We are Coming - To Your City (Mortgage Fraud, that is)

I like the country duo "Big and Rich." They have a song called "We are Coming to Your City."

Well, there are other people who are coming to our city - if fact, they are already here - and they want to get "Big and Rich" by commiting mortgage fraud. And they want you to be a part of the show.

Mortgage Fraud is, according to the FBI's web site, one of the fasting growing financial crimes in the country. I have spoken to several groups of real estate agents, brokers and loan officers over the past few months. At each speech, there is always somebody who asks "Well, if we don't know about it, how can we get in trouble?" That's just it, real estate agents, brokers and loan officers should know loan fraud when they see it, and they should make sure that neither they, nor anybody associated with them, is in any way involved in a fraudulent transaction.

Another theme that may not be spoken, but is apparent in the looks in some people's eyes is "that could never happent to me."

Well it can happen to you.

I will post two or three artices on mortgage fraud over the next few weeks as time permits. In the mean time, I encourage anyone in the real estate industry who reads this post to click over to http://www.mnrealtor.com/publications/pdfs/TipsRuinYourLife.pdf and read this article. It is a painful and poignant reminder that it can happen to you.