Saturday, December 27, 2008
And Jeb worked so hard
To make Florida a state that welcomed his kind of real estate swindler. Now the Florida government is working to reverse all the deregulation of those glorious Bush years.
After months of stinging criticism for letting crooks and con artists prey on Florida borrowers, regulators have proposed sweeping changes in state law that would make Florida one of the most tightly regulated mortgage markets in the country.Imagine that, running background checks every year. Then maybe they will find what the Miami Herald was able to uncover.
The provisions call for annual criminal background checks for everyone selling mortgages in Florida, a ban on the most toxic types of loans and reviving a state fund that used to compensate victims of mortgage fraud.
The fund would provide up to $50,000 for people who can prove they were scammed by rogue brokers. Regulators quietly killed a similar fund more than 10 years ago, then used the money to pay for operating expenses, like salaries and conferences at five-star hotels, The Miami Herald reported in September.
Under current state law, brokers are screened only when they apply for the first time. Their license can be revoked if they get convicted of a crime after that, but the state relies on the brokers to report their own arrests.I hope the Herald keeps digging, Jeb is planning on a Senate run in 2010.
''This will give us a shot to look at everybody's background once a year,'' Straub said.
The Miami Herald found 564 brokers who were convicted of crimes after getting their licenses -- including at least 20 convicted of mortgage fraud. All were allowed to keep selling loans.
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