Akinshin

BACKGROUND

I. Factual Background

In 2007, the Akinshins contacted Freedom Financial Center, Inc. (Freedom), a mortgage broker, to refinance a prior mortgage loan on their residence at 28 Ayala Court, San Rafael, California. They communicated primarily with Charles Teed.2 The Akinshins told Charles that their combined monthly income was about $7,666 per month from Nina’s work at Nordstrom’s and Walter’s work as the owner of a service station. On March 1, 2007, a uniform residential loan application was signed with the Akinshins’ names but the Akinshins believe those signatures to be forgeries. The application was prepared by William Teed as an employee of Freedom. A second loan application was signed on March 21, 2007, this time by the Akinshins themselves. The second application was also prepared by William, identified as an employee of Countrywide Bank, FSB (Countrywide). Both applications indicated that the Akinshins had a combined monthly income of $24,200. On March 18, 2007, the Akinshins received an $825,000 7-year fixed rate and 23- year adjustable rate mortgage, as well as a $165,000 home equity line of credit (HELOC) from Countrywide. The loan closing occurred at the…