The incidence of mortgage fraud has seen an upswing, but remains low compared to the height of the financial crisis
The incidence of mortgage fraud has seen an upswing, but remains low compared to the height of the financial crisis.
Mortgage Daily's Mortgage Fraud Index, tracking prosecution activity for cases where defendants are accused of deceiving mortgage lenders, has seen a 16% rise from the fourth quarter.
The index found 125 cases of fraud for the first quarter of 2013, up from 105 in the final quarter of 2012. The cases represented $1.4bn in mortgage fraud.
California saw the highest incidence of fraud, overtaking Florida on the state-by-state index.
But in spite of the rise, mortgage fraud is becoming less common.
The index has seen a decline of nearly 25% from the same period of 2012, and has only been lower twice since the second quarter of 2008.
