Dishing on Mortgage Fraud

March 17, 2009


As mortgage fraud studies continue an upward trend, some states find themselves bouncing up and down the top 10 list for various reasons. FraudBlogger.com tracked down what publications around the country had to say about their state's ranking in the 2008 Mortgage Asset Research Institute's (MARI) mortgage fraud report.

On the West Coast, Signs on San Diego said California dropped from fourth position in 2007 to No. 8 for 2008. The publication said the descent was attributed to successful efforts by law enforcement. The Oakland Tribune noted the most common type of mortgage fraud in California was application fraud.

Across the country, Maryland took the No. 5 spot. BizJournals shared with its readers that the state had more than doubled its mortgage fraud incidence while the Baltimore Sun pointed out that foreclosure filings in Baltimore were hovering around historic late-1990 levels.

In the Midwest, Illinois and Missouri ranked No. 3 and No. 9, respectively. St. Louis Today said in both states the most common type of fraud involved falsified loan applications. In addition, almost a third of Missouri cases involved appraisal fraud.

Michigan fell in between its Midwest counterparts, falling from third to No. 7 on MARI's top 10 list, as reported by the Detroit Free Press.

To the South, Georgia has had fraud on its mind for half a decade. The last five years they have ranked on MARI's list, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said. Leading the nation in mortgage fraud in 2004 and 2005, it now places at No. 4.

Further south, The Miami Herald said Florida gave up its position as fraud king to drop down to No. 2. BizJournals reported that Florida held the top spot for both 2006 and 2007. And Florida Today pointed out that it is not always good to be No. 1.

On the East Coast, it was the smallest state in the country that found itself with the largest amount of mortgage fraud incidents. Taking the No. 1 spot, the tiny state of Rhode Island had more than three times its share of mortgage fraud as it should have for the number of loans originated there, according to The Providence Journal.

No, it is not always good to be No. 1.

View complete details on the National MARI results at MortgageDaily.com