Government Sues Allied Home Mortgage For Fraud Under the False Claims Act

On November 1, 2011, the United States filed suit in the Southern District of New York against Allied Home Mortgage, a mortgage lending company, for allegedly defrauding the government into insuring its now-defaulted loans. The complaint alleges that Allied and CEO Jim Hodge violated the False Claims Act (“FCA”) by making misrepresentations to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to ensure the company could continue originating mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”). The complaint alleges that Allied submitted loans to the FHA originated out of “shadow branches” it did not disclose to the government and then illegally routed those mortgages through HUD-certified mortgage branches to avoid detection by the government. The government also contends that Allied failed to implement sufficient quality control measures to ensure underwriting standards were being met. The government seeks a permanent injunction and treble damages. Complaint.