Layer by layer, the truth shall be revealed.
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) consists of many programs, with the ones of interest being the Making Home Affordable and Hardest Hit Fund.
The Making Home Affordable Program® (MHA) provided mortgage relief to homeowners to prevent avoidable foreclosures. This included the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which permanently reduced mortgage payments to affordable levels for qualifying borrowers. MHA expanded to include a number of other specialized programs. MHA helped over 1.8 million families obtain mortgage relief and avoid foreclosure. MHA expired in December 2016.
The Hardest Hit Fund® was created to provide targeted aid to families in states hit hard by the economic and housing market downturn. The participating states were chosen either because they are struggling with unemployment rates at or above the national average or steep home price declines greater than 20 percent since the housing market downturn.
Treasury established several programs under TARP to help stabilize the U.S. financial system, restart economic growth, and prevent avoidable foreclosures.
Although Congress initially authorized $700 billion for TARP in October 2008, that authority was reduced to $475 billion by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).Of that, the following amounts were committed through TARP's five program areas:
Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).Of that, the following amounts were committed through TARP's five program areas:
- Approximately $250 billion was committed in programs to stabilize banking institutions ($5 billion of which was ultimately cancelled).
- Approximately $27 billion was committed through programs to restart credit markets.
- Approximately $82 billion was committed to stabilize the U.S. auto industry ($2 billion of which was ultimately cancelled).
- Approximately $70 billion was committed to stabilize American International Group (AIG) ($2 billion of which was ultimately cancelled).
- Approximately $46 billion was committed for programs to help struggling families avoid foreclosure, with these expenditures being made over time.
The authority to make new financial commitments under TARP ended on
October 3, 2010. As of October 31, 2016, cumulative collections under TARP, together with Treasury's additional proceeds from the sale of non-TARP shares of AIG, exceed total disbursements by more than $7.9 billion. Treasury is now winding down its remaining TARP investments and is also continuing to implement TARP initiatives to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Please note, for some strange reason, the information taken for the Department of Treasury on TARP has not been updated since 2016.
I wonder if that has anything to do with the Detroit Land Bank Authority?
Godspeed, my #Superfans.
Please note, for some strange reason, the information taken for the Department of Treasury on TARP has not been updated since 2016.
I wonder if that has anything to do with the Detroit Land Bank Authority?
Godspeed, my #Superfans.
Three Named in Federal Indictment Alleging $2.5 Million Loan Modification Scheme that Affected Over 500 Distressed Homeowners
SANTA ANA, California – Three Southern California men have been indicted on federal mail fraud charges that allege they solicited homeowners on the verge of foreclosure with bogus promises of loan modifications with interest rates as low as 2 percent.
The three men charged – Michael Paul Paquette, 34, of San Juan Capistrano; Allan Jessie Chance, 34, of Temecula; and Dennis Edward Lake, 59, of Costa Mesa –were arrested Thursday pursuant to an eight-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on December 20.
Paquette, Chance and Lake were arraigned on the indictment yesterday afternoon in United States District Court, where they all entered not guilty pleas and were ordered to stand trial on March 6. All three defendants were released on $15,000 bonds.
According to the indictment, Paquette and Chance operated under aliases and told distressed homeowners that they worked for the Laguna Hills-based HAMP Services – which sounded similar to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), a legitimate government program which permanently reduced mortgage payments to affordable levels for qualifying buyers.
Paquette and Chance told victims that they were approved for a government-affiliated loan modification, but they needed to make three “trial payments” before the loan would be modified, according to the indictment. They also falsely told the victims that their money would be held in a trust or escrow account. Chance falsely claimed that he had experience in getting home loans modified because he had worked at Bank of America.
After victims began making “trial payments,” their files were referred to Lake, who ran a Newport Beach-based business called JD United. The indictment alleges that Lake and his employees told victims that they were working on loan modifications, furthering hope that the loan modifications promised by Paquette and Chance were coming and that there was no need to contact law enforcement about the “trial payments” that had been paid.
When being pitched on the loan modification service, the victims were never told that $800 of the “trial payments” went to JD United, and that Paquette and Chance received commission payments taken directly from the accounts where the “trial payments” were deposited. The indictment further alleges that none of the victim money went to the lenders or a government agency for a loan modification.
Investigators believe that over 500 victims nationwide paid at least $2.5 million dollars to the defendants and others in “trial payments.”
The scheme allegedly ran from the beginning of 2014 through April 2015. Paquette and others originally started soliciting victims claiming that they worked for Hope Services. After victims made many complaints about Hope Services, new victims were solicited using the name HAMP Services starting in late 2014.
Two other defendants involved in the scheme have pleaded guilty to federal charges and are pending sentencing.
Paquette, Chance, and Lake are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Additionally, Paquette is charged in three substantive mail fraud counts, Chance in four mail fraud counts, and Lake in six mail fraud counts. If they were to be convicted, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each count.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
The case against Paquette, Chance and Lake is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP). The Federal Trade Commission provided substantial assistance.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vibhav Mittal of the Santa Ana Branch Office.
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