Every year we have more regulations, more tests, more certifications.  While I do think that certifications are good, the real issue is the fact that the crooks keep getting away with it.  I have always hated that.  I really do. 

According to today's Chicago Tribune.....TODAY, the Feds came in and busted more than 67 people in Chicago.  The Department of Justice, DOJ, arrested these people for mortgage fraud in a sting called Operation Malicious Mortgage.  They busted mortgage brokers, loan officers, realtors, homebuilders and lawyers......Get this (I can say this b/c I'm a lawyer)...the lawyers now have to hire lawyers to defend themselvses against what they've been charged with. 

Much of the mortgage chaos has been a direct result of this sort of fraud.  Mind you, mortgage companies were stupid in the fact that they couldn't find a reason to deny a loan for a long period of time, but that's a whole another issue.  Borrower's lied and committed fraud to get a home that they knew they couldn't afford, but that's anoterhy whole issue.  But the fraud committed by knowingly deception....that's what this sting was all about.

As a result, it's MY HOPE that the remaining bad guys get scared straight or they get out of the business.  Kudos for D.O.J. doing the right thing here.  The ring fraudulently obtained loans on some 183 homes in Illinois, Nevada and California, authorities said. Lenders lost more than $24 million, officials said.

Authorities targeted three growing scams: lending fraud involving false loan applications and bogus real estate appraisals; foreclosure rescue scams where financially strapped homeowners lose ownership of their properties to criminals; and mortgage-related bankruptcy fraud

Let's hope that the Feds conitinue to press forward and help bring credibility back to our business.  We're in an honorable profession.  People like this give a bad name to all of us who operate with integrity.