United States v. Peter Petsas

Appellant, Peter Petsas, was convicted by a jury of fifteen counts of causing false information to be submitted to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1010 . He was sentenced to eighteen months in prison and a $5,000 fine on Count One. He received concurrent eighteen month sentences for each of the fourteen other counts.

Petsas was in the business of buying houses, usually from the HUD, repairing and then selling them. Occasionally, he repaired and sold houses for others including the Chairman of the Board of Mechanics National Bank (Bank).

The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) insures mortgages on favorable terms, particularly for buyers who intend to occupy the houses. The FHA requires credit reports, verified statements of assets and down payments from the buyers themselves.

To obtain FHA insured mortgage loans on his own houses or on houses which he repaired and was handling for others, Petsas would rent the houses but would falsely represent that the renters were buyers. Petsas got them to sign the necessary applications and forms to be delivered to the FHA. Some of them signed because they thought the forms were…