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Home Rescue Program Offers up to $30,000 to Homeowners Statewide

Wednesday, August 28th at noon, a new state foreclosure prevention program aimed at helping homeowners struggling to make their payments will be available. The “Home Rescue Program” provides up to a year of monthly mortgage assistance with a maximum benefit of $20,000. Program participants are also eligible for up to $10,000 to bring their mortgage current, if they are behind.

Wyden Urges AG to Investigate Illegal Fees on Struggling Homeowners

Washington, D.C. - March 11, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden today urged the U.S. Attorney General to investigate allegations that a mortgage servicing firm is overcharging struggling homeowners on default and foreclosure fees.

Local Mortgage Broker Found Guilty of Bank and Wire Fraud

PORTLAND, OR - February 12, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- David Ovist, 45, of Lake Oswego, Oregon, was convicted Friday, February 8, 2013, of the crimes of bank fraud and wire fraud following a 10-day jury trial. Ovist is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown on May 7, 2013, for sentencing on these charges

Portland Man Found Guilty of Conspiracy to Manufacture and Distribute Marijuana and Mortgage Fraud

PORTLAND, OR - December 13, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Friday, December 7, 2012, Tu Ngoc Tran, 38, of Portland, Oregon, was found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy to manufacture or distribute marijuana, two counts of manufacture of marijuana, making a false statement on a loan application, and wire fraud. He was acquitted on two other charges. The five-day jury trial was held in the Federal District Court in Portland, Oregon, with Judge Michael W. Mosman presiding

SIGTARP SHUTS DOWN 85 ONLINE MORTGAGE MODIFICATION SCAMS ADVERTISED ON GOOGLE

WASHINGTON, DC - November 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) today announced that it has shut down 85 alleged online mortgage modification scams that prey on vulnerable homeowners through Web banners and other Web advertisements. SIGTARP investigates mortgage modification schemes in which companies charge struggling homeowners a fee in exchange for false promises of lowering the homeowner’s mortgage through TARP’s housing program known as the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Google, in cooperation with an ongoing criminal SIGTARP investigation of these scams, has suspended advertising relationships with more than 500 Internet advertisers and agents associated with the 85 alleged online mortgage fraud schemes and related deceptive advertising.

Merkley Urges Obama to Include Mortgage Help, Energy Efficiency Programs in Jobs Agenda

Portland, OR - September 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Next week, President Barack Obama plans to lay out an agenda to jumpstart the American economy and create jobs. Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley is urging him to use that opportunity to take aggressive action to keep families in their homes and to finance energy efficiency renovations to reduce energy use and get Americans back to work.

Bend Mortgage Broker Sentenced to Prison

EUGENE, OR - August 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Del Barber, Jr., 46, of Bend, Oregon, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Michael R. Hogan to 15 months in prison for mortgage fraud and health care fraud and was ordered to pay over $200,000 in restitution to the victims of his frauds.

Four Indicted in Drug Trafficking, Mortgage Fraud Scheme

PORTLAND, OR - July 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Two members of an alleged drug trafficking organization were arraigned today on money laundering and marijuana trafficking charges involving the abuse of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP), U.S. Attorney Dwight C. Holton announced. Tu Ngoc Tran, 37, and Minhthy Ngoc Nguyen, aka Minh Thy Nguyen, Minaty Nguyen, Minthy Nguyen, 32, were each indicted on charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute more than 1,000 marijuana plants, manufacturing over 100 marijuana plants, and money laundering.

Merkley, Snowe, Reed, Whitehouse Offer Amendment to End Worst Mortgage Abuses

WASHINGTON, DC - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) offered the Regulation of Mortgage Servicing Act of 2011 as an amendment to the Public Works and Economic Development Reauthorization Bill. The mortgage servicing bill would help homeowners stay in their homes by ending some of the well-documented abuses by mortgage servicers leading to foreclosures, and would produce a positive ripple effect through the economy by reducing the overall number of foreclosures.

Sentencing of Real Estate Agent Concludes Prosecution of Mortgage Fraud Scheme

PORTLAND, OR - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jennifer Venable, 29, of Beaverton, Oregon, was sentenced by the Honorable Robert E. Jones of the United States District Court on June 8, 2011, to 5 years’ probation and ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution relative to her January 13, 2011 wire fraud conviction.

Merkley, Snowe Introduce Bill to Hold Mortgage Servicers Accountable

WASHINGTON, DC - May 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) today introduced the “Regulation of Mortgage Servicing Act” to help homeowners stay in their homes by making the rules for mortgage servicers more fair and transparent.

Merkley Joins Effort to Protect Servicemembers From Falling Victim to Mortgage Abuses

PORTLAND, OR - March 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley joined Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in an effort to strengthen mortgage protections for servicemembers once they return home from duty.

HUD APPROVES $22 MILLION FINANCING PLAN TO REPLACE CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITAL IN COQUILLE, OREGON

WASHINGTON, DC - December 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan to the Coquille Valley Hospital District in Coquille, Oregon. The $22 million loan is made possible through the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program.

Local Mortgage Broker Found Guilty of Bank and Wire Fraud

PORTLAND, OR - December 6, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Beniamin Lucian Lucescu, 41, of Portland, Oregon, was convicted yesterday of the crimes of bank fraud and wire fraud following a three-day jury trial. Lucescu is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman on February 11, 2011 for sentencing on these charges.

MEDFORD AREA DEVELOPER AND MORTGAGE BROKER CONVICTED OF RACKETEERING, SECURITIES FRAUD AND AGGRAVATED THEFT

November 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General John Kroger today announced the conviction of a Medford-area developer and mortgage broker in a complex real estate Ponzi scheme to defraud investors

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Oregon Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening Vietnamese Neighbors and Interfering with...

John Blayne Vangastel, 37, of Klamath Falls, Oregon, pleaded guilty today in the District of Oregon to one count of using threats of force to injure, intimidate and interfere with his neighbors in the enjoyment of their housing rights because they are a family of Vietnamese descent.

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New Coalition Formed to Advance Zero Energy Buildings in Oregon

A group of Oregon-based organizations is announcing the formation of a coalition to advance the rapid adoption of zero energy building standards in the state of Oregon. A zero energy home or commercial building generates as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year through renewable resources. The founding members of the Oregon Zero Energy Buildings Coalition are Earth Advantage, Climate Solutions, New Buildings Institute, NW Energy Coalition, International Living Future Institute, and the Zero Energy Project.