RETIREMENT FUNDS ARE NOT EXEMPT WHEN FILING A CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY-AT LEAST UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES

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1 MORTGAGE e-alert (14-6-3a) Please add to your address book. This will ensure delivery into your inbox and not your junk, spam or bulk e mail box RETIREMENT FUNDS ARE NOT EXEMPT WHEN FILING A CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY-AT LEAST UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES Petitioners filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. They sought to exclude roughly $300,000 in an inherited individual retirement account (IRA) from the bankruptcy estate using the "retirement funds" exemption. See 11 U. S. C. 522(b)(3)(C). The Bankruptcy Court concluded that an inherited IRA does not share the same characteristics as a traditional IRA and disallowed the exemption. The District Court reversed, explaining that the exemption covers any account in which the funds were originally accumulated for retirement purposes. The Seventh Circuit disagreed and reversed the District Court. Funds held in inherited IRAs are not "retirement funds" within the meaning of 522(b)(3)(C) and are therefore not exempt and can be used to pay your creditors. (clark et ux. v. rameker, trustee, et al. certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the seventh circuit no june 12, 2014) It would have been better to take the funds and disburse them into other exemptions such as a homestead on your residence of buy a residence and equity can be a homestead subject to limits. If you would like to know more about what you can keep in a bankruptcy telephone our bankruptcy attorney Jozef Magyar (888) for a free telephone consultation if you reside in California. CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA WOMAN SENTENCED TO OVER 8 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD On June 12, 2014 Rosa Fernandez, 38, of Camarillo, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison for her involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme. Fernandez was arrested in June 2010 and charged along with nine other individuals in a federal indictment with scheming to defraud banks by falsifying loan applications and using bogus tax letters to vouch for borrowers. Fernandez originated numerous loans and earned substantial commissions. She pleaded guilty in February 2012 to three counts of bank fraud. Page 1 of 9

2 While pending sentencing, Fernandez defrauded another lender in connection with seeking a loan modification for one of her several properties and she pleaded guilty to that offense as well. The two cases were consolidated for sentencing. Fernandez was the leader and organizer of the bank fraud scheme and that she had obstructed justice by committing the loan modification fraud while on pretrial, post-conviction release in the mortgage fraud case. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,646,485. The case was investigated by the FBI Ventura Resident Agency and the Ventura County District Attorney s Office, with assistance from the IRS Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Housing and Finance Administration Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Secret Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement s Homeland Security Investigations. (usattcdca61214) Page 2 of 9 Notice that SEVEN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES CHASED HER. SEVEN! She must love prison. While on bail she does it again AND gets caught. There are no mitigating circumstances that an attorney can use to ask for less time. Now she has over 8 years room and board because there is no parole in the federal criminal system. FOUR CHARGED WITH MORTGAGE FRAUD WERE SCHEDULED TO HAVE THEIR PRETRIAL HEARING ON JUNE 13, 2014 IN ORANGE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT On June 13, 2014 SUSHAMA DEVI LOHIA, SUPRITI SONI, SUNITI SHAH, DISNESH VALJEEBHAI SHAH were to have their pretrial readiness conference in Orange County Superior Court, Department C40, Case No. 10CF0477. Dinesh Shah and his wife, Suniti Shah, are accused of owning and operating New Age Realty, First Property Escrow, City First Realty, and Associates Investments Group. Soni is accused of owning and operating Vason Development, a business that processed home loan applications. Lohia, a licensed real estate agent, is accused of working out of both offices. The four defendants are accused of using these offices to process fraudulent loans. Between April 2006 and March 2008, Lohia, Soni, Suniti Shah and Dinesh Shah are accused of conspiring to commit grand theft by recruiting straw buyers through friends and family, as well as their personal employees. Between June 2006 and October 2009, Lohia, Soni, Suniti Shah and Dinesh Shah are accused of obtaining 54 fraudulent loans on 29 real estate properties in Orange County through the use of straw buyers credit. The four defendants are accused of fabricating loan applications to reflect significantly higher incomes for the straw buyers, supplying altered bank statements to reflect the higher incomes, falsifying employer information on loan documents, and forging the names and signatures of straw buyers on various deeds and loan documents. They are accused of using the personal and credit information of the straw buyers to

3 complete the fraudulent documents used in obtaining loans. The four defendants are accused of taking out fraudulent loans under their own names. Lohia was already sentenced April 20, 2012, to eight years in state prison. She had pleaded guilty to about 60 felony counts related to the fraud and 10 counts of tax evasion. She was 72 years old at the time. The remaining three here are two daughters and one other relative as alleged.(ocdawebsite , ocr42012) If you would like to follow the case you can go to the Orange County District Attorney website. BUT look, one has received 8 years after pleading guilty. If you are charged with any type of crime or threatened with loss of you license and thereby your livelihood, you should retain competent counsel. Look at the talent and not the price. Oh well, the family that works together stays together? TWO MORE IN ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA HAVE A PRETRIAL IN ORANGE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD. On June 27, 2014 in Orange County Superior Court, Dept. C45, LYNN EICHENBERGER and LOAN THITUONG NGUYEN are scheduled for their pre-trial conference. Between August and December 2009, Nguyen and Eichenberger are accused of conspiring to defraud investors of millions of dollars in a real estate fraud scheme. During this time, Nguyen is accused of being a licensed real estate broker who managed two companies, SUNCOAST MORTGAGE CORPORATION and SUNCOAST INVESTMENT REALTY. Nguyen is accused of targeting victims in the Vietnamese- American community. The conspiracy operated using two different schemes to defraud 17 investors. Nguyen and Eichenberger are accused of stealing over $2 million from their victims. When confronted by the victims about the properties, Nguyen is accused of claiming that the deal had fallen through. The defendants are accused of failing to return any of the stolen money to any of their victims. (ocdawebsite , Case No. 12cf0467) You can watch the proceeding if you like by going to C45 on June 27 at 8:30 a.m. TWO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MEN CHARGED WITH HOME LOAN MODIFICATION SCAM- ONE ARRESTED, THE OTHER STILL AT LARGE On June 12, 2014 DUY KHAC NGUYEN, 34 ORIGINALLY OF GARDEN GROVE, CALIFORNIA was arrested and accused of perpetrating a home loan modification scam targeting distressed property owners in California and Hawaii. He is being held subject to a $250,000 bail. Duy Khac Nguyen, 34, was arrested after a year-long investigation conducted by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Honolulu police, the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Secret Service. Page 3 of 9

4 Nguyen is charged with 15 counts of grand theft and one misdemeanor count of petty theft. He is being held at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta. According to sheriff's investigators, Nguyen in 2010 and 2011 operated FIRST UNIVERSAL SOLUTIONS out of Lake Elsinore which said it could provide assistance to homeowners that were upside-down on their mortgages and trying to avoid foreclosure by refinancing or taking advantage of the federal Home Affordability Mortgage Program. Mr. Nguyen and another man, PATT WATTANACHINDA, allegedly telephoned up to 20 people, in Hawaii and at least one in Northern California, offering to help the victims obtain home loan modifications. The arrest warrant affidavit filed by sheriff's Investigator Rich Holder, allegedly stated that the alleged scam artists convinced the property owners to write them checks as high as $4,800 to arrange for government assistance. This is alleged never to have happened and Nguyen and Wattanachinda allegedly pocketed the funds, according to the sheriff s investigator. The total estimated loss to the victims was $61,000, according to the investigator. The investigation by Sheriff's personnel, Honolulu police and federal agents took nearly three years, before charges were filed against the two defendants. Mr. Nguyen allegedly faces other charges in Orange County, California based on the same home loan modification scam where it is alleged there are 50 more victims. Mr. Wattanachinda is still at large and Mr. Nguyen is tentatively set to be arraigned on June 16, 2014 at the Southwest Justice Center. MURRIETA, CALIFORNIA MAN GETS ONE YEAR IN PRISON FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD Page 4 of 9 WILLIAM BARRY BLYTHE, 67, created multiple trusts, including R-C Business Trust, Phoenix Business Trust, GB Business Trust, GBB1, GBB2, GBB3, and others. Blythe approached homeowners who were behind on their mortgage payments and offered to take ownership of their homes and negotiate better terms on their mortgages. He directed homeowners to deed their homes to one of Blythe s trusts. Blythe then allowed the homeowners to stay in the homes if they paid a monthly fee to the trust that owned the house. Blythe knew that the trusts did not assume responsibility for the mortgages and that he could not negotiate better terms with lenders. When homeowners gave Blythe the monthly payments, he deposited the payments into his own Blythe Family Trust Account, instead of the bank accounts for the trust entity that supposedly held title to that homeowner s property. Blythe then filed bankruptcy for each of his trusts, first in the Central District of California and then in the Southern District of California. In each of the San Diego bankruptcy petitions, Blythe

5 misrepresented to the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee that the trust seeking bankruptcy protection had purchased real properties, owed mortgages on those properties, made no income from the properties, and had numerous unsecured debts. Ultimately, each of the bankruptcy petitions was dismissed. As part of his scheme, Blythe misrepresented to mortgage lenders that he had purchased the properties encumbered by mortgages, when in fact he had paid nothing for the properties but instead had duped homeowners into deeding those properties to him by misrepresenting that he would assume responsibility for their mortgages. Blythe admitted in his plea agreement that the monthly payments he received from homeowners as part of his scheme constituted income to him. He admitted that he filed false tax returns for tax years 2010, 2011, and 2012, omitting a total of at least $177,499 in taxes. Blythe agreed to pay restitution to any victims of his bankruptcy fraud. He also agreed to pay a total of $320, in restitution to the IRS for back taxes, interest, and penalties. On June 13, 2014 WILLIAM BARRY BLYTHE, 67 OF MURRIETA, CALIFORNIA was sentenced to a year in prison for carrying out a scheme to defraud homeowners, mortgage lenders and federal bankruptcy courts and for willfully failing to report over $175,000 in income tax, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy announced. BLYTHE was also ordered to pay about $320,250 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for back taxes, interest and penalties. (usattysdcaabdsd61314) Getting one year was pretty good and I would say he had a good attorney. SOME WASHINGTON LAWS ABOUT MORTGAGE LOAN ORIGINATORS THAT SHOULD KEEP YOU ON YOUR TOES A mortgage loan originator may only work from a licensed location. A mortgage loan originator can act as a real estate agent in the same transaction or for the same borrower in a different transaction if properly licensed AND IF the borrower is given a statutory disclosure without modification. A mortgage loan originator in Washington may work for a mortgage broker located outside the state of Washington as long as sponsored by the mortgage broker and the broker is licensed under Washington law. Licensed mortgage loan originators may not have employees or independent contractors working for them in mortgage broker licensee activities. This includes not having clerical or administrative personnel whose work is related to the mortgage broker licensee s activities and loan processors. Page 5 of 9

6 Independent contractor loan processors that are not employees of the mortgage broker MUST BE LICENSED as a mortgage broker, mortgage broker branch office or loan originator. (WAC and , 300, 350) When licensed in multiple states be sure you keep current on their laws and regulations or you may find that the regulators are chasing you. Remember, in one regulator gets you there are legal obligations to notify all regulators of any disciplinary action. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR TAX ADVICE. THE AUTHOR MAKES NO CLAIMS ABOUT ITS ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR UP-TO-DATE CHARACTER AND THAT APPLIES TO ANY SITE LINKED TO THIS DOCUMENT AS WELL. NO AUTHOR OR OWNER OF THIS DOCUMENT AND ITS WEBSITE IS ACTING AS YOUR ATTORNEY. LEGAL RULES AND TAX RULES CHANGE FREQUENTLY, THEREFORE, WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN OR ON A WEBSITE IS ACCURATE OR UP TO DATE. SPEAKERS AND SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS DATE: JULY 15, 2014 TIME: LOCATION: 11: a.m. 1:00 p.m. WEST SAHARA LIBRARY-9600 WEST SAHARA AVE., LAS VEGAS, NV TOPIC: HOW TO DEVELOP BUSINESS FROM REAL ESTATE BROKERS WITHOUT VIOLATING RESPA SPONSORED BY: NEVADA ASSOCIATION OF MORTGAGE PROFESSIONALS SPEAKERS: COST: HERMAN THORDSEN, ATTORNEY AT LAW REPRESENTING REAL ESTATE BROKERS, AND MORTGAGE LOAN ORIGINATORS FOR OVER TWENTY FIVE YEARS $15 MEMBERS. $30 FUTURE MEMBERS For over 40 years the attorneys at the Thordsen Law Firm have represented clients in many areas of law including personal injury, administrative hearings where a license can be revoked, trusts and wills, criminal white collar defense, copyright and trademark protection, bankruptcy, civil lawsuits, as well as general real estate matters. Among others we are counsel to lenders, realtors, mortgage brokers in California and nationally. We are counsel to state trade associations in California, Nevada and Arizona. Page 6 of 9

7 CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING THE SALE OR PURCHASE OF REAL PROPERTY IN CALIFORNIA WE MAY BE ABLE TO REPRESENT YOUR LEGAL INTERESTS WITHOUT DIRECTLY CHARGING YOU ANY FEE. CALL HERMAN THORDSEN FOR A FREE CONSULTATION AT TO SEE HOW THIS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED. If we may serve you please contact one of our attorneys at: 151 Kalmus Drive, Suite B-250 Costa Mesa, CA (310) OR (888) Herman Thordsen, Esq. * Jozef G. Magyar, Esq. * Sean Thordsen, Esq. ** * Licensed in California State and Federal Courts ** Licensed in California and Nevada State and Federal Courts AT NO COST TO YOU HERE ARE REASONS YOU MAY WANT TO CONSULT US ABOUT A CAR ACCIDENT If it is a minor fender bender, hiring a lawyer may be unnecessary. However, if the case is more serious and a lawsuit is a probability you may need a car accident attorney. This consultation is free. As Attorneys we can help you recover money for your damaged property, medical bills, and personal injuries suffered by you and gather the evidence that presents your case favorably. Here are the five signs you may need a car accident lawyer. If there is serious injury or death: Car accidents in which serious injuries or deaths occur are not only traumatic but they can result in complex litigation due to the seriousness of the harm. Not only are there multiple legal issues as to liability involved but the damages suffered can be very high and contested by the insurance company represesntatives. You will need an attorney to help you calculate the damages; guide you through the various legal claims and the liens that may be placed by medical care providers. Page 7 of 9

8 Where there are multiple parties involved in the accident as for example, unsecured cargo may fly off of one car and cause another car to swerve and hit a third vehicle or pedestrian. These create issues as to who is at fault and to what degree. One or more parties are uninsured or underinsured. If so we review your insurance policy for alternative coverage and if not enough the uninsured or underinsured driver can be checked for assets to determine if a civil suit should be filed against the driver and/or owner if the driver does not own the vehicle. Collecting evidence: A court order to obtain some car crash evidence may be necessary and a lawyer can help you obtain it if the case is going to mediation, arbitration and/or trial. For example, most new vehicles come equipped with a "black box" that records a few seconds of information during a crash. The information may be able to tell you how fast the car was going at the time of the collision or if the driver was wearing a seatbelt. The consultation is free and the lawyers is only paid if the trial is won or a settlement is reached with your consent. Settlement agreements can be entered into before trial and save you time, anxiety and let you move on by the savings in litigation costs. Settlement talks are all about negotiation, which is something an experienced car accident lawyer can probably do better than you. Bottom line: If at any time after a car accident you're unclear about the law or how to proceed with a personal injury case, it never hurts to contact us at no cost to find out about your rights. Our trial lawyer is Alan Brown a member of the National Trial Lawyers Association and past president of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association. The National Trial Lawyers of America is by invitation only to the 100 top trial lawyers in each state. We are quite proud of Alan s accomplishment and the fact that we may serve those of you that have been injured so that you receive just compensation for your injuries. Recently he has settled two of our cases for the policy limits of the responsible party. Perhaps we can assist you. If you have any questions, call Herman Thordsen at no charge (888) for a free consultation. Page 8 of 9

9 IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE MORTGAGE E ALERT AT NO COST PLEASE SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION by to Thordsen@ThordsenLawOffices.com By FAX: OR CONTACT US AT NAME: COMPANY: ADDRESS: CITY, STATE, ZIP CODE: TELEPHONE: If you do not desire to receive any further e mails from our firm please reply with the word UNSUBSCRIBE and you will be deleted from our e mail for all purposes. To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, informs you that, if any advice concerning one or more U.S. Federal tax issues is contained in this communication (including any attachments), such advice is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein Page 9 of 9