Not surprisingly, more reports are being released that reveal mortgage fraud is on the rise. Corelogic is predicting that income and property fraud could increase substantially in the next 12 months, as cited in an article from Housingwire.com. Expected exposure to income fraud rose just over 27% and property fraud rose just over 22%, in a year over year comparison in the second quarter of this year. Funding Shield apparently reported recently that wire related fraud issues were up over 40% in short-term comparison. Most of the fraud is purportedly coming from borrowers and or loan officers embellishing W2’s or working around the seasoning of funds requirements that are part of the safety and underwriting checks to protect the lender.
Former executives of a prominent national lender were recently sentenced to jail and some investors landed in hot water for inflating numbers to their benefit. We believe in honest business dealings. While we can not and do NOT provide accounting, tax, financial, legal, nor investment advice, we do believe that it is best practice to not succumb to temptations to cut corners. In our opinion, honest business is good business. What do you think?