Suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding foreclosure rescue scams continued to grow in the first half of 2012, even as the total number of SARs indicating mortgage loan fraud (MLF) declined, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has announced in its latest Mortgage Loan Fraud Update. This update to FinCEN's prior MLF reports looks at SAR filings from April through June 2012 (2012 Q2).Click to continue

In the wake of recent studies that mortgage fraud in the United States continues to rise, the Appraisal Institute has encouraged lenders and consumers to work with valuation professionals who hold competence and ethics in the highest regard. Of course, fraud often involves multiple individuals, and no one segment of industry professionals alone can combat such activity.Click to continue

As a new anti-money laundering (AML) law went into effect in the United States on Aug. 13, Comergence has taken the lead in helping lenders manage their mortgage lender's compliance.Click to continue

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, recently finalized regulations (Final Rule) requiring non-bank Residential Mortgage Lenders and Originators (RMLOs) to establish an Anti-Money Laundering Program (AML Program) and file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), as FinCEN requires of other types of financial institutions.¹Click to continue

Pressing forward in its efforts to address a wide range of criminal risks, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released its first targeted study analyzing reports indicating suspicious activities involving the real estate title and escrow industry. The study identified thousands of instances where financial institutions, particularly banks and Money Services Businesses (MSBs), filed suspicious activity reports (SARs) involving title and escrow companies, often in connection with mortgage fraud.Click to continue

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released its First Quarter 2012 Update of mortgage loan fraud suspicious activity reports (MLF SARs) that shows California, Nevada, and Florida leading the nation in the number of MLF SAR subjects per capita. Of the 50 most populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) ranked by the number of MLF SAR subjects reported, the top nine are MSAs located in California, Nevada, and Florida, with the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana of California area ranked first in the nation.Click to continue

Responding to a new study indicating that mortgage fraud in the U.S.Click to continue

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released its full-year 2011 update of mortgage loan fraud reported suspicious activity reports (MLF SARs) that shows financial institutions submitted 92,028 MLF SARs last year, a 31 percent increase over the 70,472 submitted in 2010. The increase can primarily be attributable to mortgage repurchase demands. Financial institutions submitted 17,050 MLF SARs in the 2011 fourth quarter, a nine percent decrease in filings over the same period in 2010 when financial institutions filed 18,759 MLF SARs.Click to continue

A new era in filing requirements is about to begin.Click to continue

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCen) released its Third Quarter 2011 Update of mortgage loan fraud suspicious activity reports (MLF SARs) that shows financial institutions filed 19,934 MLF SARs in the third quarter of 2011 up from 16,567 filed in the same quarter of 2010. The report also found that 5,728 MLF SARs filed in the third quarter, 29 percent of the total, reported activity that occurred between October 2009 and September 2011. Some of the types of suspicious activity reported included:

►Some form of loan workout or debt elimination attempt;Click to continue