Raymond S. Talan, Rockford, Illinois, a real estate agent in the Rockford and Chicago area of Illinois, was indicted for falsifying documentation to verify a borrower's income and employment in the loan application process. Income and employment verification, as well as closing costs paid by the borrower, are requirements for most commercial lenders such as Argent Mortgage Company and USA Funding, Inc. According to the indictment, Talan assisted his clients in qualifying for FHA loans that they otherwise would not qualify thereby enriching himself through the resulting commissions.
It is also alleged that in addition to falsifying verifications of employment and income, Talan also create false verifications of rent if a Borrower did not have the requisite rental history. Talan would then package the loan documents and forward them to commercial lenders for the purposes of procuring a loan for his clients. Talan would also obtain cashier's checks in the names of the borrowers such that it would appear the borrower was using his or her own funds for closing.
Talan procured almost $200,000 in fraudulent loans for his clients and utilized the commissions for his personal use.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors.