Attorney Discipline for Real Estate Closings
A South Carolina attorney was disciplined by the South Carolina bar for his involvement in closings related to a federal mortgage fraud case. The bar stated that the attorney was unaware that the closing were part of a mortgage fraud scheme. However, the numbers involved with the closings were suspicious according to the bar. This is a bit of a jump. If the attorney had any involvement in the mortgage fraud scheme he would have been federally indicted for mortgage fraud in South Carolina. The large increase in mortgage fraud indictments throughout the country is due in part to the large number of home foreclosures that is occurring. The banks do not care how fraudulent a loan application may be as long as they make their money. Now with them losing money they are looking for someone to sue and they are using the federal government to go after the some small buyers and sellers that just could not make the payments on their home. A good mortgage defense attorney will be able to lower the exposure in the federal system.
Most closing attorneys will be safe from indictment because their involvement is limited to ensuring that clear title passes to the buyer. In South Carolina an attorney must perform the closing of real property. In Florida, there is no requirement of an attorney to perform the closing. Title companies in Florida handle the entire process. There will be some closing attorneys that will be indicted and this fraud indictment will be based primarily on the statements of others in the indictment. Realtors, mortgage brokers, and appraisers are just some of the common codefendants to a federal mortgage fraud indictment.
Our South Carolina attorneys are experienced in federal courts throughout the country. Federal defense in South Carolina is a bit different than in other jurisdiction. The United States Attorney Office in South Carolina has an open file policy on discovery. This allows the criminal defense attorney to go through much of the evidence prior to trial. Our Charleston attorney is very experienced in working through much of this federal procedure.
