Guide to Real Estate Fraud

Avoiding deception

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One time or another you get into business deals involving real estate. To protect you from rampant scams, you should always be aware and quick witted. Remember that scammers are wily people. They have a way with people. They have that acumen to charm people.

The No. 1 rule to keep in mind is to keep away from real estate transactions which are not yours. If it is not your house that is being sold, keep out. Or if it is not you who is buying the house, stay away. Bear in mind too, that if you feel you are not comfortable with certain terms and conditions of the contract or transaction, tell your lender or lawyer right away. Remember that holding your peace is tantamount to acceptance and conformity. And better still – withdraw from the deal. Period.

Housing Equity and Home Renovation Fraud

This one is growing at a phenomenal rate. Be very careful when using your home or your home equity as security for a home improvement loan.

Fast talking salespeople offer to refinance your home at a lower interest rate to provide cash to the homeowner, explaining the cash can be used to pay for home improvements or to pay off bills.

Later, the homeowner discovers that they signed a contract that contains terms in contrast to the originally promised terms. This results in the loss of equity in the victim’s home, and also they have signed a mortgage in which they have incurred considerably higher interest rates. The homeowner is now faced with a higher mortgage payment, one that they may not be able to afford.

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The Flipper Fraud

This occurs when someone buys a property in bad shape for a cheap price. Say $50,000. They make some cosmetic repairs spending say $1,000 and then sell it at an inflated price say $80,000 to a buyer who puts little or no money down.

The seller takes a mortgage back for a large amount, say $78,000, and gets a phony appraisal based on the inflated sales price.

You are then offered the mortgage at a discount at what looks like an attractive yield.

Soon afterwards the buyer stops making payments and moves out. Leaving you with a trashed house.

The key to this fraud is the inflated appraisal. Remember that appraising is an art not an exact science. Nonetheless an appraisal should be within 10% of the true value of the property.

This fraud can be hard to spot. Many legitimate investors DO buy properties for much less than their true value and are able to genuinely sell them for a higher price.

• The key is to check out the comparable properties on the appraisal form and satisfy yourself that they are truly comparable.
• Try to specify the appraiser and not use one provided by the investor.
• Check the credit rating of the new borrower. Especially if they have only put down a small down payment.
• Be wary of mortgages for sale that have not been aged, that is, a number of payments made on them.

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Protect Yourself

An important step in protecting yourself from real estate fraud is safeguarding personal information.

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Mortgage Fraud

There are 2 type of mortgage fraud.

• Fraud to get a property
• Fraud to make a profit

The first is were someone lies about facts to get a loan to buy a property.
The second is where someone lies about facts to make a profit.

Fraud is committed by falsifications in the following ways:

1. Loan application fraud. Where an applicant lies about their income or their job. Perhaps the down payment they are making was given to them by the person selling them the home and the value of the home inflated to cover it.

2. Exaggerated appraisals. Appraisal is an art, not a science. Who can really be sure just how much a better view, or a swimming pool (for example) adds to the value of the property? The buyer wants the house, the seller wants to sell the house, the real estate broker wants to make the commission, the mortgage broker wants to make a commission. There is a lot of pressure on that appraiser to massage the figures a little to create a value that makes all these people happy.

Not to mention the possibility that a crooked appraiser could be in league with a crooked seller or borrower to give appraisals that are grossly exaggerated.

3. Falsified or fake credit reports. It’s really not that hard to use modern technology to “clean up” a credit report by copying it and “losing” some bad stuff.

4. False income. Applications can give the phone number, not of the company where the person supposedly works, but of a friend. The answer, look up the phone number of the employer in the white pages. Listen out for tell tale sounds, like children in the background in a supposed office setting.

5. Forged tax returns. Easy enough to fake using products like TurboTax ® etc. The answer, ask the borrower to sign Form 4506 and get a copy direct from the IRS. Click here for a copy for form 4506.

6. Fake title insurance.

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FBI update on mortgage fraud

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Federal Bureau Investigation Director Robert S. Mueller III recently talked about the increase in corporate fraud. According to Mueller, FBI’s corporate fraud cases have reached a high mark of 80 % from 2003 to present. Last year alone, there were about 490 convicted corporate and securities fraud perpetrators.

Mueller claimed there will be more serious situations of frauds because of the “ripple effect of the sub-prime crisis and its impact on the credit market”. At the moment 19 companies had already been disclosed to be involved in corporate fraud activities connected to the sub-primed lending crisis. Worse, the FBI is currently looking into more than 1,300 mortgage fraud matters.

Appraisal fraud

Appraisal fraud. Appraisal fraud is a part of most mortgage fraud scams. A dishonest appraiser inflates the value of the property. When the seller gets the check at the closing for a bogus amount, he pays off the appraiser and anyone else involved in the scam. Usually, the borrower doesn’t make any payments and the house goes to foreclosure.

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Things to do To Stop Real Estate Fraud

Real Estate Fraud is occurring much more frequently now than ever before. It is very important as real estate professionals that do business the ethical way that this stops. Below are a few tips to protect yourself if you feel uncomfortable in a transaction.

Document the Situation: Prepare an Amendment to Contract to be signed by all parties.

Disclose Information: Disclose all changes to the funding lender and obtain their written approval.

Verify the HUD-1: Verify that the HUD-1 Settlement Statement accurately reflects the transaction and any rebates, allowances, discounts, etc.

Report: If you suspect fraud report it!

Withdraw: Before you become involved in illegal activity you can withdraw from representation.

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How To Avoid Real Estate Fraud (part 2)

How To Avoid Real Estate Fraud

Other Red Flags

While the above “red flags” are frequently used there are many other indicators that you need to be aware of:

“Rebates” on Sales Price
“Rebates” on Broker’s Fee
Overly Inflated Sales Prices

Land Flips
Commission Based on a Sales Rice
Amended Contract to lower Than What is in Contract
Reflect New Purchaser

Multiple Transactions Between Agreements to be Performed

A “Friendly” Appraiser Affiliated Parties “Outside or After Closing”

The use of Inappropriate Comparables (mixed use vs. commercial zoning, urban vs. rural)

Increased Value as a Result of renovations with High Dollar Soft Costs (architect fees, engineering fees, consulting fees, management fees) vs. Hard Costs

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Foreclosure schemes

Foreclosure schemes. These are particularly evil because they prey on people with big enough financial problems that they’re in danger of losing their home. A homeowner in the early stages of foreclosure may be contacted by a fraudster who says he can help the homeowner get rid of his debt and save his house for an upfront fee, which the fraudster takes and then disappears. In another scheme, a homeowner is approached by a con artist who offers to help them refinance the loan. “They sign all these documents and find out later that they actually sold the house — to the fraudster. Then they face eviction.

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