Mortgage Fraud
Skyrocketed; Arizona Homeowners Lost Everything
The
Arizona Department of Financial Institutions (ADFI) exists to protect consumers
and ensure “the safety and soundness of the financial services industry in
Arizona.”
But,
under Democrat Felecia Rotellini’s watch as agency Supervisor (2006-2009), the
State of Arizona became Ground Zero for the kinds of mortgage fraud and lending
scams that ultimately brought the entire housing market crashing
down.
According
to the Mortgage
Asset Research Institute Fraud Index, a comprehensive measure of lending
fraud, Arizona ranked 21st in the country for this kind of illegal
activity in 2005. By the time Rotellini resigned from her post as financial
watchdog for ADFI in summer 2009, Arizona’s rate of mortgage fraud had
skyrocketed to 4th in the nation, trailing only Florida (1), New York
(2) and California (3).
“Felecia Rotellini portrays herself as a fierce
and independent prosecutor, but she has a record of failure when it comes to
protecting Arizona consumers,” said Mark Brnovich, Republican nominee
for Arizona Attorney General. “Arizona became a national leader in
lending fraud during Felecia Rotellini’s failed tenure as head of the State
banking department, and Arizona families paid the price as foreclosure rates
skyrocketed and home values plummeted. These are the facts in black and white.
Given the kid-gloves treatment Felecia Rotellini gave these banks, it’s no
surprise she left her position as a government regulator and immediately went to
work representing these same institutions in front of the State banking
department she had just departed.”
Notably,
during a televised
debated Tuesday evening on KAET-Arizona PBS (FF to 24:10), Ms. Rotellini
refused to acknowledge the lending fraud statistics. Immediately following the
debate, she told reporters: “I don’t think those facts are right.”
For the
record, this is the Fraud Index that Ms. Rotellini wishes didn’t
exist: Raised in Arizona, Mark Brnovich is a graduate of Arizona State University. After law school, Mark prosecuted felonies in the Gang/Repeat Offender Bureau of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and worked as an Assistant Attorney General for Arizona and as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona. Mark also served his country as the Command Staff Judge Advocate for the 153rd Field Artillery Brigade of the Arizona Army National Guard for eight years. Mark met his wife Susan while both were working as prosecutors. They live in Phoenix with their two daughters.
For more information, please visit www.Mark4AZ.com
Maricopa County Republicans Has NOT received any monies to post this information,it is a courtesy post.
