Housing Scams More Than Double

The FBI expects even more this year, particularly with foreclosure scams that prey on home owners desperate to save their homes.
By: Donna Leinwand: REALTOR® Magazine
According to the FBI, the agency took on 1,210 new cases of mortgage fraud during the last fiscal year — nearly three times the caseload for 2003.

The agency saw its conviction rate more than double to 260 in 2007, from 123 in fiscal 2006. Financial crimes section chief Sharon Ormsby predicts the number will likely rise even further this year.

That is, in part, because the FBI expects more foreclosure scams to emerge as an increasing number of home owners caught up in the subprime loan fiasco resort to desperate measures to try and save their homes.

Ormsby also says more new fraud cases may be tied to reverse mortgages, which allow senior home owners to borrow against their equity.