Tuesday, May 26, 2009

FERA - A Huge Victory for Homeowners

President Obama signed the the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (FERA) on May 20, 2009. The act gives the federal government more tools and authority to track fraud that caused millions of homeowners to lose their homes to foreclosure and caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs. Over 13 million Americans are unemployed and over 1.2 million Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure in 2009.

Many Americans were victims of fraud in the financial industries. The Act will target those financial institutions that are regulated or insured by the government and private companies that are not. The act will expand the Department of Justice’s ability to prosecute crimes resulting from the mortgage process.

The legislation amends the major fraud statute to protect the funds distributed under the TARP and the Recovery Act. The Act will provide more money to hire employees to investigate and prosecute fraudulent behavior. The Act will also create a Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial methods used that led to the recession to ensure that we do not encounter this type of financial crisis in the future.

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