MORTGAGE FRAUD ON THE RISE

This just in from my favorite lender, Jason Pike from Countrywide.
Arresting Times: Law Enforcement Agencies Cracking Down on Mortgage Fraud Fort Worth Business Press (07/07/08); Howe, Aleshia The FBI has seen its mortgage fraud caseload double to more than 1,400 pending cases over the past three years, and the agency expects the number to rise in the years to come. In fiscal 2007, the bureau pursued 1,204 cases, which produced 321 indictments and 260 convictions of mortgage fraud perpetrators. Appraisers are seen as key figures in mortgage fraud; and the FBI will continue to focus its efforts on industry insiders and schemes that involve inflated appraisals, fake buyers also known as "straw buyers" and loans impacted by identity theft. "The problem is going to get worse before it gets better and just because there's a downturn in the housing market doesn't mean the problem will go away," says Michael Anderson, an assistant special agent in charge of the Dallas division that oversees the FBI's white collar crime program.