WASHINGTON,
The report, which sites Florida as topping the MARI Fraud Index list for
the second consecutive year and Nevada climbing to the No. 2 ranking, was
released during MBA's annual National Fraud Issues Conference in
"The current market conditions, compounded by mortgage fraud, are having a
detrimental impact on our entire national economy," said
According to the Mortgage Fraud Case Report, "The conditions in the mortgage industry for the last half of 2007 made the year one for the record books." Overall, 2007 marked the lowest volume of mortgage loan originations since 2002, the highest number of delinquencies and foreclosures, rapid and near complete shutdown of the non-conforming secondary market and hundreds of announced closures of mortgage originators.
"Because fraud is persistent, it is imperative for the mortgage industry to collaborate in its efforts to combat mortgage fraud against lenders," said Merle D. Sharick, ChoicePoint Vice President and MARI's National Manager of Business Development. "MARI will continue its efforts to disseminate current data for use by MBA's members through our annual fraud report."
Highlights in the Mortgage Fraud Case Report include: -- In addition to Florida and Nevada, the remainder of this year's top ten (in order): Michigan, California, Utah, Georgia, Virginia, Illinois, New York and Minnesota; -- Colorado showed the greatest improvement from prior years' rankings, dropping out of the top ten for the first time in five years; -- The most common types of fraud found in 2007 originations continue to be in the areas of employment history and claimed income; and -- The continuing unsettled state of the mortgage market as a whole does not bode well for any improvement in avoiding fraud in the coming year.
ChoicePoint provides MBA members the annual case reports on mortgage fraud as well as discounted fees to participate in MARI's Mortgage Industry Data Exchange (MIDEX(R)) database. The MIDEX database allows mortgage lenders, insurers and agencies to exchange information about companies and professionals that have been involved in loan transactions containing alleged fraud or material misrepresentations.
A MARI Loan Fraud Alert Service (LFAS), a new industry-contributed mortgage loan process management database, enables lenders and investors to identify potential application risk, patterns of fraud and hidden relationships among parties involved in mortgage transactions. MIDEX and LFAS are key components of ChoicePoint's Identity Risk Management (IRM) solutions for the mortgage industry. ChoicePoint's IRM solutions help mitigate fraud by allowing organizations to better know their customers, employees and vendors.
The Mortgage Fraud Case Report is available both on the MBA Web site, http://www.mortgagebankers.org and MARI's Web site, http://www.marisolutions.com/resources-news/reports.asp.
About the Mortgage Bankers Association
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry that employs more than 370,000 people in virtually every community in the country. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the association works to ensure the continued strength of the nation's residential and commercial real estate markets; to expand homeownership and extend access to affordable housing to all Americans. MBA promotes fair and ethical lending practices and fosters professional excellence among real estate finance employees through a wide range of educational programs and a variety of publications. Its membership of over 2,400 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field. For additional information, visit MBA's Web site: http://www.mortgagebankers.org.
About Mortgage Asset Research Institute
The Mortgage Asset Research Institute, LLC (MARI) is a premier provider of
mortgage fraud prevention solutions and information services to the mortgage
and financial services industries. MARI's 600+ subscribers represent the
entities involved in over 80% of the wholesale mortgages originated in the
About ChoicePoint
ChoicePoint (NYSE: CPS) provides businesses, government agencies and non- profit organizations with technology, software, information and marketing services to help manage economic risks and identify business opportunities. Consumers have free access to the reports we create at http://www.ChoiceTrust.com. Learn what we do to protect consumer privacy by visiting http://www.PrivacyatChoicePoint.com and, for more information on our company, go to http://www.ChoicePoint.com.
SOURCE ChoicePoint; MARI