Mortgage Fraud

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that many independent studies have shown that the majority of consumers targeted by predatory lenders are minorities or in a lower income bracket: Fraud seems to target those who can least afford to survive it. The author points out perhaps it is because fraud is so pandemic in the industry today that less is being done to combat fraud than one might expect. Mortgage companies frequently fail to report fraud, and when they do, it is frequently put on hold by law enforcement. The paper states that change will only come when systematic changes are made to the structure of the system. Dishonest lending and borrowing have always plagued humankind, so it would be overly optimistic to hope for a solution. Extensive end-note information.

Table of Contents
The Dead Pledge Heritage: Are Mortgages Inherently Susceptible to Dishonesty?
The New Big Deal: Modern Mortgages and the Road to Fraud
How Loans Are Open for Fraud
How Fraud Works In the Real (Financial) World
Regulations: Attempts, Concerns, and Failures
Conclusions

From the Paper:

"Not incidentally, though, this government move was at least partly in response to a significant issue in America with predatory lending. Prior to the founding of the FHA, the American mortgage industry had already gotten its start. "And, it wasn't banks ...it was insurance companies. These daring insurance companies did it, not in the interest of making money through fees and interest charges, but in the hopes of gaining ownership of properties if the borrower failed to make the payments on it.... the repayment schedule was spread over three to five years and ended with a balloon payment.". It was the FHA that started the amortization of loans so that indebtedness could decrease over time. They also instituted practices of lending based on ability to repay the loan, judging the quality of the property involved before making the loan, and expanded loan terms so that they could be feasibly repaid (instituting seven, fifteen, and thirty year loans). The government pushed extensively in this years to create fair, non-predatory lending situations."

More papers on Mortgage Fraud:

• Research Paper # 116392 : "Mortgage Fraud"
• Analytical Essay # 130595 : "Mortgage Fraud"
• Term Paper # 100364 : "Mortgage Fraud"

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