Before the subprime crisis and the following global economic collapse, mortgage fraud was the topic that was on everyone’s mind – or at least those in the real estate and mortgage industries.
It’s a huge, complex issue – and one that is taking its toll on the mortgage industry as well as real estate markets across the country. The problem is, it’s gone largely unpublicized with everything else that’s been going on. And as this article in MacLean’s point out, not much is being done in Canada to stop it
Here are a few highlights from the article:
*Right now, nobody knows exactly how much mortgage fraud is costing our country every year. Neither the Canadian Bankers Association or CMHC have any numbers regarding this type of fraud – and the banks and credit unions definitely aren’t disclosing them.
*It’s difficult to fix a problem when you don’t know how big it is. It’s also difficult to do when you don’t have a centralized reporting database. After rampant mortgage fraud contributed to the housing collapse in the U.S., the government implemented a system whereby fraud is now closely tracked and monitored by a dedicated component of the FBI.
*In Canada, mortgage fraud is generally dealt with by the commercial crime departments of local police agencies. The RCMP doesn’t have a dedicated national team to look into such matters.
*Jim Murphy of CAAMP believes that mortgage fraud should be treated as a more serious offense with more police resources devoted to it.
