I'd bet on mortgage fraud -- inflated appraisals, and employees coaching borrowers to lie about their incomes.

I was Conventional Underwriter for Countrywide...for 2 weeks..they wanted Rubber Stamps not underwriters...

I have no doubt this was happening at CW, but trust me, it was happening a lot of other places too. The only reason CW is being singled out for this is because they're one of the few players still in business. The problem is much bigger than CW, and it hasn't been fixed.

Listen! I know there was mortgage fraud because I watched it: with my own 2 eyes while I was awake and everything. I've been a builder / broker for (honest) coming up on 40 YEARS!! I watched as mortgage brokers sat in their cars filling out loan applications for borrowers to sign; a lot of whom couldn't read or speak english. The broker knew if he didn't do the loan, the borrowers real estate agent or builder would find another one who would. I watched as real estate agents or builder's shopped for the "right" appraisal. They, and the appraiser, knew if he didn't come up with the right value, another one would. I watched as real estate agents, mortgage brokers and appraisers sold a property to a "buyer" who never even moved into the house. They all split the fees, commissions and the escrow money and the homes are now in foreclosure without so much as 1 payment being made complete with dead grass, frozen pipes and deferred maintenance. I watched as real estate agents delivered completely false (completed) loan applications (including an appraisal) to several mortgage brokers to see which one would give the best deal. I can show anybody six homes within walking distance of my office that variations of this happened to. These are all homes in 2 neighborhoods comprised of homes averaging about $900,000 in value. I documented a sale by a real estate broker to herself, complete with 100% financing, to develop a sale to act as a "comp" for appraisers. She never made a payment. I watched all of this and now am watching good homes sit because qualified buyers can't get loans. As my wife says "This is criminal fraud! When are we gonna put these people in jail?" I struggled with my conscience about turning some of these people in, but the result would be that I would become a pariah to the same univers of people I rely on the sell and finance my homes.

So, Steve in Denver decided to keep his lip zipped to further his own self-interest. That's what we're made of these days.

That's right Mr. Huston. Nobody appointed me
yours or anybody elses' nanny. I'm not about to sully my lifetime reputation by having it associated in any way with the shenanigans I saw. Particularly as a "rat". As it happens I don't need to. The FBI, Colorado AG, various regulatory agencies, and the IRS are hot on the trail of some of these people, and I expect some will be wishing they still made "soap on a rope", if'n ya get my drift. Bad thing about real estate fraud...Lots of paperwork with signatures and typed names.

Nobody should be allowed to buy a house without 20% cash down. Period. This will also take a lot of speculators out of the housing market who were buying home with nothing down and then walked away.And its not all the banks fault... people without the financial means have no business buying a house, no matter how much they want one. That is what renting is for. Nor should banks be allowed to sell their mortages. Until some standards are enforced we will continue to have major financial institutions implode from their own greed.