Reported incidents of mortgage fraud in the U.S. increased by 42% in the first quarter of 2008 from a year ago, according to a new report from the Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI), a ChoicePoint company. The report is based on data submitted by MARI subscribers about loans that were originated in the first quarter of this year and have since been classified as fraudulent.
Florida continues to lead all states in mortgage fraud, according to the MARI Quarterly Fraud Report. The state accounted for 24% of all properties with material misrepresentation submitted by MARI subscribers for loans originated during the first quarter of 2008.
California is second in the first quarter 2008 mortgage fraud rankings, followed by a three-way tie for third place among Illinois, Maryland and Michigan.
For all states, the top fraud incident type was in the General Application Misrepresentation category, followed closely by misrepresentations related to income and employment. In addition, MARI continues to see multiple fraud types, such as identity theft and identity fraud, in loan transactions.
Source: MARI