Latest news with #RonButler
Hamilton Spectator
25-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Tempted to stretch the truth on a mortgage application to qualify for that home? Here's how it could haunt you for life
Mortgage fraud can take different forms — from impersonating a homeowner to faking your income to buy your dream home — and experts say lenders have become increasingly aware it's a problem. A recent Equifax report found that mortgage fraud, or providing false information on a mortgage application, decreased in 2024. However, steadily decreasing interest rates could attract more first-time homebuyers to the market, potentially leading to 'increased fraudulent activity in mortgage credit applications,' the report said. Additionally, more than a million homeowners are facing mortgage renewal this year at interest rates higher than when their term began, meaning they could have a harder time qualifying — and some experts say they could be tempted to stretch the truth. According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp . (CMHC), mortgage fraud includes misstating your work position or the amount of time you've had a job, saying you're a full-time employee if you're not, not disclosing other mortgages or debts, and other misrepresentations of your financial situation. The Equifax report noted falsified financial documents, such as bank statements and down payment information, are detected in more than 90 per cent of mortgage fraud cases. 'These are people who are paying others to create entirely false income documents that are totally fraudulent,' explains mortgage broker Ron Butler. Other cases could include applicants having someone lie on their behalf about where they're employed or how many hours a week they typically work, Butler says. A prospective homebuyer or a homeowner might engage in mortgage fraud because they're struggling to qualify for a home or because they want a cheaper mortgage. Experts say they're most likely getting bad advice from bad-acting professionals who would falsify documents for them because they have something to gain, like a commission on a sale or a fee for helping them to commit fraud. Butler says there's been 'ongoing recognition' among banks in recent years that fraud is a problem, and they've improved their detection techniques as a result. Buyers should know that whether or not a lender detects fraud, there can be serious consequences. 'The person who the banks are protecting by making you qualify at a certain rate is you,' says Leah Zlatkin, licensed mortgage broker and expert. Protect yourself by identifying bad actors Zlatkin says people should look out for 'predatory players' who may target first-time homebuyers. People looking to buy — rather than renew — are those most likely to come across 'conspirators,' Butler says, as 'there's a whole industry set up' to entice them. Crooked professionals won't outright suggest mortgage fraud; instead, Butler says, they'll probably make it sound like it's not a big deal to fake financials and say 'everyone does it' or 'you couldn't buy a house unless you did this.' Butler says some realtors may encourage homebuyers to falsify their financial documents because they, in particular, have a 'huge vested interest' in getting clients to qualify and purchase a property that would yield tens of thousands of dollars in commission. If they're showing a house that's out of a client's budget, the realtor might say something like, 'You can afford this house; we'll just put a little salt and pepper on the mortgage,' or, 'I'll look after that for you,' Butler adds. At that point, the professional would be creating fake documents for the application. Experts say bank representatives, bank employees or, less often, mortgage brokers, have also been known to facilitate the fraud. Zlatkin says it might sound like someone suggesting you 'bump your salary' or document a second job when you don't have one. 'You should never be changing any document that you're providing to a mortgage professional, whether it be in the branch or in a mortgage broker environment,' Zlatkin says. Phrases like 'creative financing,' 'easy mortgages' and 'no qualification necessary' are red flags, she says, adding everyone has to qualify for a mortgage. The professionals engaging in fraud might ask for some sort of payment on the side, such as cash, a transferred 'fee' or a gift card, according to Zlatkin. 'That wouldn't be happening in a normal mortgage circumstance,' Zlatkin says, adding any legitimate fees would be disclosed in the paperwork. Mortgage brokers are far less likely to engage in fraud because they're 'heavily scrutinized' and regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, she says. Any documents they work on would be reviewed by the lender and a designated compliance officer, so there are 'three sets of eyes on paperwork when you're a mortgage broker.' And while it's most often legitimate professionals in legitimate establishments facilitating fraud, Zlatkin says it's sometimes done by a fraudster posing as a mortgage broker or other professional. She recommends homebuyers ensure the agent they're working with is a real broker and has a physical licence. Faking your documents on a mortgage application could have serious consequences — whether or not a lender picks up on fraud. 'If you are biting off more than you can chew, affordability can become a real problem for you,' Zlatkin says. And in the event that you can't pay the mortgage, you could go into default and lose your home, she adds. 'When you lose the home, you're going to be paying fees to the lender, who you didn't pay for months and months and months. They get extra fees for every time you default on your payments,' Zlatkin explains. 'Then by the time the fees are taken care of, by the time the sheriff kicks you out of the house, by the time there's all these consequences, the reality is that the equity in your home, even if you put down a healthy down payment, the equity in your home is deteriorated, because the lender has to make themselves right,' she says. That could also impact your credit, which could make it difficult to qualify for a credit card or another mortgage, Zlatkin adds. If a lender does detect fraud, they could cancel the mortgage at the last minute, preventing the buyer from being able to close the deal, explains real estate lawyer John Zinati. 'This buyer now can't complete the purchase,' Zinati says. 'This buyer might get sued by the seller. This buyer might lose their deposit. This buyer could be in a whole lot of trouble on the transaction — aside from what kind of marks will be flagged against them for fraud or possible fraud on a mortgage.' Legally, if a buyer doesn't close on a deal, the seller could keep their deposit as stated in the contract, Zinati explains. Additionally, if the seller goes on to sell the property for less than the price in the original deal, they can sue for the difference, he adds. A bank can also cancel a mortgage even if it was already approved and the purchase was finalized. 'The bank can send a letter that says, 'You have 30 days to pay us back, or we're gonna put your house up for sale,' ' Butler says. Additionally, the fraud could create problems for the homebuyer in the future, for things as simple as opening a chequing account or taking out a credit card, Butler adds. Depending on how 'absolutely incredibly obvious the fraud was,' the bank could alert other banks about the person, too.
Toronto Sun
06-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Tiny condos in Toronto, 'the nexus of all that's gone wrong:' Mortgage broker
Toronto's glut of condos is being fuelled by sagging sales and people walking away from their purchases, according to Ron Butler, principal broker at Butler Mortgage. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account 'We're at one year's inventory — that's listings,' said Butler. 'How many months would it take to sell the condos.' 'And now we're at 12 months and it's going to be 13 months in June. It's just going to keep going up. As TRREB (the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board) reported (Tuesday), lowest condo sales in like forever, multi-decades.' He added TRREB's estimates prices are down 30% from a year ago. The condo sales decline started about 18 months ago, said Butler, when way too many 'dog crate condos' were coming on stream for completion. Butler coined the term 'dog crate' to refer to tiny condos below 550 square feet. 'And that inventory continues to grow because there's another 35,000 that are going to come on stream as that construction completes in Toronto,' he said. Butler said many of the tiny unsold condos are ones designed for investors or real estate speculators to rent out to single people, retirees or couples who work downtown and are not practical for most families. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It's sort of the nexus of all that's gone wrong,' he said. 'Condo buyers are traditionally investors. They do not live in the units, they rent them out. ' He added the marketplace became geared to people and companies renting out the units — meant for two people — so size was not a priority. 'They're outrageously bad layouts. Nobody cares. Because you (as the owner) just look at the occupant as a number. It's just a number that somebody will occupy this and pay me.' Butler said that in Toronto, there is now roughly a 30% failure rate for condo closings. 'That means if you bought a condo 5 1/2 years ago and it's completed now, and the builder calls your lawyer up and says, 'Hey, we're ready for them to occupy the space. We're ready for them to have a mortgage and assume ownership of the condo.' That's what closing means. So in 100 units, it would be 30 people saying, 'No, I'm not going to close. You can keep my deposit and you can litigate me but I'm not closing.'' So what does the future hold? 'My prediction is pain,' said Butler. 'It will be continued price erosion, particularly in condos, for the rest of this year and in all likelihood prices will not recover for several years after the end of this year.' Toronto & GTA Editorial Cartoons Columnists Canada Toronto Blue Jays
CTV News
05-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Toronto's unsold condo rate has reached ‘an incredible level': expert
Ron Butler, principal broker of Butler Mortgage, shares his outlook on Canadian housing market, with a focus on what's happening to Toronto's condo market.
Associated Press
04-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
SW Graduate School of Banking Announces 2025 Distinguished Service and Distinguished Alumnus Awards
The SW Graduate School of Banking at SMU Cox (SWGSB), a nationally renowned source for banking executive education, has announced the SW Graduate School of Banking's highest honors for 2025. H. Gary Blankenship, chairman, CEO and chief lending officer of Bank of the West, will be honored with the Distinguished Service Award on May 29, 2025, and Ron Butler, chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region, executive vice president and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc., and a graduate of SWGSB Class XXXVII, will be honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award on June 5, 2025. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: SW Graduate School of Banking 2025 Distinguished Service Award Honoree H. Gary Blankenship, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer/Chief Lending Officer, Bank of the West and 2025 Distinguished Alumnus Award Honoree Ron Butler, Chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region/Executive Vice President and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc. 'We're proud to announce these award recipients who have contributed immense time and talent to the betterment of their communities, their banking institutions, and SWGSB,' said William T. Chittenden, Ph.D., president and CEO of SWGSB. 'They represent the best of SWGSB, and we are honored to present them with these awards.' H. Gary Blankenship Distinguished Service Award Born in Lockney, Texas in 1940, Gary Blankenship began his banking career as a National Bank Examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency stationed in Denver, Boulder, and Grand Junction, Colorado. He has been chairman and CEO of Greater Southwest Bancshares, Inc., and Bank of the West since chartering the bank in 1986. Bank of the West has grown to include nine locations in Texas in Flower Mound, Grapevine, Horseshoe Bay, Irving, Lewisville, Marble Falls, Ponder, and Vernon. Blankenship embodies the bank's motto of, 'It's personal with Bank of the West.' He was previously president and CEO of two other local banks and served several years in the corporate structure of other large Texas banking organizations as an officer and director. Born in Lockney, Texas in 1940, Gary Blankenship began his banking career as a National Bank Examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency stationed in Denver, Boulder, and Grand Junction, Colorado. He has been chairman and CEO of Greater Southwest Bancshares, Inc., and Bank of the West since chartering the bank in 1986. Bank of the West has grown to include nine locations in Texas in Flower Mound, Grapevine, Horseshoe Bay, Irving, Lewisville, Marble Falls, Ponder, and Vernon. Blankenship embodies the bank's motto of, 'It's personal with Bank of the West.' He was previously president and CEO of two other local banks and served several years in the corporate structure of other large Texas banking organizations as an officer and director. A leader in the industry and his community, he has served on the Texas Department of Banking Commissioner's Council, as a trustee on the Independent Bankers Association of Texas Insurance Bond Trust, and as a director of National Bancshares of Texas, Inc. He previously served on the board and as vice chairman of Adfitech, a mortgage technology and consulting company. Blankenship is a director of The Independent Bankers Bank (TIB), a $2.9 billion-asset bank that serves as a national community correspondent bankers bank. Blankenship received the prestigious Chairman's Award for the Independent Bankers Association of Texas. In 2013, he and his wife, Cynthia, were named recipients of the prestigious D. E. Box Citizens of the Year Award for Grapevine, Texas. He was named one of the top 500 Most Powerful Business Leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth for 2016 and 2017. Blankenship is an active community servant and is a member of the boards of directors of the Irving Chamber of Commerce, Irving Symphony, and Dallas Summer Musicals. He has a master's of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Dallas. Blankenship graduated from West Texas State University, now known as West Texas A&M, with a bachelor's degree in Finance and Accounting in 1969 and received a master's of Business Administration from the University of Dallas in 1982. He has completed various other courses in commercial lending, bank accounting, and one year of law school. Married to Cynthia Blankenship, a banker and cofounder of the Bank of the West, they have three daughters, three granddaughters, and one grandson. Their daughters are also involved in the bank and/or mortgage company. Ron Butler Distinguished Alumnus Award Ron Butler is the chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region in Abilene, Texas, a $14 billion bank with 79 branches located throughout Texas. Butler is also executive vice president and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc. He has been with First Financial for 31 years and previously was CEO of First Financial Bank in Eastland and Stephenville. Ron Butler is the chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region in Abilene, Texas, a $14 billion bank with 79 branches located throughout Texas. Butler is also executive vice president and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc. He has been with First Financial for 31 years and previously was CEO of First Financial Bank in Eastland and Stephenville. Butler has been active in the community serving on numerous boards and is the former board chair of the Abilene Industrial Foundation and Abilene Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Advisory Council of the Excellence in Banking program at the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University. Butler served a six-year term on the Brazos River Authority board of directors, appointed by Governor Rick Perry. He has served numerous terms as a director of the Texas Bankers Association and is currently serving as its vice chair. He was inducted into the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame in 2023. Butler has a bachelor's of Business Administration degree from Texas Tech University and a master's of Business Administration degree from Tarleton State University. He is a graduate of SWGSB Class XXXVII. Butler was named a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in 2024. Married to Lorilei Butler, and they have two grown children, a son and a daughter who are also graduates of the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University. To learn more about SWGSB's nationally renowned program that propels careers, visit ABOUT THE SW GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BANKING AT SMU COX Since 1957, the SW Graduate School of Banking at SMU Cox (SWGSB) has educated and empowered bankers in all positions, other financial services professionals and affiliates, regulators, bank directors, and aspiring bank directors with knowledge and relationships that strengthen careers, organizations, and communities. SWGSB is a nationally recognized leader in banking and commercial lending education, bank management training, and bank director training programs. Learn more at or call 214.768.2991 for more information. 214.768.2991 SOURCE: SW Graduate School of Banking Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 04/04/2025 02:14 PM/DISC: 04/04/2025 02:14 PM
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Land reparations are possible − and over 225 US communities are already working to make amends for slavery and colonization
Ever since the United States government's unfulfilled promise of giving every newly freed Black American '40 acres and a mule' after the Civil War, descendants of the enslaved have repeatedly proposed the idea of redistributing land to redress the nation's legacies of slavery. Land-based reparations are also a form of redress for the territorial theft of colonialism. Around the world, politicians tend to dismiss calls for such initiatives as wishful thinking at best and discrimination at worst. Or else, they are swatted away as too complex to implement, legally and practically. Yet our research shows a growing number of municipalities and communities across the U.S. are quietly taking up the charge. We are geographers who since 2021 have been documenting and analyzing over 225 examples of reparative programs underway in U.S. cities, states and regions. Notably, over half of them center land return. These efforts show how working locally to grapple with the complexity of land-based reparations is a necessary and feasible part of the nation's healing process. Evanston, Illinois, launched the country's first publicly funded housing reparations program in 2019. In its current form, Evanston's Restorative Housing Program has provided disbursements to more than 200 recipients. All are Black residents of Evanston or direct descendants of residents who experienced housing discrimination between 1919 and 1969. Benefits include down payment assistance and mortgage assistance as well as funds to make home repairs and improvements. The goal is to redress the harm Evanston caused during these 50-plus years of racial discrimination in public schools, hospitals, buses and segregated residential zoning. During that same period, banks in Evanston, as in other U.S. cities, also refused to give Black residents mortgages, credit or insurance for homes in white neighborhoods. 'I always said you can keep the mule,' program beneficiary Ron Butler told NBC News in 2024. 'Give me the 40 acres in Evanston.' Reparations that focus on land, housing and property are about more than making amends for centuries of racial discrimination. They help to restore people's self-determination, autonomy and freedom. Following Evanston's lead, in 2021 a group of 11 U.S. mayors created Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity, a coalition committed to developing pilot reparations programs. Members include Los Angeles, Austin and Asheville. The cities act as sites to generate ideas about how reparation initiatives could be scaled up nationally. Each mayor is advised by committees made up of representatives from local Black-led organizations. In recent years the city of Eureka, in Northern California, has been returning some territory to its Native inhabitants. Indigenous people often call this process rematriation; it's part of a broader effort to restore sovereignty and sacred relationships to their ancestral lands. In 2019, after years of petitioning by members of the Wiyot people, the Eureka City Council returned 200 acres of Tuluwat Island, a 280-acre island in Humboldt Bay where European settlers in 1860 massacred about 200 Wiyot women and children. 'It's a sovereignty issue, a self-governance issue,' said Wiyot tribal administrator Michelle Vassel in a November 2023 radio interview. Minneapolis' sale of city lots to the Red Lake Nation for $1 in 2023 is another example of how city governments can make amends for past Indigenous displacement and removal. Plans to develop the low-cost lots include a cultural center for Red Lake people, an opioid treatment center and potentially housing. The Red Lake Reservation once included 3.3 million acres. The 1889 Dawes Act forced the Red Lake Band to cede all but 300,000 acres. The federal government later returned some land, but today the reservation is still only a quarter of its original size. These initiatives may sound like a drop in the bucket considering the vast harms committed over centuries of slavery and colonization. Yet they prove that governments can craft targeted, achievable and meaningful policies to address colonialism and enslavement. They also tackle a frequent critique of reparations, which is that slavery and colonialism happened centuries ago. Yet their effects continue to harm Black and Native communities generations later. Today, white households in the U.S. have roughly nine times the wealth of typical Black households. One explanation for this racial disparity is that Black households earn 20% less than their white counterparts. But a more meaningful driver is what scholars call the 'intergenerational transmission chain' – that is, the role that gifts and inheritance play in wealth generation. That's why reparations – with both land and money – are so critical to creating racial equity. Still, reparations programs do raise a host of complex, practical questions. Which kinds of historic racial injustice take priority, and what form should repair take? Who qualifies for the benefits? Reparations don't have to come from the government. In recent years, more than a hundred community-based organizations across the U.S. have introduced their own initiatives to redistribute land and wealth to make amends for past injustices. Makoce Ikikcupi, in the Minnesota River Valley, is a community reparations program led by Dakota peoples. Since 2009, the group has been collecting funds to buy back portions of the Dakota homeland. One revenue source is voluntary contributions from descendants of Europeans who colonized that land. This fundraising strategy is sometimes called 'real rent' or 'back rent.' The group purchased its first 21-acre parcel of land in 2019, where it is building traditional earth lodges, with plans for several self-sustaining Dakota villages. 'We consider our donation…'back rent,'' reads the testimony of one monthly contributor, Josina Manu, on the group's webpage. He calls the reclamation of Dakota land a 'vital' step 'towards creating a just world.' Many communities are also working together to repair the legacies of anti-Black racism. In the 1960s, the city of Athens, Georgia, used eminent domain to build dormitories for the University of Georgia. Paying below market value, it demolished an entire Black neighborhood called Linnentown. In early 2021, following petitioning from former Linnentown residents who'd lost their homes, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution recognizing their neighborhood's destruction as 'an act of institutionalized white racism and terrorism resulting in intergenerational Black poverty.' Because Georgia law prohibits government entities from making payments to individuals, a community group stepped in to organize compensation. The result is Athens Reparations Action, a coalition of churches and community organizations. Formed in 2021, it had raised $120,000 by 2024 to distribute among the 10 families who are Linnentown survivors and descendants. Our research also tracks legal challenges to the reparations initiatives we are studying. Conservative groups such as Judicial Watch have filed dozens of retaliatory lawsuits against several of them, including Evanston's Restorative Housing Program. A 2024 class action complaint alleges that the program discriminates based on race, violating the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. These legal challenges are part of the broader front of conservative-led assaults on voting rights, affirmative action and critical race theory. Like reparations, all are efforts to grapple with the U.S.'s historical mistreatment of Black, Indigenous and other people of color. Attacking those initiatives is an attempt to preserve what scholar Laura Pulido calls 'white innocence.' We expect more of them under a second Trump term already defined by its assault on antidiscrimination policies and programs. So far, none of Trump's decrees has targeted reparations specifically. For now, reparations are still legal and constitutional – and possible. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Sara Safransky, Vanderbilt University; Elsa Noterman, Queen Mary University of London, and Madeleine Lewis, Vanderbilt University Read more: Why reparations are always about more than money Detroit's reparations task force now has until 2025 to make its report, but going slow with this challenging work may not be a bad thing Should the U.S. provide reparations for slavery and Jim Crow? Sara Safransky has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies, however, I have not received funding from these organizations for the research project discussed in this article. The only grant I've received to fund this research is an internal grant from Vanderbilt University. Elsa Noterman has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the British Academy. However, I have not received funding from these organizations for the research project discussed in this article. The only grant I have received to fund this research is an internal grant from Queen Mary University of London. Madeleine Lewis has received research funding from the Society for Community Research and Action. However, that funding is not related to the research project mentioned in the article.
