Florida mortgage regulator resigns under fire

Forbes reports:

Florida's top mortgage industry regulator resigned Tuesday amid allegations his agency let thousands of convicted criminals, including bank robbers and racketeers, work in the home loan business.

Gov. Charlie Crist and the state's three Cabinet members, who together oversee the Office of Financial Regulation, also approved emergency rules to stop the licensing of ex-convicts as mortgage brokers.

The panel two weeks ago ordered their respective inspectors general to audit the office in response to a Miami Herald investigation.

The newspaper found more than 10,000 people with criminal records were allowed to work in Florida's mortgage industry from 2000 through 2007 and that convicted felons had bilked at least $85 million from lenders and consumers.

No word yet from the National Association of Realtors on this one.