BORROWERS BETRAYED PART 1

Ex-convicts active in mortgage fraud

During Florida's housing boom, state regulators allowed thousands of mortgage professionals with criminal r...

BORROWERS BETRAYED PART 2

Thousands with criminal records work unlicensed as loan originators

Gary Kafka, former body builder with a long rap sheet and violent past, wrote millions of dollars in mortga...

BORROWERS BETRAYED PART 3

State let crooked brokers keep working

State regulators caught mortgage professionals breaking the law but allowed them to stay in the business wi...

BORROWERS BETRAYED PART 4

Home loan racket flourished in Florida

A mortgage executive has gone to prison for racketeering, but a former associate in Homestead still sells m...

Case files of brokers

Scott Almeida Application for mortgage broker license Criminal report affidavit ...

BORROWERS BETRAYED PART 1

About the Herald investigation

The Miami Herald spent eight months examining the Office of Financial Regulation, the state agency responsi...

BORROWERS BETRAYED PART 1

Identity theft is no bar to keeping a broker license

BORROWERS BETRAYED PART 1

For license renewals in Florida, no criminal background checks

BORROWERS BETRAYED PART 1

A criminal past, a trail of new victims

A convicted cocaine trafficker with a mortgage broker license ultimately admitted that he fleeced 30 custom...

BORROWERS BETRAYED PART 1

Who's watching the brokers

The Office of Financial Regulation was created by the Florida Legislature to oversee the state's banks and ...

BORROWERS BETRAYED PART 2

States act to license loan originators

Thousands of people with criminal records work as loan originators in Florida. No license needed.

The greening of Willis Tower: Rooftop gardens part of plan to improve efficiency

Growing up in the southwest suburbs, Sara Beardsley had a view of the Chicago skyline from her house. Today...

Staging tips that can help sell a home

Staging a home for sale can set it apart from the competition and make it inviting to the greatest number o...

First-time buyers lift home sales

Today's real estate market certainly differs from the not-so-long-ago boom years. Sales volume is still dow...

Now, small banks suffer, but no bailout for them

Just as the housing sector appears to be recovering, gathering problems in the commercial real estate marke...

Real estate Q&A

Question: We hear about home mortgages being made into investments here in the United States and sold to pe...

Real estate Q&A

Question: I hear that there is some movement in the housing market. Who are the home buyers now? We used to...

High-end builders turn to auctions to sell luxury condos

At the peak of the real-estate boom, upscale condominiums in the Venetian Bay development could have fetche...

What happens if you don't pay the mortgage?

We all talk about what ifs.

As new-home sales sink, Senate plans to extend tax credit

The Senate on Wednesday reached a compromise on extending the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers,...

New-home sales drop unexpectedly

Surprising some housing-industry analysts, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday that September's new-...

`Shadow market' clouds housing recovery

The number of properties heading to the market may be much larger than anyone thought and appears likely to...