President Barack Obama is poised to sign a $490m piece of mortgage fraud legislation into law. The House voted 338-52 late last night in favor of approving the legislation after it passed a Senate vote in April, according to a Market Watch bulletin. The bill calls for millions of dollars split between government and regulator departments to hire fraud persecutors and increase efforts to crack down on mortgage lending companies not regulated or insured by the government. The preventative efforts aim to reduce risky or inappropriate mortgages originated on fraudulent terms. The legislation allows $75m in fiscal year ’10 and $65m in fiscal year ’11 for the FBI to use its resources to go after suspected fraudsters. Furthermore, $50m goes to the US Attorneys’ office. Up to $40m in funding goes to the Justice Department, to be shared among the criminal, civil and tax divisions. The legislation also would provide $30m each fiscal year to the Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development for investigation of fraud cases. The bill sets up a commission of experts to examine causes of the recent economic free fall and to propose likely solutions. Write to Diana Golobay.

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