Mortgage Fraud in New Jersey - Star Ledger Report

The Sunday, June 16th issue of the NJ Star Ledger had a report exposing the increase of mortgage fraud in the state of New Jersey. According to the article NJ has seen the biggest increase in mortgage fraud in the US. See the report here. With the increase in property values and inefficiencies in the oversight agencies mortgage fraud has become a very lucrative business in NJ (and many other states). In fact many drug dealers and other criminals are finding mortgage fraud to be an easier way to make money than selling drugs. In some cases the home buyer particpates in the fraud but in many cases they are unaware of what is happening and end up paying the ultimate price. One of the reasons for this is because the buyers rely on their real estate agent or mortgage lender to refer title companies to their clients. This can lead to unscrupulous groups sending their clients to title companies involved in their mortgage fraud scams.
It may not make up a huge portion of the mortgage fraud going on but shopping for your own title insurance can offer one more layer of protection for consumers.