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Pennsylvania-based mortgage lender Seckel Capital will no longer be allowed to originate or underwrite Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgages after an investigation from the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that the company repeatedly lied to the FHA about its financials.
HUD announced the findings of its investigation on Tuesday.
According to HUD, Seckel Capital and the company’s owner, John Seckel, “knowingly and fraudulently submitted false financial statements to the government certifying there were audited by an independent accounting firm when, in fact, they were not.”
HUD’s investigation found that Seckel’s fraudulent misrepresentations were not an isolated incident.
“HUD found that Seckel Capital and John Seckel engaged in a years-long pattern of submitting false financial statement to FHA, representing them as properly audited by independent certified public accountants,” HUD said in a statement.
As a result of the investigation, HUD’s Mortgagee Review Board is “immediately suspending” Seckel Capital from originating and underwriting new mortgages insured by the FHA.
Additionally, HUD's Departmental Enforcement Center suspended John Seckel from doing business with the federal government.
HUD said that its actions were based on the lender’s “egregious false certifications” to the FHA about its financial statements.
Seckel Capital’s website states the company currently operates in 13 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, along with Washington, D.C.
The company’s website states that the company offers conventional, fixed-rate mortgages, adjustable rate mortgages, home equity lines of credit, jumbo loans, Department of Veterans Affairs mortgages, Home Affordable Refinance Program mortgages, Department of Agriculture mortgages, reverse mortgages, stated-income loans, commercial loans, as well as FHA and FHA 203(k) rehab/construction loans.
But HUD said Tuesday that the company may no longer participate as an FHA lender.
HousingWire attempted to contact Seckel Capital and John Seckel for comment on the HUD investigation and the company’s suspension from FHA lending, but as of publication, neither has responded.
