| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to mortgage fraud; providing legislative |
| 3 | findings; creating the Statewide Mortgage Fraud Task Force |
| 4 | within the Department of Legal Affairs; providing for |
| 5 | membership; providing duties of the statewide task force; |
| 6 | providing for the establishment of regional mortgage fraud |
| 7 | task forces; requiring that the Department of Legal |
| 8 | Affairs provide staff for the regional task forces; |
| 9 | providing for membership of the regional task forces; |
| 10 | providing duties of the regional task forces; providing |
| 11 | for reimbursement of nongovernmental members' per diem and |
| 12 | travel expenses; providing an effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | WHEREAS, mortgage fraud is a significant problem throughout |
| 15 | the United States and is having a particularly damaging affect |
| 16 | on mortgage investors and homeowners in this state, and |
| 17 | WHEREAS, certain types of mortgage fraud result in an |
| 18 | artificial inflation in the value of residential property, which |
| 19 | is directly correlated with an increase in the number of |
| 20 | foreclosure filings, and |
| 21 | WHEREAS, this state is ranked number one in incidents of |
| 22 | mortgage fraud and also has one of the highest foreclosure rates |
| 23 | in the nation, and |
| 24 | WHEREAS, establishing statewide and regional task forces to |
| 25 | coordinate investigations of and solutions to mortgage fraud |
| 26 | will help combat and reduce the effect of mortgage fraud, NOW, |
| 27 | THEREFORE, |
| 28 |
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| 29 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 30 |
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| 31 | Section 1. Statewide Mortgage Fraud Task Force.-- |
| 32 | (1) The Legislature finds that there is a need to develop |
| 33 | and implement a statewide strategy to address mortgage fraud |
| 34 | within or affecting this state. |
| 35 | (2) The Statewide Mortgage Fraud Task Force is established |
| 36 | within the Department of Legal Affairs for the purpose of |
| 37 | combating mortgage fraud throughout the state. |
| 38 | (a) The Statewide Mortgage Fraud Task Force shall be |
| 39 | composed of the following 21 members: |
| 40 | 1. The Lieutenant Governor or the Lieutenant Governor's |
| 41 | designee. |
| 42 | 2. The Attorney General or the Attorney General's |
| 43 | designee. |
| 44 | 3. The executive director of the Department of Law |
| 45 | Enforcement. |
| 46 | 4. The Commissioner of Financial Regulation or the |
| 47 | commissioner's designee, who must be knowledgeable about |
| 48 | mortgage lending and related financial institutions. |
| 49 | 5. The chair of each regional task force. |
| 50 | 6. Seven representatives from the business community, the |
| 51 | Florida Credit Union League, the Florida Bankers Association, |
| 52 | the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers, the Florida Real |
| 53 | Estate Commission, the appraisal community, and the title |
| 54 | insurance industry, as designated by the chair. |
| 55 | 7. Three citizens chosen by the chair. |
| 56 | (b) The Attorney General or the Attorney General's |
| 57 | designee shall serve as the chair of the Statewide Mortgage |
| 58 | Fraud Task Force and the executive director of the Department of |
| 59 | Law Enforcement shall serve as the vice chair. |
| 60 | (c) The Attorney General shall appoint an executive |
| 61 | director for the Statewide Mortgage Fraud Task Force. The |
| 62 | executive director shall carry out the tasks and duties of the |
| 63 | task force. Staffing of the Statewide Mortgage Fraud Task Force |
| 64 | shall be provided by the Department of Legal Affairs. |
| 65 | (3) The Statewide Mortgage Fraud Task Force shall: |
| 66 | (a) Collect data about and serve as a resource and |
| 67 | clearinghouse for information relating to mortgage fraud, |
| 68 | including ongoing investigations and prosecutions around the |
| 69 | state which involve mortgage fraud. |
| 70 | (b) Coordinate and initiate statewide or regional mortgage |
| 71 | fraud investigations through the statewide prosecutor or local |
| 72 | state attorneys. |
| 73 | (c) Within available resources, establish a statewide |
| 74 | toll-free telephone hotline for reporting mortgage fraud, |
| 75 | providing information and resources to the public regarding |
| 76 | mortgage fraud, and routing reports of mortgage fraud to the |
| 77 | appropriate law enforcement agencies, and prosecutorial |
| 78 | agencies, and the regional task forces. |
| 79 | (d) In conjunction with the state agencies responsible for |
| 80 | determining training needs and establishing training standards |
| 81 | for law enforcement officers, state attorneys, and regulatory |
| 82 | personnel, identify and make recommendations relating to |
| 83 | equipment and training. This shall including continued training |
| 84 | for state licensure or certification. In making these |
| 85 | recommendations, which shall be aimed at ensuring that the needs |
| 86 | of this state with regard to preparing, equipping, and training |
| 87 | law enforcement officers, state attorneys, and regulatory |
| 88 | personnel to combat mortgage fraud are identified and addressed, |
| 89 | the task force shall identify all resources and funding sources |
| 90 | that may be available to support and fund such efforts. |
| 91 | (e) Propose legislation to eliminate and prevent mortgage |
| 92 | fraud, including measures that close loopholes in procedures for |
| 93 | making mortgage loans and prevent practices by property |
| 94 | appraisers which provide opportunities for mortgage fraud. |
| 95 | (f) Make recommendations to the Legislature regarding |
| 96 | detection, monitoring, prediction, and control of mortgage fraud |
| 97 | in this state. |
| 98 | (4) The Attorney General shall designate seven mortgage |
| 99 | fraud operational regions, and a regional mortgage fraud task |
| 100 | force shall be established within each region. The Department of |
| 101 | Legal Affairs shall provide staff whose sole task is to support |
| 102 | the functions and activities of the regional task forces. |
| 103 | (a) Each regional task force shall be chaired by the |
| 104 | special agent of the Department of Law Enforcement who is in |
| 105 | charge of the operational region in which the task force is |
| 106 | located. The Attorney General shall appoint one sheriff, one |
| 107 | chief of police, and one state attorney from jurisdictions |
| 108 | located within the region of operations. |
| 109 | (b) Each regional task force shall consist of 15 members. |
| 110 | The special agent of the Department of Law Enforcement shall |
| 111 | select 11 citizens from the region of operations. |
| 112 | (c) The chairs of each regional task force may appoint |
| 113 | committees and committee chairs, as necessary, to address issues |
| 114 | related to the various agencies and organizations represented by |
| 115 | the members on the task force, including issues involving law |
| 116 | enforcement agencies, regulatory agencies, business |
| 117 | partnerships, or educational organizations. The committee chairs |
| 118 | shall serve at the pleasure of the regional chairs. |
| 119 | (d) Each regional task force, with oversight and direction |
| 120 | from the statewide mortgage fraud task force, shall: |
| 121 | 1. Meet with local law enforcement agencies, sheriff's |
| 122 | departments, and state attorneys to coordinate local initiatives |
| 123 | to address mortgage fraud. |
| 124 | 2. Coordinate efforts with law enforcement agencies to |
| 125 | enforce s. 817.545, Florida Statutes, and other related state |
| 126 | and federal laws, to ensure that the efforts are not fragmented |
| 127 | or unnecessarily duplicative. |
| 128 | 3. Coordinate training for local and state personnel |
| 129 | relating to mortgage fraud and other related state and federal |
| 130 | laws. |
| 131 | 4. Coordinate the collection and dissemination of state |
| 132 | and local investigative information relating to mortgage fraud |
| 133 | within each region of operation. |
| 134 | 5. Incorporate other objectives reasonably related to the |
| 135 | goal of enhancing the state's ability to detect, prevent, and |
| 136 | respond to mortgage fraud within or affecting the state. Each |
| 137 | regional task force shall take into account the unique |
| 138 | conditions and resources within its region. |
| 139 | (5) The nongovernmental members of the Statewide Mortgage |
| 140 | Fraud Task Force and the regional task forces shall serve on a |
| 141 | voluntary basis without compensation for their services, but are |
| 142 | entitled to reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses as |
| 143 | provided in s. 112.061, Florida Statutes. All expenses for |
| 144 | nongovernmental members shall be reimbursed from the Statewide |
| 145 | Mortgage Fraud Task Force Trust Fund. |
| 146 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |