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Yes, It Is Happening

A report from NBC DFW 5 in Texas. “This December marks ten years since the housing market crash. And now, mortgage fraud is ticking up nationally making some in the housing industry worry we could be heading in the wrong direction. ‘Somebody took me all the way to the night before closing and didn’t end up closing on that property and had lied about everything,’ said Keller Williams’ realtor Caralee Gurney. ‘Lied about their job, lied about where they were living.'”

“Some buyers are so eager to get into a house, at times out of their budget, they are willing to lie. When comparing the fraud specifically seen among subprime lenders in the years leading up to the crash of 2008 and the kind of fraud they are witnessing now, Gurney said, ‘the fraud today is more about the buyers being the fraudulent people.'”

“Eager buyers are sometimes willing to lie about their income or the job in order to qualify for a larger home loan, research has found. Others will keep their job only until the bank or lender verifies five days before the closing day, as is law in Texas.”

“‘And then they quit the next day,’ said Gurney. ‘Again, not being truthful about having that job and actually being able to qualify for the loan.'”

“‘Yes, it is happening,’ said Gayln Ziegler, industry analyst with Opendoor brokerage firm in Dallas. Ziegler found mortgage fraud is up nationally about 22 percent year over year, mostly in states like New York and California. ‘News like this always makes me a little concerned because this is not something you want to see happen,’ she said.”

“So who’s committing mortgage fraud? Typically it is buyers who are self-employed or those from out of state who are in a competitive sellers’ market, according to both women.”

“What’s also concerning, she says, is that the onus is supposed to be on lenders. ‘There’s more competition and a lot of those people [lenders] work on commission so they might be a little more eager to push something through that they might not have a couple years ago,’ said Ziegler.”

From Newswatch 12 in Oregon. “Windermere Real Estate’s Chief Economist Matthew Bardner stopped by Medford. He spoke about Medford’s housing market and what is expected. He says the country is really having the same housing issues right now. The West Coast and East Coast are especially struggling with young adults buying their first homes, because they just can’t afford them.”

“Houses are being built that millennials can’t afford or even want and that’s a concern he says again is across the whole country. Builders are not building to that age demographic and he says they should be.”

“Newswatch 12’s Leah Thompson asked Matthew if Medford is in a housing crisis because of these reasons and the fact it is so hard for anyone in the area to own a home. He says no.”

“Matthew Gardner says ‘No I don’t. I think if anyone is trying to take the comparisons of now to 2008 is looking at it all wrong. In 2008 the reasons why the bubble burst was an awful lot of speculate investment, but more importantly a lot of people buying homes that quiet frankly shouldn’t of been. They couldn’t afford them, they really couldn’t afford the mortgages.'”

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This Post Has 18 Comments

  1. ‘mortgage fraud is up nationally about 22 percent year over year, mostly in states like New York and California’

    The HBB crow buffet is now serving. All you can eat for those who, well you know who you are.

    ‘Matthew Gardner says ‘No I don’t. I think if anyone is trying to take the comparisons of now to 2008 is looking at it all wrong. In 2008 the reasons why the bubble burst was an awful lot of speculate investment, but more importantly a lot of people buying homes that quiet frankly shouldn’t of been. They couldn’t afford them, they really couldn’t afford the mortgages.’

    1. I am confused. In most major cities that I follow housing appreciation has outpaced wage inflation. Why does this guy think there is so much more affordability these days? It odd that industry “experts” just make up outlandish and obviously wrong statements, and hardly anyone calls them out on it. Instead their lies get published it in the paper as fact, although housing affordability is easily measured and verifiable. I don’t know many people that have been getting 10% or more raises every year for the last 7 years.

      1. One big hard lesson I have learned: For some people, lying is way of life. Some of that group are really good at it.

        1. You ain’t tryin unless your a lion -realtor 1

          If we don’t lie then we die -realtor 2

          Gotta lie to get em to buy -realtor 3

  2. A comment to the last article:

    “Lol. More pandering. For an economist you sure use a lot of deep insight. Always ends with mows when you should sell. Lol. Now that no one is buying!”

  3. Telling your marks, er, clients, that now is always the best time to buy, even when it clearly isn’t, is yet another form of REIC fraud.

  4. ‘What’s also concerning, she says, is that the onus is supposed to be on lenders. ‘There’s more competition and a lot of those people [lenders] work on commission so they might be a little more eager to push something through that they might not have a couple years ago’

    I’ve been told for years this is unpossible. Lenders are being watched like a hawk by Senator Running Deer. Maybe she can’t be in every Quicken office?

  5. Article is “unpossible”, mortgage fraud in the deep blue states of California and New York. Fraud only happens in the red states because they deregulate. If you do not believe me just ask any commentator working for a MSM outlet.

    1. > Fraud only happens in the red states because they deregulate. If you do not believe me just ask any commentator working for a MSM outlet.

      A partial list of regulations enforced by the Federal Reserve before during and after the 2007-2008 housing crash, copied from the book Organized Crime by Thomas Di Lorenzo:

      • Bank holding companies
      • State-chartered banks
      • Foreign branches of member banks
      • Edge and agreement corporations
      • U.S. state-licensed branches, agencies, and representative offices of foreign banks
      • National banks
      • Savings banks
      • Nonbank subsidiaries of bank holding companies
      • Thrift holding companies
      • Financial reporting procedures
      • Accounting policies of banks
      • Business “continuity” in case of economic emergencies
      • Consumer protection laws
      • Securities dealings of banks
      • Information technology used by banks
      • Foreign investment by banks
      • Foreign lending by banks
      • Branch banking
      • Bank mergers and acquisitions
      • Who may own a bank
      • Capital “adequacy standards”
      • Extensions of credit for the purchase of securities
      • Equal opportunity lending
      • Mortgage disclosure information
      • Reserve requirements
      • Electronic funds transfer
      • Interbank liabilities
      • Community Reinvestment Act sub-prime lending demands
      • All international banking operations Consumer leasing
      • Privacy of consumer financial information Payments on demand deposits
      • Fair Credit reporting
      •Transactions between member banks and their affiliates
      • Truth in lending Truth in savings

      1. Two words: Barney Frank. He did more to create the bubble than all the deregulation. It was in fact federal mandates which required more bank loans in previous red lined minority areas which was the primary cause of the bubble. I am still trying to figure out how selling minorities houses that they cannot afford was helping them but Barney Frank resisted any efforts to reign in the GSEs. Thus, the big banks saw the opportunity to lend with the Feds taking the real risks.

      2. Yet the most important regulations are nowhere to be found:

        1) Require 20% down
        2) Limit housing payment to 30% of income
        3) Mortgages can only be 3x annual income

        Of course, if such regulations were to actually come into effect, the buyer pool would vanish and prices would plunge. And then housing would be affordable again.

    1. The word is out that pantyfa is directing traffic in downtown Portland and if they don’t like the cut of your jib, you and your vehicle may get hammered, while the police stand and watch. That could have a little something to do with cratering.

      Of course, they may just scream and spit at you, if they’re in a good mood.

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