Mortgage Crimes Shift The White House Focus

While much attention has been focused on ending the foreclosure crisis and providing homeowners will more loan modification options, another issue has been slowly taking over the focus of mortgage strategies. Predatory lending practices and mortgage relief scams have become a big problem over the last few years, causing further trouble in an already struggling industry.

Problems All Around

President Obama recently announced his plans for 2012 to clean up some of the mess left behind as a result of stubborn lending, fraudulent foreclosures and strict modification standards. However, he doesn’t plan to stop there. Obama also announced plans for a new task force designed to investigate and prosecute those found guilty of bad mortgage practices.

Obama has asked the Justice Department to create a special section of state attorneys and prosecutors, whose job will solely focus on abusive lending practices and the promoting of risky mortgages. In his State of the Union speech, the President said, “This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans.”