Subject of CL story gets her job back

Shawntell Law-North, who almost lost her job based on accusations that she falsified a home loan application, has been reinstated — 13 days after CL wrote about her case.

Law-North was suspended without pay in April from Georgia Federal Credit Union, where she worked as a bank teller. The reason: She applied for a home loan through a broker, Georgia State Mortgage, and the lender, National City Mortgage, later discovered Law-North’s income was exaggerated in the application — and reported the discrepancy to her boss.

Last week, Law-North’s employer told her she’d be able to return to work, without back pay, because an internal investigation into her falsified income was inconclusive.

Law-North’s lawyer, Atlanta Legal Aid attorney Bill Brennan, says he’s pleased with the finding, despite the “inconclusive” ruling. “Justice has now been done,” he says.

Brennan claims his client had no knowledge of the falsified income. He says Law-North was in fact duped by what’s become a fast-growing component of mortgage fraud: Brokers, unbeknownst to the homebuyer, jack up an applicant’s earnings to ensure they’ll get approved for a loan.

The state Department of Banking and Finance will hold a hearing to investigate Georgia State Mortgage’s actions in Law-North’s case, according to Brennan.

Brennan says he’ll provide the department with evidence that Georgia State Mortgage had two sets of documents regarding Law-North’s income — one that was accurate and one that wasn’t. Law-North’s application with Georgia State Mortgage contained doctored pay stubs and W-2s that inflated her income. But Georgia State Mortgage gave another brokerage company (with whom Law-North succeeded in getting a loan) copies of her accurate pay stubs and W-2s, according to Brennan. He says that proves Georgia State had the right documents — but used the fake ones.

To read more about Law-North’s case, visit www.atlanta.creativeloafing.com/2004-06-10/news_feature2.html.

-- Alyssa Abkowitz