Lenders Enjoying Decline in Mortgage Application Fraud

Mortgage fraud risk continues to decline, which is good news for borrowers and lenders alike.  With CoreLogic reporting that residential fraud risk among U.S. mortgage applications dropped 5.6 percent year-over-year between the second quarter of 2012 and the second quarter of 2013.

Core Logic, a leading residential property information, services and analytics provider, shed light on the current situation with its Mortgage Fraud Report, which registered the 5.6 percent drop and equaling a decline from $5.5 billion to $5.3 billion over that year-long span.

“Since the beginning of 2012, mortgage application fraud risk has totaled more than $30 billion nationally,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.  “While the propensity toward application fraud risk has declined based on our index, as the housing market recovers, the volume of mortgage applications is rising and increasing the total amount of fraudulent mortgage loan application dollars.”

Lenders constantly have to be on the lookout for mortgage application fraud, but it is also up to the potential borrower to be as honest and straight forward as possible when reporting their income, debt and other assets.

So as a prospective borrower, do you have to worry about fraud trends affecting your financing status?  Hopefully not!  The good news is the numbers are trending downward, and if you are honest and upfront with the information your potential lender asks of you then you will have nothing to worry about.  While you’re at it, having a satisfactory credit score and sufficient income/assets to qualify goes a long way to securing an affordable rate mortgage both in Texas and elsewhere in the United States.

Although long-term mortgage rates were ticking upward through most of the summer, they have since been trending downward ever-so-slightly, and some economists predict they will continue to drop throughout the remainder of the year, a direction which should further encourage home sales through the typically slower fall/winter seasons.

If you’d like to learn more about Dallas mortgages and home loan opportunities, contact me today.  I can help you get started on the path to pre-approval.