Beazer Homes USA settles criminal charges with the United States for $50 Million
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Yesterday Beazer Homes USA reached a $50 million settlement with the United States over charges of mortgage and accounting fraud.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Charlotte issued a press release giving the details of the settlement as follows:
- Beazer and its subsidiary, Beazer Mortgage Corporation, admitted to engaging in several fraudulent mortgage origination practices, including:
- Fraudulently retaining so-called “discount points” that should have been used to provide some home-buyers with a decrease interest rate
- Fraudulently informing some home-buyers that they were receiving a “gift” from a charity to cover their down-payment when, in truth, the price of the home was increased to offset the supposed “gift”.
- Fraudulently circumventing the “Neighborhood Watch” and “Credit Watch” programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to avoid action from HUD in response to the high foreclosure rate of some Beazer Mortgage offices; and
- Instituting a strategy of willful blindness with regard to some stated income loans.
- Under the deferred prosecution agreement Beazer reached with the government, Beazer agrees to pay $10,000,000 immediately toward restitution for victimized home-buyers, and additional money as Beazer recovers financially, up to $50,000,000.
I scoured the press release as well as the DOJ website trying to find information on how consumers that bought a Beazer home and feels they were a victim of this apply for restitution but I couldn’t find anything. If I find it I’ll publish it when I do.
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Beazer’s demise has been meteoric here in Charlotte. I was amazed at what they were offering to get some of my clients into homes. It didn’t smell right back then and I’m glad most of my clients stayed away from them.
The funny thing is, the few clients that did buy a Beazer home still like their decision. So maybe if Beazer had just been more honest….