MBA and FBI promote Mortgage Fraud Warning NoticeMortgagePress.comgrowing problem, costing lenders billions, federal crime, any false statement regarding income, assets, debt or matters of identification
John M. Robbins, CMB, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA),
joined Karen E. Spangenberg, Financial Crimes Section chief for the
FBI, to announce and sign a
memorandum of agreement for the two organizations to work together
to promote the FBI's Mortgage Fraud Warning Notice.
"Fraud against lenders is a growing problem that hurts everyone
throughout the mortgage process from the lenders themselves,
through the brokers and appraisers, to the consumers and the
communities we invest in," Robbins said. "Fraud is costing lenders
billions of dollars each year, and I want to thank the officials at
the FBI for joining us in this partnership to give us another tool
in the fight to stop fraud against mortgage lenders."
The notice states that it is a federal crime for any person to
make any false statement regarding income, assets, debt or matters
of identification or to willfully overvalue any land or property in
an effort to influence the action of a financial institution. The
notice reminds the reader that fraud is investigated by the FBI and
is punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison, a $1 million
fine or both.
Under the memorandum of agreement, MBA and the FBI will foster
use of the notice by:
-Making it available to mortgage lenders so they may voluntarily
post it on their Web sites as a means to educate consumers and
mortgage professionals of the penalties and consequences of fraud
against mortgage lenders;
-MBA making the notice available on its own Web site and through
the industry conferences it hosts;
-MBA promoting the notice through its residential committee
structure; and
-The FBI pre-approving certain minor variations of the notice.
For more information, visit www.mbaa.org.
