Cengage Learning Mortgage Fraud

This report offers an analysis of the current extent of fraud in the mortgage lending industry. It is the result of extensive research by the author involving wide ranging interviews with building societies, clearing banks, centralized lenders, professional bodies, and professionals involved in dealing with mortgage fraud. Techniques of modern fraud are diverse and constantly-changing, but this report identifies four main types of fraud which are widely recognized by lenders and which each pose security threats of a different kind. The nature of the checks undertaken on borrowers' status is analyzed, as are the various responses to the problem of the three main groups of lenders - clearing banks, building societies and centralized lenders. The experiences and views of the police, Crown Prosecution Service, Law Society and Valuers are reported, and information from various sources is used to estimate the extent of mortgage fraud. Many frauds, however, are by nature not self disclosing and it is clear that most fraud is not being recorded fully, if at all. One of the main conclusions of the report is that, with the exception of the police, most of those with responsibilities for the detection and control of mortgage fraud find the subject embarrassing. Until recently, there has been a widespread reluctance amongst lenders to acknowledge that mortgage fraud has become a significant and probably permanent threat, though most lenders have now taken steps to defend themselves against it. There is still a considerable diffidence amongst lenders and professionals about recognizing their responsibilities fully and a tendency to point the finger at others. Partly as a result of the politicized character of mortgage fraud there is a reluctance to share information readily, despite widespread claims that fraud is not a competitive area of business. The report argues that the industry should seriously consider establishing registers both of fraudsters and mortgages.