A fraud suspect might not be easy to pick out of a crowd—or from a rap sheet. The average fraud perpetrator has no prior fraud charges or convictions, according to new research by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), a provider of anti-fraud training and education. The offender is commonly between the age of 31-45, and somewhat more likely to be male than female.Read more

Foreclosure Deals, an online provider of foreclosed home sale listings and information industry, has announced that foreclosures increased by four percent nationwide during July and still have fallen in the month of August. The month's total of 325,225 homes represents a 10 percent decrease from foreclosure totals in June 2009, and indicate that the trend of rising bank repossessions is continuing well into the summer.Read more

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has released its 16th Annual Survey of Credit Underwriting Practices and reported that the trend of tightening underwriting standards has continued for the last three years. However, the OCC is beginning to see some easing of standards in response to competition, and a slight improvement in credit market liquidity. “Credit performance remains a concern despite several years of tightening,” said Deputy Comptroller for Credit and Market Risk Dave Wilson.Read more

Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), and for yet another week, fixed-rate mortgages reached record lows, as did the five-year adjustable rate in this survey. The 30-year fixed-rate survey began in 1971, the 15-year began in 1991, and the five-year adjustable in 2005.Read more

Donna Demello has pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. At the time of the offense, Demello worked as an escrow officer at Stewart Title in Milpitas, Calif. Demello, currently of San Jose, Calif., was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 13, 2010. She and five others, including James Delbert McConville, were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349.Read more

Delinquency rates were mixed in the second quarter for commercial/multifamily mortgage investor groups, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Commercial/Multifamily Delinquency Report. The delinquency rate for loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) is the highest since the series began in 1997. Delinquency rates for other groups remain below levels seen in the early 1990s, some by large margins.Read more

The July Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) shows that foreclosure starts are on the rise, with seriously delinquent loans—those six or more months delinquent—dominating new foreclosure actions. The increase in foreclosure starts is consistent with the Department of Treasury's latest report that approximately half of all Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) trial modifications resulted in cancellation, though 45.4 percent of those have resulted in alternative (non-HAMP) modifications.Read more

HOPE NOW, the private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors estimates the industry has completed 1.13 million permanent loan modifications for at-risk homeowners so far in 2010. For the month of July, the data shows the industry completed more than 120,000 proprietary loan modifications for homeowners, which closely matched the number from the previous month. As reported by U.S. Treasury Department, mortgage servicers also completed 36,695 Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modifications in July.Read more

An online poll conducted by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) in August has revealed that as a result of the economic crisis, 51 percent of the 3,201 respondents took steps to reduce their debt. The NFCC’s August Financial Literacy Opinion Index was conducted via the homepage of the NFCC Web site (www.DebtAdvice.org) from Aug. 1-31, 2010 and answered by 3,201 individuals.Read more

U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan has announced an agreement with the nation’s top mortgage lenders to offer selected state and local governments, and non-profit organizations a “first look” or right of first refusal to purchase foreclosed homes before making these properties available to private investors. The National First Look Program is a first-ever public-private partnership agreement between HUD and the National Community Stabilization Trust (Stabilization Trust).Read more