Little lies with big consequences.
MIAMI, FL–Yvette Valdes was a mortgage broker, doing business as “Best Mortgage Choice” in Homestead, Florida.
Like other mortgage brokers Valdes relied on large financial institutions, so-called “warehouse lenders,” to finance her loans. Typically, a warehouse lender wires funds direct to an escrow or loan closer, acquires the loan through closing, and re-sells the loan in the secondary mortgage market where it is packaged, or “securitized,” for investment offerings (mainly bonds).
10802 SW 244th Terrace
This business model relies on guidelines and ratings to assure investment quality. Among the critical guidelines, for a prime quality loan, is a requirement that the borrower have equity in the real property security. Thus, a loan equal to 90% of property value is rated more secure than a 100% loan. Likewise, a buyer making a 10% down payment is deemed a better risk than one with no “earnest money.”
Which explains why faking this stuff is a big deal.
Two weeks ago, Yvette Valdes pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges related to mortgages she originated against two residential properties in Miami. Also pleading guilty were her daughter Jeannine Valdes-Perez, her brother Joseph Gonzalez, son-in-law Victor Perez, and a hapless escrow officer named Catherine Maiz. All five pled to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, while Valdez-Perez also pled to an additional count of wire fraud.
According to court filings, Valdes conspired with the other defendants to acquire properties at 10802 SW 244th Terrace (the “10802 Property”) and 21012 SW 122nd Court (the “21012 Property”), under false pretenses.
Prosecutors dubbed this the "21012 Property"
For the 10802 Property, Valdes arranged for her son-in-law, Perez, to submit a loan application falsifying his employment, income, and cash on hand for a down payment. Valdes then enlisted the escrow officer, Maiz, to send a letter to the warehouse lender, Argent Mortgage, saying the title company was holding $17,000 received from Perez. The statement was false. Relying on false information Argent approved the loan and wired $337,808 to fund the closing. The loan defaulted, causing “substantial loss” to Argent.
For the 21012 Property, Valdes again arranged for Perez to submit a loan application with false information, including a statement he would occupy the property as his residence. This time, Valdes instructed Maiz to create a false settlement statement (HUD-1 form) misrepresenting the source and amount of funds handled through escrow. Mainly, the HUD-1 showed $26,321 as deposited by Perez toward closing. In fact, Maiz held only a “fake” check which, following instructions from Valdes, she did not attempt to deposit. Relying on phony documentation, JPMorgan Chase wired $246,646 to fund the closing. Unbeknownst to JPMorgan Chase, some $15,000 was diverted from loan proceeds to pay Perez for his cooperation as the “straw borrower.” This loan also defaulted, and JPMorgan Chase took a loss.
The Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr., Federal Courthouse, Miami, Florida
Sentencing for all defendants is set for January 21, 2011. Each faces a maximum 30 years in federal prison.
Moral: As mortgage fraud goes, these are small cases. It appears the main motive was to create bad loans so Valdes, and others, could “earn” routine commissions and fees.
And this isn’t Valdes’s first brush with notoriety. In 2008, in a series titled “Borrowers Betrayed,” the Miami Herald named Yvette Valdes as a local mortgage broker who originated $22 million in loans approved by Orson Benn, a former executive with Argent Mortgage. According to the Herald, “nearly all of the (Valdes) mortgages contained false or misleading information.” Benn was charged with racketeering by Florida state prosecutors in 2008, and is serving an 18-year prison sentence.
Like counterfeit money, bad loans subvert the economy. Creating them is serious crime.
Postscript: In February 2011 each defendant was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Valdes was sentenced to 33 months in prison, followed by three years’ supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $386,500; her daughter Valdes-Perez got 27 months, three years’ supervised release, and must pay restitution of $249,500; brother Gonzalez got 33 months, three years’ supervised release, and must pay restitution of $302,000; son-in-law Perez got 21 months, three years’ supervised release, and must pay restitution of $386,500; and, finally, escrow officer Maiz was credited for time served (nine months), plus five years’ supervised release, and must pay restitution of $337,000.