DAY ONE | MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011
7:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:00 Co-Chairs’ Opening Remarks
Kristina D. Maritczak
First Vice President, Associate General Counsel
Flagstar Bank
Scott Goldsberry
Assistant Vice President
Bank of America Home Loans
8:05 The Changing Regulatory Focus on Mortgage Fraud: The Role of FFETF, FDIC, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, The FED, and Beyond
Robb Adkins
Executive Director
Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force
Fred Gibson
Principal Deputy Inspector General
FDIC, Office of the Inspector General
Stacey Smith
Assistant United States Attorney United States Attorney’s Office,
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Richard Jones
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Federal Reserve System
Bill Matthews
President & CEO
State Regulatory Registry LLC
Moderator:
Anand S. Raman
Partner
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
- The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009
- Evolving Enforcement concerns: continued emphasis on enforcement in mortgage fraud cases and commercial/development lending cases
- Gain various federal agency perspectives
- Federal regulations and preemption of fraud litigations
- How FHA actions is becoming more proactive in mortgage fraud prevention
- How are government agencies working together?
- Old Law, New Remedies: Learn how DOJ is using existing law in new ways to combat mortgage fraud
- Calling All Financial Institutions: Discuss how DOJ is expecting more assistance from financial institutions with creating loss mitigation solutions
- Working with the government
- Maintain the chain of evidence during and investigation
- Keeping lines of communication open
- NMLS requirements for unique ID numbers and NMLS operations
9:35 Protecting Your Company and Your Clients in Light of Nationwide and Regional Mortgage Fraud Trends, Hotspots, Schemes and Red Flags
Craig R. Howland
Supervisory Special Agent
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Kathy Coon, SRA
Chief Appraiser-Director, Appraisal Quality Control
FNC Inc.
Donald J. Gossman, SRA
Gossman and Associates, Inc.
Appraisal Fraud Consultants
Ann Fulmer
Vice President of Business Relations
Interthinx
R. Bradford Jones, Esq., CPA, CFE
Claims Counsel
Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company
Moderator
Geoff Milne
Partner
Hunt Leibert Jacobson, P.C.
In this session, you will learn about the latest nationwide trends in fraud over the past year, the fraud hotspots, and how to recognize certain emerging schemes. You will also glean the red flags in current fraud schemes from different regions of the country so that you will recognize them when they come your way. This expert panel will provide:
- Insights on how fraudsters are modifying old schemes and where the fraud is heading
- Foreclosure Rescue Scams
- Loan Modification misrepresentation
- Appraisal Fraud
- Closing Protection Letters
- Licensing Fraud
- Identity Fraud
- Occupancy Fraud
- New details on unreported fraud: new wave of prosecutions?
- Guidance on how to detect fraud in originations going forward given the new landscape
- Lessons learned from the past years
11:00 Morning Coffee Break
11:10 Identifying and Preparing for Flopping and Short Sale Fraud Robert R. LawrenceAssociate General CounselFreddie MacScott GoldsberryAssistant Vice PresidentBank of America Home Loans
Jamie Kosofsky
Managing Attorney
Brady & Kosofsky, PA
Cynthia Blair
Department Head
Rogers Townsend & Thomas, PC
Loretta Salzano
Founding Partner
Franzen and Salzano, PC
Moderator:
Hon. Kenneth M. Donohue
Principal and Senior Advisor
Reznick Group, P.C.(Former Inspector General for HUD)
- Highlighting the red flags to watch for during a closing
- Creating ways to avoid and prevent this type of fraudulent activity
- How to deal with valuation in a short sale
- Looking at the relationship between the appraiser, title company and mortgage broker to tie the players together
- How to apply the proper due diligence in order to understand the current market value of the property
- Understanding what scenarios constitute short sale fraud
- Awareness of Broker Price Opinions (BPO), to counterbalance “fl opping” attempts
12:15 Settlement Agent Fraud: The Deadly Viper of Mortgage Fraud Claims
Kristina D. Maritczak
First Vice President, Associate General Counsel
Flagstar Bank
Janice L. Celotti
Managing Attorney
Law Offices of Janice L. Celotti PLLC
Laura Roedel
Vice President-Strategic Marketing
First American Title Insurance Company
Frauds involving settlement agent misconduct are the most deadly variety of mortgage fraud, resulting in mortgage proceeds to be completely lost, with little or no chance of recovery. Thus, prevention efforts are critical. These complex criminal schemes often involve a network of industry insiders, like settlement agents, who intimately understand lending practices and know how to circumvent standard fraud checks. This session will help equip you with the special insight and advanced methods needed to address this most deadly variety of mortgage fraud. Topics include:
- Real case studies; insight into the crimes of settlement agents
- Preventing fraud through settlement agent selection
- National and local methods for settlement fraud prevention
- The truth about closing protection letters
- Pursuing claims to recoup losses
1:15 Networking Luncheon for Speakers and Delegates
2:25 How to Prepare for and Defend Against Increased Loan Repurchase Requests
Steve Covington
Senior Vice President- National Head of Quality Control
Morgan Stanley/ Saxon Mortgage
Paul R. Osborne
Partner
Crowe Horwath LLP
Stuart B. Wolfe
Partner
Wolfe & Wyman LLP
- Preparing for the potential losses
- Examining the proper due diligence process to avoid repurchase
- Where does the due diligence burden fall?
- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy back processes – how aggressively will investors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pursue loan repurchase demands for loans affected by documentation problems
- Defending against increased repurchase requests
- FHFA Subpoenas
- Looking at the quality of loans as the basis of securitization
3:35 Afternoon Refreshment Break
3:45 The New and Complex World of HUD/FHA Lending Requirements: Using Lessons Learned from Investigations of Cases by the Agencies to Avoid Costly Penalties, Including Expulsion From the Program
Andrew SandlerPartnerBuckley Sandler LLPRobert Bagley Underwriting Manager WCS Lending As the government becomes more aggressive in pursuing claims on behalf of the FHA, lending institutions need to be more aware of the complex regulation requirements and costly penalties, including expulsion from the program. This session will focus on what claims they are seeing and how the program will function overall; with a full overview of the HUD/FHA direct endorsement program and how to comply with the rules and regulations. Gain a better understanding of the complex FHA lending regulations and how to proactively assess risk and address areas of concern within your company.
4:45 False Claim Act Expansions and Related Dodd-Frank and PFCRA Anti-Fraud Measures: How to Pinpoint Risk and Implement Relevant and Impactful Risk Mitigation Policies and Tools in Response
Michelle Canter
Managing Partner, Atlanta
LotsteinLegal PLLC
Adam Feinberg
Chair, Litigation Department
Miller & Chevalier Chartered
Neil Narut
Managing Attorney
Potestivo & Associates P.C
With its treble damages and civil penalty provisions, it is no surprise that the False Claims Act (FCA) has become an important weapon in the U.S. Department of Justice’s fight against mortgage fraud. Plus, there are related anti-fraud measures such as those contained in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act. This sessions will delve deeply into:
- The use of the FCA by the Department of Justice and by whistleblowers in mortgage cases
- What to expect in an FCA investigation and litigation
- how to prevent and defend an FCA suit
- the prevalence of claims under the “Mini False Claims Act,” the Program Fraud Civil Recoveries Act (PFCRA)
- The qui tam trends in FCA and PFCRA cases and the anticipated effects of the Deutsche Bank case
You will walk away from the session with a keen understanding of the current demands and claims, what to expect with investigation and litigation, and how to protect your company in response.
5:45 Conference Adjourns
DAY TWO | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2011
7:30 Continental Breakfast
8:00 Best Practices for Fraud Prevention and Underwriting
Bob Simpson
President
IMARC
Steven S. Albert, MAI, SRA
Executive Vice President
Allstate Appraisal, L.P.
Michael Larkin
AVP/Quality Assurance and Special Investigations
Franklin American Mortgage Company
Lisa Binkley
Director-Product Solutions
Equifax Verification Services
Moderator:
Diane Pendley
Managing Director
Operational Risk Group, Structured Finance
Fitch Ratings
- Quality Control/Appraisal Review for Litigation/Arbitration-Support Purposes
- maximizing the effectiveness of appraisal reviews – for Any Purpose
- appraiser Qualifications Matter
- use of Supporting Exhibits in Reviews
- use of Consulting Reports along with Appraisal Reviews to Assist in preparation of Findings Letters
- Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae underwriting requirements
- Updating processes to spot fraudulent documentation in full doc loans
- new methods for detecting sophisticated doctored loan documentation
- effect of tighter credit restrictions on the loan process
- what to look for when reviewing borrower documents and matching income to credit history
- best practices on how to quickly validate a borrower’s employment
- Pre-approval fraud prevention: adapting existing practices to new and emerging fraud schemes
- what red flags should you look for – “hard to spot” characteristics of fraud
- best practices for educating employees on fraud prevention
- conducting thorough due diligence to minimize the risk of originating fraudulent loans
- integrating new software tools into your prevention practices
- using predictive modeling to bolster fraud prevention practices
- incorporating the results of strategy reviews into your prevention policy: understanding how you got beat on an account
- how to perform a quick and accurate triage on a Spot Loan referral
- maintaining the proper balance between production and risk management
- Pre-funding detection strategies to reveal fraudulent approvals
- determining which pre-funding diagnostic tools are best for your organization
- implementing the new diagnostic tools into existing detection strategies
- how to adequately run checks to identify straw buyers and what to do once they are detected
- next steps when you suspect fraud in the papers
- checking title and when to pull fi les for additional investigation
- When is a compliance audit necessary?
- Wrapping up the audit and drafting the report
9:00 The Litigation Roundup: Assessing the Impact of the Usual (and Not So Usual) Mortgage Fraud Cases, Including the Upswing in Claims Involving Loan Modifications and Foreclosure Rescue Groups
Rachel M. Dollar, Esq, CMB
Partner
Smith Dollar PC
Michael Pfeifer
Partner
Pfeifer & de la Mora, LLP
Eric Weinstein
Partner
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP
- “War Stories”: a summary of the usual, and not so usual mortgage fraud cases
- Cost effective case preparation and targeted investigation: who are the players?
- Case preparation and evaluation
- Successful litigation strategies
- Working with law enforcement
- Gathering key documents and evidence
10:00 Morning Coffee Break
10:10 Crafting a Winning Strategy to Defend Against RMBS and Trust and Securitization Litigation
Karyn Caldwell
Vice President, Associate General Counsel
Flagstar Bank
Kristina D. Maritczak
First Vice President, Associate General Counsel
Flagstar Bank
Veronica Rendon
Partner
Arnold & Porter LLP
Residential mortgage backed security litigation has come to the forefront for fi nancial institutions in today’s continuing volatile economic climate. Many fi nancial institutions are receiving demands for repurchases from bond insurers such as MBIA and Assured Guaranty which are leading to high stakes litigation. This session will help you strategically deal with a repurchase demand and master the issues involved in defending this litigation, along with other strategic discussions pertinent to this subject matter.
11:05 Investigation & Recovery on a Budget: Effective Ways to Maximize the Recovery of Losses Th rough Fraud Recovery Programs That Really Work
Alton Sizemore Jr. CPA, CFE, CFF
Director of Investigations
Forensic/Strategic Solutions, PC
Roland Reynolds
Partner
Palmer, Lombardi & Donohue LLP
David Fleck
Of Counsel
Rudow Law Group, LLC
- In the current environment, lenders and servicers have very limited resources with which to battle staggering fraud losses
- This panel will focus upon effective ways to maximize the recovery of losses by exploring fraud recovery programs that really work. Points will include:
- How to document fraud claims
- Identifying and targeting responsible parties
- Establishing realistic damages claims
- Managing a portfolio of fraud cases on a limited budget; including single loan cases, as well as major multi transaction fraud schemes
- Inventive uses of existing in-house staff to document and prepare claims
- Techniques to manage cases on a budget
- Streamlining of audit and investigative procedures
- The use of pre-litigation procedures to resolve claims
- Litigation cost containment techniques that work.
- Preventing employee wrongdoing from the inside
- Dealing with issues of attorney client privilege
- Creating corporate compliance programs for document review procedures
- When to notify the government of internal wrongdoing
12:00 Reverse Mortgage Fraud: Essential Legal and Practical Strategies for Managing Risk and Preparing for Heightened Regulatory Scrutiny
Shawn Rice
Senior Special Agent Criminal Investigation Division
Office of Inspector General, US Department of Housing & Urban Development
Katharine Musso
Partner
Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrère & Denègre, L.L.P.
- The latest on reverse mortgage or Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) fraud
- What is the interplay with other types of mortgage fraud?
- Avoiding fraud in securitization of reverse mortgages and the secondary market
- Strategies for managing mortgagee letters
- Looking out for the use of “straw buyers”
- What are the typical red flags and how do you use red flags as a prevention tool?
- no notes in loan file (or no information regarding the property)
- working with “abandoned” property
- delinquent taxes or no property insurance
- problems with title insurance or fraudulent appraisals
- Best practices for fraud prevention and what to do if you have detected a fraud scheme
- Coordination between HUD and FinCEN
- Banking Regulatory Agency Guidelines and Examinations - elder abuse - state consideration regarding powers of attorney
12:45 Main Conference Ends - Lunch for Internal FraudAssessment Session Attendees
Conference Details