Predatory lenders employ many of the same illegal tactics found in other write-ups here on Flipping Frenzy. Loan officers, for example, may obtain inflated appraisals to get the homeowner a higher loan or will falsify income information to qualify the borrower for a mortgage.

Rather than doing those things to help the borrower, predatory lenders are simply out for themselves. Their actions rarely have any tangible benefits for borrowers and often saddle homeowners with loans they cannot afford. Loan officers—as you’re about to read—sometimes simply use borrowers to engage in a type of fraud I like to refer to as fraud for commissions.

Recently, one Flipping Frenzy reader came forward to share her experience with predatory lending and fraud for commission.

My name is Kim Sikorski, and in 2000 I was living in a one-bedroom apartment in New Baltimore, Michigan, when a local builder began construction on the Aspen Glen Condominiums right outside my front door. I remember thinking to myself how nice they looked and wished that someday I could own a home like that. Fast forward three years and I did.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure I could buy anything. I made ok money for a single person but I wasn’t sure it’d be enough to actually buy a home. To get the process started, I went to talk to a man named Dave Piccinini at Lira Financial in Clinton Township., MI (David Piccinini Inc. dba Lira Financial; 16600 18 Mile Rd.; Clinton Township., Michigan 48038). He was a friend of my boss, Ralph Bianchi, so I thought that I would be able to trust him.

I told Mr. Piccinini where I was looking to live and gave him the information he needed to check my credit report and get things started. A few weeks later I received a call from Stephen Tyree, the Lira Financial loan officer assigned to my application. Mr. Tyree called to tell me that my credit was good and I qualified to purchase one of the Aspen Glen condos with a mortgage at 6 ¼% (which for me translated into a monthly of $912.00). Before long, I went ahead and signed the purchase agreement and then started picking out carpet, countertops, tile color, etc. From my perspective, I was in the process of living the American dream of home ownership; I was buying my own home and I couldn’t be happier.

On August 27, 2003, I closed on my condo at the Mt. Clemens MI, office of Greco Title Co. To my surprise, neither Stephen Tyree or Dave Piccinini were present. It was there–at the closing–that I first found out that I was placed into an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) that was only fixed for two years.

At the time, I only had a few days left to move out of my apartment, so I went ahead and signed all the documents and looked forward to moving into my new home. For me, the closing was a exciting day in my life. My mom and sister were even there by my side, taking pictures along the way.

The next day I talked to Dave Piccinini at Lira Financial and asked about the adjustable rate mortgage without escrow. Mr. Piccinini told me not to worry because in two years we would refinance and be able to set up escrow for my property taxes (which, by the way, were not included the first time). Eventually, I started having trouble keeping up with the taxes, and once again talked to Dave Piccinini about the situation. As he did before, Mr. Piccinini told me not to worry, that the taxing authority couldn’t do anything about it until I was four tax bills behind, and that by then we will have refinanced and paid off the back taxes, and set up escrow before that happens.

Based on Dave Piccinini’s recommendation, I went ahead as planned. About a week or so before I was supposed to close, my mortgage company at the time, Homecomings Financial, paid the back taxes (to protect their interest) and put me into forced placed escrow, which added to my principle and interest payment. My monthly payment went from $912 to $1,280 overnight.

When I called Dave Piccinini at Lira Financial, to tell him what happened, he told me this wasn’t a problem because we would just add it to the new mortgage. Just before closing I went to Mr. Piccinini’s office where I learned for the first time that he had placed me into a interest-only mortgage. I was told that my new mortgage was at 8%, 30-year fixed interest. I immediately told the staff in Mr. Piccinini’s Lira Financial office to stop all paperwork and please have Dave Piccinini call me himself as I was not aware of the interest-only loan (just like I was not aware that I was placed in an adjustable rate mortgage the first time around).

Long story short, I never heard from Dave Piccinini until he called about six months later to tell me that I owed him $350.00 for the appraisal done on my condo. I told him I was not paying him for the appraisal because I did not close with him, and we have not spoken since.

So my interest rate went up and I paid the difference for a year, but with my rate to go up a point or so a year with a ceiling of 12 ½ %, I knew I could not keep it up, so I went to see Stephen Tyree (my original loan officer at Lira Financial) who was now with Keystone Mortgage in Shelby Township, Michigan (45679 Village Blvd, Shelby Township, Michigan 48315). While it’s true that I originally knew Stephen from my association with Dave Piccinini, Stephen had refinanced my girlfriend’s mortgage and she was very happy with the results. I told Stephen the situation I was in—which he was well aware of—and asked for his help. He said he would see what he could do and get back with me. In the meantime, he had me fill out a credit application and give him permission to check my credit report. He also had me sign lots of blank forms saying we had to see what we could do and fill those in later.

When Stephen Tyree called me back he told me it was going to be tough to help me but that he felt he could get it done. He asked me if I had any savings, which I did not, and told me that having a savings account with at least three to six months worth of mortgage payments would show reserves and help me get approved. Stephen Tyree asked me to ask someone with money in their own bank account to add my name to their account to make it look like I had some savings, so I did. I asked my father to do this for me, and despite feeling it was not a very good idea–but wanting to help and not see me lose my home–he did. Stephen also told me that getting my condo to apprise for what we needed was going to be difficult but he thought he knew an appraiser that could get it done. Obviously, looking back, these should have been red flags. I know I should have never signed those papers.

On October 16, 2006, I closed on the refinance with an 80-20 mortgage. The 1st for $112,320 with an interest rate of 7.5% and a payment of $1,047.99 and the 2nd for $28,660 with an interest rate of 9.75% and a payment of $252.44. The total of both is $1,300.43, which I could not afford but I did what I thought I should to save my home.

In about March or April of 2007 I started calling Indy Mac to make them aware of my situation and that I was falling further and further behind on my payments. I talked to several people but no one really had any suggestions for me. They did thank me for calling and making them aware but offered no help other than trying to refinance again with a lower interest rate.

Ultimately, I was told Indy Mac could not lower my interest rate due to the fact that they technically did not own my mortgage any longer. With a payment of $1300.43 plus association dues of $160.00 a month come October 2007, I could no longer afford to pay my mortgage. I had put my condo up for sale by owner in May of 2007 (I thought I would rather sell it then lose it). But nothing. I was advised from Indy Mac that I could sell it in a short sale but the property must be listed with a real estate agent for at least 90 days. I listed the property in October 2007 and did not have even one person look at it. My condominium complex is not completed (the builder has about four more buildings to construct), and prices for new units identical to my own have dropped to $99,000. Why would anyone look at mine for $145,000.00 when they can build a new one for $99,000?

In January 2008 I came home from work to find a letter on my door from Trott & Trott, the law firm representing IndyMac, stating that my property had gone into foreclosure, was going to a Sheriff’s sale at the end of February, and that I had six months from 2/29/08 to redeem my property or be out.

And so there you have it—that’s were I am as of today. Most of my conversations with both Dave Piccinini at Lira Financial and with Stephen Tyree formally at Lira and now with Keystone Mortgage, were based on trust. Like many new homeowners, I did not know anything about mortgages and put all my trust in the people who did. I thought they were working with my best interest at heart.

Expecting the worst, hoping for the best!

~ Kim Sikorski, Michigan

In reviewing Kim’s account of what happened, a number of items jump off the page as being sure signs of predatory lending and fraud for commissions. For example, after contacting Kim and reviewing her situation a little closer, I was able to determine the following:

• Kim’s loan officer had her “sign lots of blank forms” and told her that he had to first “see what we could do and fill those in later.” In real estate fraud forensics, we call this ‘backing into the documents.’ With signed forms (that contain blank fields) in hand, a loan officer is able to manipulate the borrower’s loan documents to fit his commission-related needs.
• Kim’s loan officer artificially inflated her income in order to help her qualify for her loan. This of course is against the law.
• As noted by Kim above, her loan officer worked with an appraiser to secure an inflated appraisal on Kim’s property, thus allowing her to qualify for a higher loan that translated into a higher commission for the loan officer. Here again, the loan officer and appraiser broke the law.
• As Kim already pointed, she was encouraged to borrow her father’s assets, which everyone should know by now is a highly improper way of determining one’s actual worth and ability to repay a loan. Any real estate industry professional that advises someone to borrow or rent assets is more likely than not up to no good.
• Her loan officer promised to refinance Kim into a fixed loan within two years. Legally, no one can make that type of promise to a homeowner.
• As you read in Kim’s account, when she arrived for the very first closing of her life, she learned that she had been placed into an adjustable rate mortgage that was only fixed for two years. When mortgage brokers and loan officers present the borrower with a product, specifying the terms, and then change the terms just prior to closing, that is called “bait and switch” and it makes the loan highly suspect and questionable.

While many federal and state laws are aimed at preventing predatory lending, it’s not always easy to spot it when it occurs. If after reading Kim’s story, you’re left wondering if you are a victim of predatory lending, review the following list of common predatory lending practices:

1. Refinancing a mortgage repeatedly within a short period of time and charging higher than normal loan origination fees each time.
2. Selling a high-cost, high-interest loan to a borrower who would qualify for the lower-cost, lower-interest loan that the same lender offers.
3. Being asked or instructed to sign an application or documents containing blanks that the loan officer says he will fill in later.
4. Convincing loan applicants to borrow more than they can reasonably afford to pay back.
5. Pressuring loan applicants into accepting high-risk loans such as interest-only mortgages and loans with unusually high prepayment penalties.
6. Providing “products” that are nonexistent or offer no benefits.
7. Selling high-interest loans to borrowers based on ethnicity or nationality rather than their credit history or financial situation.

Loan officers (and to be fair, Realtors also) are often paid on commission. The more loans the sell, the more they make. In many cases, loan officers can earn even higher commissions by selling high-cost loans and additional products and services. In other words, the motivation to make money sometimes eclipses a loan officer’s responsibility to follow the rules.

The rules that real estate industry professionals—including loan officers—are supposed to follow stipulate the parameters for approving and underwriting a home loan. Although the stipulations may seem overly restrictive to some, the rules are in place for a reason—to make sure that the homeowner/borrower can afford their monthly payments and continue to live the American Dream of Homeownership.