What is Mortgage Fraud?

However one of the fastest growing types of mortgage fraud is called Fraud for Property. Fraud for property occurs when an applicant omits, conceals or misrepresents relevant facts such as income, assets and occupancy intentions that if otherwise known by the lender would have caused the lender to either not make the loan or counter-offer with a different loan type altogether. Fraud for property is most often committed by well-meaning borrowers who simply want to buy a home and it generally goes undetected until the house is foreclosed due to lack of payment.

Once the fraud has been detected by the lender it is forwarded to the FBI for investigation. Regardless of the borrowers good intentions it remains a serious crime and the FBI has demonstrated willingness to charge borrowers as well as those professionals who might have colluded in the fraud. Judges and juries have also demonstrated a willingness to hand down lengthy jail sentences when defendants were found guilty.