Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Utah
Second Mortgage Fraud
My wife took out a second mortgage on our condo in Utah and was approved for 125% of the condo value. We later learned through her employer that the company approving the loan changed and invented information on her application. The loan has since been sold or transferred to another company. Due to the first companies actions my wife should not have been approved for the loan and because of the first companies actions what legal remedies do we have to cancel the second mortgage issued?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Second Mortgage Fraud
You would have to first return all monies. As soon as all monies are repaid, then the mortgage is released. You cannot, of course, "cancel" the second mortgage without repaying the money. If the mortgage lender, or whomever currently owns the loan, should learn that there was misrepresentation by either you or the original lender, they would have the power to call the note immediately due and payable. If you could not then repay the loan you would probably wind up in a foreclosure. Unless you can pay off the second, your best option is to make the payments and not make an issue of whether the original lender changed your application.
Note that at the closing you should have been given the opportunity to verify that all information was correct. You probably signed some documents which stated that you had confirmed that all information was correct. By signing those documents, you were then bound to be an 'accomplice' of any misstatements. So you may have become unwittingly liable by signing off on the loan at closing. Your best option is to make sure the loan is paid.