The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) paper, entitled ‘Safe As Houses? Organised Fraud In The UK’, claimed that its studies had suggested evidence of ‘confirmed mortgage fraud of around £700 millon.’
The study was based on a questionnaire completed by lenders and police forces.
However, the CML suggested that double counting of results and evidence of financial crime other than mortgage fraud was also included in the study, with ACPO itself suggesting that ‘it has been impossible to quantify the true extent of the volume and value of organised mortgage fraud’.
Following the report, the City of London Police confirmed it would be adding 50 officers to help tackle the expected increase in mortgage fraud.
The CML also indicated that many of the proposals discussed as part of the study had already been incorporated into lenders’ business models, although the trade body welcomed the paper’s aim to configure a more co-ordinated approach to tackling financial crime.
Commenting on the paper’s findings, a Mortgage Introducer source said: “Lenders have made vast changes and improvements to their business models to minimise the risks of fraud, but there needs to be a more uniform approach. At the moment lenders ask for different information and look at different details – there should be a set of guidelines that every lender follows. Mortgage fraud will probably grow in the current climate.”
