Mortgage fraud risk appears to be declining, according to the latest quarterly update issued by Agoura Hills, Calif.-based Interthinx.
Interthinx's national Mortgage Fraud Risk Index decreased by 4.3% during the first quarter of this year and is 3.1% below the level registered in the first quarter of 2011. This is the lowest level that the index has reached since the second quarter of 2009.
However, Interthinx found employment and income fraud risk on the rise in the first quarter, up 5% from the fourth quarter of 2011, up 18% over last year and up by 37% over the past two years. Company analysts believe the continued increase is due to misrepresentation of borrower data to meet debt-to-income thresholds required by lenders.
Interthinx also identifies Nevada as the ‘riskiest state’ for mortgage fraud during the first quarter, followed by Arizona and Florida.
The full report is available online.