Costs of Fraud to Reach $2.5 Billion
Filed under: Mortgage Fraud — admin @ 9:36 am
This story appeared in the MBA Tech Newslink on April 1:
New research from TowerGroup, Needham, Mass., predicts that losses from mortgage fraud will reach $2.5 billion in 2008 and that comparable losses could continue for several years to come.
The report, U.S. Mortgage Fraud: Types, Trends and Detection Tools, found that the scope of fraud—by and against lenders—continues to increase, despite renewed efforts by lenders and law enforcement to crack down. The report said lenders will respond to fraud by deploying technology tools to assist in detection and prevention and that their annual spending on such tools will reach several hundreds of millions of dollars in the next few years.
I also just read a blurb about the MBA’s wholly owned subsidiary, Lender Technologies Corp., in the 4/1 regular MBA Newslink putting out a RFP Request for creating a national database to help prevent and detect mortgage fraud.
I find it very interesting that with all the headlines fraught with stories, concerns, expressed need, and reaction towards fraud that lenders and investors seem slow to move on using tools that already exist and are accessible.
Fraud tools and technology exist today. Fraud tools and the corresponding technology existed 3 years ago. The problem is not having the tools to help detect fraud. The problem is that lenders are not using these tools because they are not required by purchasing investors when loans are being bought and sold.
You get what you ask for right? If you tell a little kid they have to wash their hand sbefore giving them a piece of candy, what is the result? 9 times out of 10 you get Clean Hands…at least that’s the way it works in my house.
Stumble it!