The number of suspicious activity reports related to mortgage fraud increased 31 percent in 2007 compared to the year before, to 46,717, with 60 percent of those incidents involving false claims on loan applications such as employment history and claimed income.
That's according to an annual report on mortgage fraud by the Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI), which said Florida and Nevada led the nation in the rate of suspected mortgage fraud cases, followed by Michigan, California, Utah, Georgia, Virginia, Illinois, New York and Minnesota.
Colorado showed the greatest improvement in this year's report, falling from ninth place last year to 17th, and leaving MARI's list of the top-10 states for mortgage fraud for the first time in five years.
I work hard to educate my buyer clients about what has happened in Colorado over the past few years... how we were one of only two states in the country to have no licensing or registration for mortgage brokers until 2007... how builders, lenders and appraisers have worked in tandem to overvalue new construction... and how the Colorado Real Estate Commission (CREC) has brought down the hammer on those who cheated the system over the past few years.
In 2005, Colorado led the nation in foreclosures per capita. In 2006, we did it again. In 2007, we fell to 12th. And this year, the Mortgage Bankers Association says we're 20th in foreclosures and 40th among the 50 states in delinquencies.
There's no question we're trending in the right direction.
