David's Macro Blog

Real estate and mortgage fraud ran rampant during the 2000′s great housing bubble. We’ve all heard the stories but there have been few prosecutions, so it’s good to see some in progress.

David Crisp and Carl Cole were arrested by federal agents on mortgage fraud charges. They ran a prominent real estate brokerage in Bakersfield and apparently created straw buyers and manufactured false loan documents in order to sell homes and inflate housing prices.

Ten people, including Realtors, loan officers, and a notary, were arrested on 56 different indictments. It looks like these people will move from their private gated neighborhoods to a public gated high-density community of inmates.

Low interest rates and easy lending standards created an environment primed for mortgage fraud. It is good to see arrests that will likely result in jail time for the most prolific perpetrators. Unfortunately, this investigation took five years.

Rapidly rising home prices are not usually a good thing because they cause new buyers to pay high prices that are not supported by market fundamentals or their ability to pay back the debt.

Also check out the local news coverage of Crisp and Cole’s arrest at KGET.

Ever wonder how the real estate boom and bust occurred? Why is the foreclosure process such a mess and causing problems across the country?

The system was set up for failure.

Watch both videos of the deposition of alleged robosigner Dhurata Doko of Nationwide Title Clearing. The deposition was taken by attorney Christopher Forrest of The Forrest Law Firm.

This is not about the actions of a few lower-level employees but the system created by those in power.

Part 1

Part 2

Again, this is not about the people performing tasks on a daily basis — they were NOT the ones in power or control. They were just following orders from above.

Other robosigner deposition videos:

• Brian Bly Deposition
• Crystal Moore Deposition

Ever wonder how the real estate boom and bust occurred? Why is the foreclosure process such a mess and causing problems across the country?

The system was set up for failure.

Watch all three videos of the deposition of alleged robosigner Brian Bly of Nationwide Title Clearing. The deposition was taken by attorney Christopher Forrest of The Forrest Law Firm.

This is not about the actions of a few lower-level employees but the system created by those in power.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Again, this is not about the people performing the tasks on a daily basis — they were NOT the ones in power or control. They were just following orders from above.

Other robosigner deposition videos:

• Crystal Moore Deposition
• Dhurata Doko Deposition

Ever wonder how the real estate boom and bust occurred? Why is the foreclosure process such a mess and causing problems across the country?

The system was set up for failure.

Watch all four videos of the deposition of Crystal Moore, alleged robosigner of Nationwide Title Clearing. The deposition was taken by attorney Christopher Forrest of The Forrest Law Firm.

The main issue is not the actions of a few low-level employees but the system created by those in power.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Again, this is not about the people performing the tasks on a daily basis — they were NOT the ones in power or control. They were just following orders from above.

Other robosigner deposition videos:

• Brian Bly Deposition
• Dhurata Doko Deposition

Do charity and business mix? You bet.

Have you heard of Kiva? It’s the non-profit organization that loans very small sums of money to the poorest people around the world so that they can start a business to provide for themselves and their families.

Ever wonder how Kiva works and if it actually helps real people? Watch this CNBC video to see three different small businesses helped by Kiva.

Kiva shows us how charity and business can come together as entrepreneurs help raise living standards around the world.