Hill staff begins probe of alleged mortgage loan fraud of veterans

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

The chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee ordered his staff to begin an investigation Friday into allegations that some of the nation’s largest lending institutions have cheated veterans and taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars by charging illegal fees in home refinancing loans.

Committee staff members met Friday with officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs to discuss the charges, which are made in a whistleblower lawsuit unsealed this month by a federal court in Atlanta.

“I will reserve judgment on the appropriate next course of action, to include the potential for a full Committee hearing, after having the opportunity to review the results of the staff investigation,” Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), chairman of the committee, wrote in a letter Friday to Rep. Bruce Braley (Iowa), the ranking Democrat on the committee’s subcommittee on economic opportunity.

Braley on Wednesday requested that the committee hold a hearing to examine the allegations. “It is disconcerting that charges have arisen that banks are not following rules governing fees that can be charged for refinancing loans,” Braley wrote in a letter to Miller.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hill-staff-begins-probe-of-alleged-mortgage-loan-fraud-of-veterans/2011/10/16/gIQAIUyOpL_story.html

[PSPS]

1. It sounds like "some of the nation’s largest lending institutions" are behind on their bribes.

[pacalo]

2. Could also be a token of "good" faith in the eyes of the protesters.

It's especially nice to look out for the veterans who sacrificed so much, but I hope it doesn't stop here & that all those who lost their homes due to greed will get heard, too.

[dkf]

3. Okay so the attorneys fees were charged when they shouldn't have been.

Did that affect the loan in any meaningful way?

[Sherman A1]

4. It's a start

perhaps it might lead somewhere. Time will tell.

[Gman]

5. It's lip service BS from the GOP

Who has stuck its wetted finger in the wind and it's blowing like a hurricane from the direction of Zucotti Park. But I assure you, you will not see CEO's testifying to a GOP House under penalty of perjury about a damn thing. This is probably the first attempt to look like they're doing something in time before the elections in 12.5 months.