Indiana's licensing boards for real estate agents and appraisers have put more than five dozen licensees out of business for wrongdoing in the past three years, as part of a statewide crackdown on real estate fraud.

Six of those were from Northwest Indiana.

Among those investigating complaints has been Tim Reed, of Valparaiso, chairman of the Indiana Real Estate Commission and a local Realtor.

He says the problem has largely resulted from shoddy practices during a period when credit was given so freely.

And now, as risky lending practices have caused home foreclosures to reach record levels in Indiana and other states, regulators are bracing for more cases.

"We haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg on the foreclosure issue," Reed said. "Because many of the loans that originated, they are just starting to default now. So, I think we are going to see a lot more consumer complaints."

The 218 appraisers brought up on charges in Indiana since 2005 represent 5.5 percent of the state's appraisers. The 74 real estate agents brought up on charges represent less than two-tenths of the state's licensed real estate brokers.

About one in five brought before the panels have their cases dismissed when it turns out no rules or laws were violated.

Mortgage brokers, in large part, have fueled much of the outright fraud in real estate. But they need dishonest appraisers to do it. Real estate agents can be peripherally or directly involved, either by referring people to the dishonest lender or appraiser, or even taking kickbacks for doing so.

"We have been able to heighten our actions and investigations," said Gabrielle Owens, head of the attorney general's consumer protection division.

Owens and others involved in the process stress that the jobs of honest real estate professionals are made harder by those who cut corners, and that only a fraction have been charged with wrongdoing.

Of 12 real estate agents in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties charged since 2004, only two lost licenses, according to commission data. Those were business partners Carl Paul Ihle Jr. and Kevin Pastrick, who ran Sand Creek Realty.

Pastrick had his license revoked after pleading guilty in federal court to charges he paid bribes to induce a union pension fund to buy 55 acres of land for $10 million at Coffee Creek, in Chesterton. Ihle was convicted of lying to federal investigators about the deal.

It was one of the most high-profile real estate scandals ever in Northwest Indiana. A top carpenter's union official and the then-head of the State Democratic Party also went off to prison for their involvement in the deal.

The Indiana Real Estate Commission and Appraiser Board hear charges leveled against real estate agents and appraisers by the Indiana Attorney General. The two boards are the licensing bodies for the state's 46,024 licensed real estate brokers and sales representatives and 3,967 licensed appraisers.

Both boards largely consist of real estate professionals.

They have been handling a flood of cases since the formation of the Indiana Attorney General's Homeowner Protection Unit in 2004. The attorney general filed charges against a total of 186 real estate agents and appraisers in 2006, as compared to just 20 two years before.

A Times computer analysis of two years of data from the real estate commission and appraiser board shows nearly one-third of real estate professionals coming before the two judicial panels are being put out of business, either through suspension or revocation of their license.

Disciplinary charges filed with the boards in 2005 and 2006 resulted in 13 real estate agents and 47 appraisers being barred from doing business by suspension or revocation.

That is three times as many as the entire number of cases filed in 2004, when just 14 real estate agents and six appraisers came before the boards to face charges.

Appraisers likely are to be working full time or deriving a significant portion of their livelihood from appraising, so they are more likely to be charged for that reason alone.

License suspensions typically range anywhere from one month to five years. A revocation is permanent, although a person can apply for a new license in seven years.

"We have several individuals over the years that have had to make another career choice because real estate was no longer an option for them," Reed said.

By far the greatest number of licensees coming before the commission or board on charges were given probation or letters of reprimand, according to the Times analysis. Those two sanctions were imposed on 91 real estate agents and appraisers charged in 2005 and 2006.

Those on probation have their work monitored and must often complete other requirements, such as continuing education.

The Real Estate Commission exercises careful discretion when meting out discipline for violations that were unintentional, Reed said. But it has zero tolerance for outright fraud.

"If it happens, we are going to take that person out of business," Reed said.

One of the most common charges leveled against appraisers is that a home appraisal has been inflated, according to the attorney general's office. When the homeowner goes to sell the home years later, they discover the appraisal was inflated, often making sale of the home impossible.

Homeowner protection unit investigations are launched based on consumer complaints. The unit determines if there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing to forward charges to licensing boards. The members of those boards decide if laws or regulations been violated.

Disciplinary actions are posted for consumers to see on the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency Web site.