Mortgage Servicers' Contractor Cops Plea In $12M Ripoff, Admitting To Fabricating Foreclosure Property Inspection Reports

In Tampa, Florida, the Tampa Bay Times reports:

• As the housing market imploded, Dean Counce's business boomed. Counce's Brooksville company contracted with lenders to regularly inspect properties in foreclosure throughout the state. By 2009, Counce was sending as many as 100,000 inspection reports each month to Bank of America, receiving about $6.50 for each. Bank of America then billed the federal entities that owned or insured the mortgages. At one point, Counce was making as much as $1 million per month. The problem: Half of those reports were fabricated. Now, investigators say, Counce owes taxpayers more than $12 million and faces up to 20 years in prison. On Friday, the 42-year-old Spring Hill resident pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His sentencing date has yet to be set.

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• As part of a plea deal, Counce agreed to cooperate with an ongoing investigation and testify if necessary. Prosecutors, in turn, will not oppose his request for a prison term on the low end of the sentencing range.

For more, see Spring Hill man pleads guilty to fabricating thousands of foreclosure inspection reports.