First American CoreLogic, a member of The First American Corporation family of companies and provider of advanced property and ownership information, analytics and services, has announced that its Multi-Closing Alert Program prevented more than $40 million dollars in residential mortgage fraud losses for institutional participants during the first year of the program.
The Multi-Closing Alert Program is helps banks and lending institutions identify and stop multi-lien fraud, otherwise known as ‘shotgun’ fraud, according to First American CoreLogic. Multi-lien fraud targets residential equity lending through fraudulent borrower schemes to apply and close on multiple loans against a single residential property within a short time period. According to data from First American CoreLogic, this type of fraud is noticeably increasing in regions around the country including Florida and California. The program identifies instances where multiple equity loan applications and pending closing activity exist on an individual residential property across participating institutions, and then alerts clients through daily electronic notifications, the company notes.
The Multi-Closing Alert Program currently serves nine residential lending institutions, representing more than half of the equity lending market. Bank and lending institution participants have reported identifying and preventing more than 230 confirmed fraud schemes nationwide, valued at more than $40 million dollars in total hard losses.