Mortgage Fraud Risk Reaches New Low

Feb 28, 2020

The frequency of defects, fraudulence and misrepresentation in the information submitted in mortgage loan applications during January was down by three percent compared with December and down 28.6 percent from one year earlier, according to the latest Loan Application Defect Index data from First American Financial Corp. January’s Index was the lowest level since First American began tracking this data in 2011.

During January, the Defect Index for purchase transactions remained the same compared with the previous month and was down by 17.9 percent compared with one year earlier. The Defect Index for refinance transactions decreased by 5.2 percent from December and plummeted by 33.7 percent from January 2019.

“Overall defect risk, as measured by our Loan Application Defect Index, has largely trended down since early 2019 with a few exceptions,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American, who credited “the increasing share of less risky refinance transactions for the low levels of defect and fraud risk.”

About the author

Phil Hall

Link copied

Published

Feb 28, 2020

Analysis and Data

Home Sellers' Q1 Profit Margins Declined Quarterly, Annually

ATTOM reported decrease of 55.3% in the first quarter – the smallest level in more than two years.

ATTOM released its Q1 2024 U.S. Home Sales Report, revealing that profit margins for U.S. home sellers on median-priced single-family home and condo sales in the United States decreased to 55.3% in the first quarter – the smallest level in more than two years. The decline...

Regulation and Compliance

Mortgage Servicers Added To Junk-Fee Naughty List

New release from CFPB lays out areas of improvement, and concern, for mortgage servicers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today published new supervisory highlights describing the regulator's recent actions to combat junk fees charged by mortgage servicers, as well as other illegal practices. The CFPB has also announced that it is working to addre...