AboutMike Weikle Expertise Banking Lender Liability; Insurance Coverage; Consumer Rights; Bank Fraud; Criminal: White
Collar Crime; Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; Directors and Officers Liability
Experience Commissioned National Bank Examiner 7 years; President of Two Community Banks; Division Claims Specialist for American Bankers Association Sponsored Insurance Program; Carter Member of the Bank Fraud Team of the Office of the Comptroler of the Curency "OCC" (National Banjk Examiners); Attorney previously representing FDIC and Resolution Trust Corporation as well as consumers and commercial borrowers in claims against the banking industry; Former Data Processing Systems Examiner for the OCC; Expert Witness on variety of banking issues in both state and federal court.
Education/Credentials Certified Public Accountant;
JD -- West Virginia College of Law - Order of the Coif
Data Processing Training Old Dominion Bank and IBM
Question A residential property with clear title had been issued to one individual. A HELOC loan was issued by a bank to the individual's son who resides at the property, but is not listed on the original title (however he bears the same name ie. sr/jr). Could the fraud that was committed to obtain this loan be considered identity theft or just mortgage fraud? The owner did not co-sign the HELOC, since the son represented himself as the real property owner at the time of signing the HELOC, however its been represented that the actual owner "approved" of the loan months after it was taken out.
Answer Hi Jennifer,
This one is easy. If the owner did not sign the loan documents and the loan documents were signed by the son without his father/owner signing also, the mortgage is invalid. If the father did make some written representation that he approved of the loan, the bank would have a valid lien. If the father was incompetent to give his approval, the loan cannot be enforced. If there is no written approval of the loan, then there is no valid consent to the loan. That said, if the bank gives up its lien due to the fraud by the son, the son will likely be prosecuted criminally for defrauding a federally insured institution> With that as a real probability, many times the father will approve of the debt if they are mentally competent to validate the loan.
