A report that pegs mortgage fraud as a growing epidemic in the U.S. has prompted the Mortgage Bankers Association) to push for additional resources that will help the Federal Bureau of Investigations tackle fraud cases.
The MBA bases its assertion on a report from the Mortgage Asset Research Institute, LLC (MARI), which is a provider of mortgage fraud prevention solutions and data. MARI’s “Ninth Periodic Mortgage Fraud Case Report to MBA” says the number of mortgage fraud reports within its 2006 Mortgage Data Industry Exchange database grew 30-percent over 2005. In response, the MBA is trying to obtain $6.25 million in annual funding so the FBI can hire additional investigators and prosecutors to handle the cases.

“Fraud against mortgage lenders is a growing concern to all who have a stake in our industry,” said MBA Chairman John M. Robbins. “While we continue to try to get our arms around the full scope of the problem, the MARI report significantly helps the industry better understand where we need to focus efforts in defending our companies and communities against mortgage fraud as it increases in frequency across the nation.”
The latest report also concluded that mortgage fraud, which used to be concentrated in certain areas of the country, is now evenly distributed throughout the U.S. And, today, the most common types of fraud include falsifications on applications related to a person’s employment history and income.
Click here to read the full report.