This is brand new information, not a part of the ongoing "they screwed everybody with a mortgage taken out between 2002 and 2008" story.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-04/bofa-wells-accused-of-charging-veterans-illegal-refinance-fees.html">Bank of America Corp. (BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) were among 13 banks and mortgage lenders accused in a so-called whistleblower lawsuit of charging military veterans illegal fees to refinance home loans.
The banks charged fees barred under a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs program and hid the charges to get government guarantees for the loans, according to the whistleblower complaint brought in 2006 by two mortgage brokers that was unsealed yesterday in federal court in Atlanta.
“This is a massive fraud on the American taxpayers and American veterans,” James E. Butler Jr., a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an e-mailed statement. “Knowing they weren’t allowed to charge the fees, the banks and mortgage companies inflated allowable charges to hide these illegal fees without telling the veterans who were the borrowers or the VA they were doing so.”
The Justice Department isn’t joining the lawsuit, according to a Sept. 30 filing by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Atlanta.
The whistleblowers, who worked for Financial Services Inc., doing business as Veteran’s Mortgage Co., accuse the banks of violating the U.S. False Claims Act and seek $5,500 to $11,000 in damages on behalf of the U.S. for each violation.
The shocker here is that the Justice Department isn't joining the suit. Oh well.
This just adds more fuel to the Occupy movement, if you ask me. There is literally no group of people these banks won't attempt to screw over.
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