Opinion ID: 691991
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Making False Statements for the Purpose of Obtaining a HUD-Insured Loan

Text: 25 Mr. Ellis also appeals his convictions under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1010 5 on two counts of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a loan insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In order to prove a violation of Sec. 1010, the government must establish three elements:  ' the making of a false statement in [an] application, knowing it to be false, for the purpose of obtaining a loan from the lending institution and influencing the FHA [HUD]. '  United States v. Miller, 962 F.2d 739, 746 (7th Cir.1992) (quoting United States v. Lovett, 844 F.2d 487, 489 (7th Cir.1988) (quoting United States v. Leach, 427 F.2d 1107, 1111 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 829, 91 S.Ct. 95, 27 L.Ed.2d 59 (1970))). Mr. Ellis had made two false statements in connection with the HUD-insured loan application that he completed with Midwest Funding Corporation. First, Mr. Ellis gave a false social security number (count III), and second, Mr. Ellis falsely answered a question which asked whether he had been declared bankrupt in the past seven years (count IV). Mr. Ellis contends that the evidence is insufficient to establish that he knew these statements were false. 6
26 Mr. Ellis used a social security number other than his own on the loan application. Mr. Ellis submits that the jury had insufficient evidence to infer that he knew that the social security number he provided was false. Mr. Ellis contends that he was simply mistaken when he supplied the incorrect social security number. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, however, we conclude that the jury certainly did not act irrationally when it concluded that Mr. Ellis provided a social security number other than his own. The evidence of record makes it clear that Mr. Ellis knew his own social security number. It also supports the conclusion that he often used false social security numbers. Indeed, Mr. Ellis used three different false social security numbers in the course of his numerous bankruptcy filings. The number that Mr. Ellis supplied in his application for a HUD-insured loan is different from all of those numbers previously used by Mr. Ellis. Mr. Ellis then later used this same false social security number in a HUD insurance application. From this evidence, the jury could rationally infer that Mr. Ellis knew his social security number and that Mr. Ellis intentionally submitted a false number in order to obscure his credit history.
27 The jury convicted Mr. Ellis on a second count of violating Sec. 1010 (count IV of the indictment) on the basis of Mr. Ellis' false statement to Wendy Albee, the Midwest Funding loan originator who prepared Mr. Ellis' loan application, that he had not been declared bankrupt in the last seven years and Albee's concomitant entry of N in response to that question on the application for the HUD-insured loan. Mr. Ellis argues that the evidence is insufficient to prove that he understood the meaning of the term declared bankrupt. In light of Mr. Ellis' financial history, however, the jury certainly was entitled to find this argument to be particularly unconvincing. Mr. Ellis had filed for bankruptcy at least seven times and he had received three Chapter 7 discharges before he filed this loan application. Mr. Ellis' 1989 Chapter 13 petition was still pending at the time Mr. Ellis applied for the loan in question. Viewing Mr. Ellis' involvement in these numerous bankruptcy proceedings in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the jury could rationally conclude that Mr. Ellis fully understood the meaning of the phrase declared bankrupt. 28