FBI arrest on alleged subprime scam

The Columbus office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Thursday that they arrested a Newnan resident on "Wire Fraud and Mail Fraud" charges, stemming from a possible subprime mortgage scheme.

Robert S. Ligon, 45, was taken into custody at the federal courthouse in Columbus, according to a statement released by the bureau. A warrant for his arrest had been issued on a 27-count indictment by a Macon grand jury.

Ligon and others allegedly provided "false, fraudulent and misleading information in residential loan applications," for over $2,000,000 in loans handled by the Mortgage America Corporation in 2002 and 2003, the statement said.

The indictment alleges that many of these loans foreclosed, losing about $300,000.

Ligon was released on $25,000 bond, and faces a maximum 30-year sentence per count.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Bills would bolster GAs Fair Lending Act

Democratic lawmakers in the state House and Senate have introduced legislation they say will curb Georgia's runaway home foreclosure rate.

Lawmakers call the state’s foreclosure rate a crisis of epidemic proportions, created they say by an industry which preys on the poor and uninformed.

Now, state Democrats in both houses have signed on to a slate of bills designed to reign in Georgia's subprime mortgage lenders.

One suggestion is to extend the deadline from 15 day to 90 days, for homeowners to respond to a foreclosure notice. Another would require lenders to inform homeowners by certified letter when a home loan has been sold.

Senator Vincent Fort is a member of the Senate Consumer Affairs Committee.

"This is the greatest foreclosure crisis, mortgage crisis since the 1930s. It’s unprecedented in the history of this country."

By mid-2007, Georgia was home to nearly a quarter million subprime mortgages. Currently, the state ranks seventh in the nation in home foreclosure rates.

Isakson: "a few bad actors" caused subprime woes

Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson says America’s mortgage and banking industries need to be more strict in lending money. Isakson told the North Fulton Chamber of Congress today that he believes a few bad actors caused the nation’s subprime mortgage crisis. But the Republican from Marietta said Congress is ready to interfere if the industry doesn’t volunteer more transparency.

Georgia lawyers win HomeBanc payments

A bankruptcy judge has cleared the way for HomeBanc Corp. to surrender more than $20 million worth of mortgages to Georgia lawyers. The lawyers were forced to fund the loans when HomeBanc's checks started to bounce. HomeBanc is one of the largest lenders in Georgia but problems with the subprime mortgage market led in to collapse into bankruptcy August 9th.

One Atlanta real estate lawyer testified he put up his own home to make sure that rubber checks from the failed lender wouldn't ruin home sales his firm handled for HomeBanc. Georgia lawyers who were forced to cover HomeBanc's bounced checks were suing, or threatening to sue, the company in an effort to put a lid on their own liability.

Home auctions reach record high

Home foreclosures have hit a record in metro Atlanta. Alpharetta-based Equity Depot, which tracks foreclosures, says 7,335 properties in 13 counties are scheduled for auction next month. The previous record was set in January, when 6,992 properties went up for auction. The foreclosures are a symptom of the subprime mortgage crisis that began being felt last year after many loans reset at higher rates, prompting an increase in defaults.