Mortgage Fraud on the Rise, Purchase Applications Vulnerable; Don’t Fear The Taper

Mortgage Fraud on the Rise, Purchase Applications Vulnerable; Don’t Fear The Taper

There was a big jump in the incidence of mortgage fraud over the course of the last year. CoreLogic's annual report for the second quarter of 2021 reports that one in 120 mortgage applications (0.83 percent) submitted during that period showed indications of at least one of six types of fraud. This is up 37.2 percent from the prior 12-month period. Fraud was most prevalent in purchase mortgage applications, one occurrence in every 90 applications, and a 40 percent year-over-year increase. Fraud was indicated in one in every 169 refinance applications, up 19.4 percent on an annual basis. The company said that the increase in incidents, while appearing drastic, occurred against the second quarter of 2020 which was the lowest index point in the 11 years CoreLogic has collected the data. At that