An area resident that works in mortgage loans has been fired and can no longer work in that capacity in Illinois. First reported by the Jacksonville Journal Courier, the state has pulled the license of a longtime Jacksonville resident at the heart of a fraud investigation.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Division of Banking confirmed it has revoked the mortgage loan originator license for Chris R. Schaller.
Schaller’s name has been at the center of an investigation into a mortgage fraud scheme while working for Diamond Residential Mortgage Corp.’s Springfield branch office.
State investigators said they found at least 10 loans originated by Schaller that involved fraudulent loan origination activities, according to the Journal-Courier. Schaller was also apparently involved in another incident the state said harmed at least six consumers by convincing borrowers that they were obtaining a mortgage from DRMC, when they were actually signing a contract for deed. According to the state’s documents, these consumers unknowingly transferred ownership interest in their property to Schaller.
According to the Jacksonville Journal Courier story, the revocation of Schaller’s license comes nearly six months after the license was suspended on April 19, and Diamond Residential Mortgage Corp. terminated Schaller’s employment once the investigation came to light. According to the State Journal-Register, the office had first been closed in March of this year, as the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Division of Banking was beginning their official investigation.
The suspension documents asserted that Schaller used a bank trust for which he was the only beneficiary to hold ownership interest in his customers’ property and failed to provide proper documentation or details to those requesting a mortgage. Customers then made payments to Diamond Residential, thinking they were paying toward a mortgage that didn’t actually exist, according to the state.
The revocation constitutes a lifetime ban from holding an Illinois mortgage loan originator license. In addition, Schaller has been ordered to pay a fine of $128,000.
The website ilmortgageman.com had been used as a home page for the ‘Schaller Mortgage Success Team’, referring to Diamond Residential Mortgage Corporation’s Springfield Branch office on Greenbriar Drive.