appraisal coupon at Charter Funding. The in-house appraiser rubber stamped the over priced contract by using incomparable sales located 7 to 8 miles from the subject, ignoring 27 more similar comparables. This is a conspiracy that escaped any penalty, because the intended user shield protected the in-house appraiser from any liability for lying about value, since Charter Funding, the employer of the appraiser, was the intended user. The buyers were not legally able to rely on the appraisal report, since they were excluded by Arizona case law.
It is way past time to get militant about scenarios like this. Outlaw appraisers operate at will, and the Arizona Board of Appraisal fiddles in Phoenix, as Arizona burns.
I reported both of the above mortgage fraud transactions to the Board of Appraisal. In the first case, the appraiser, Chris Gwozdz, received 24 hours of remedial education, instead of revocation. In the 2nd case, I did not have a copy of the appraisal. Instead, I supplied copious details from public records, MLS records, an insider description of the events, along with addresses and phone numbers of where the Board could obtain more information, including a copy of the appraisal report from First Magnus via a subpoena.
The Board dismissed that complaint without investigation, because they operate under a self imposed rule that they will not investigate without a copy of an appraisal report, in spite of overwhelming additional evidence.
Hopefully a long list of appraiser arrests by Federal law enforcement will be in the papers soon.
More importantly, hopefully the Board of Appraisal will cease to exist and USPAP enforcement will be moved to a more effective state agency.
Doug Underwood posted about Felix Guzman's transaction back on 1/24/06 @ $943,000 that involved a house that is now foreclosed on and has subsequently been listed at $618,000. Doug also pointed out that the $943,000 transaction was financed by First Magnus Financial.
Coincidentally, First Magnus Financial and its affiliate Charter Funding were involved in at least a couple of the mortgage frauds in Tucson that were enabled by their in-house appraiser:
1. $650,000 appraisal ignored a prior sale one month earlier at $480,000; and
2. $555,000 appraisal ignored an underlying contract paying a seller $370,000, with the balance raked off by the perps.
According to a newspaper article not too long ago in the Arizona Daily Star, the principals of First Magnus received distributions ~$20 million during 18 months preceding First Magnus' recent bankruptcy.
Now, due to the corporate shield deflecting liability from those principals via the bankruptcy, and without paying employees the last part of their pre-bankruptcy salaries, those people have formed Stonewater Mortgage and apparently are planning to do it all over again.
At one point, Long Realty provided "free" appraisal coupons to buyers for originating mortgage loans through Charter Funding. In at least one case, a Long agent sold a Long listing that was over priced by ~$50,000. The unsuspecting buyers used their "free" appraisal coupon at Charter Funding. The in-house appraiser rubber stamped the over priced contract by using incomparable sales located 7 to 8 miles from the subject, ignoring 27 more similar comparables. This is a conspiracy that escaped any penalty, because the intended user shield protected the in-house appraiser from any liability for lying about value, since Charter Funding, the employer of the appraiser, was the intended user. The buyers were not legally able to rely on the appraisal report, since they were excluded by Arizona case law.
It is way past time to get militant about scenarios like this. Outlaw appraisers operate at will, and the Arizona Board of Appraisal fiddles in Phoenix, as Arizona burns.
I reported both of the above mortgage fraud transactions to the Board of Appraisal. In the first case, the appraiser, Chris Gwozdz, received 24 hours of remedial education, instead of revocation. In the 2nd case, I did not have a copy of the appraisal. Instead, I supplied copious details from public records, MLS records, an insider description of the events, along with addresses and phone numbers of where the Board could obtain more information, including a copy of the appraisal report from First Magnus via a subpoena.
The Board dismissed that complaint without investigation, because they operate under a self imposed rule that they will not investigate without a copy of an appraisal report, in spite of overwhelming additional evidence.
Hopefully a long list of appraiser arrests by Federal law enforcement will be in the papers soon.
More importantly, hopefully the Board of Appraisal will cease to exist and USPAP enforcement will be moved to a more effective state agency.
Mooney
Freshman Member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2004
- Professional Status
- Certified General Appraiser
- State
- Arizona
Arizona and Montana General Certified Appraiser Kurt Douglas Holm, Mesa, AZ, was indicted and arrested on 35 counts as part of the 36 person Malicious Mortgage Sting in Arizona. The Arizona Board of Appraisal was contacted Monday, June 23, 2008 about Mr. Holm, as was the Montana Board of Appraisal. It was requested of both Boards to immediately suspend Mr. Holm's appraisal license. Mr. Holm faces prison time and restitution in the amount of $4,000,000 for allegedly inflating values on 19 properties, bank fraud, ect.
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