Mortgage Fraud Schemes Evolving As Housing Market Changes, Experts Warn

LOS ANGELES—Mortgage fraud schemes continue to “morph” as circumstances in the nation’s housing market change, and as law enforcement efforts to stop such schemes intensify, federal and state officials told a Sept. 30 mortgage fraud summit.

From loan origination scams, to crooked foreclosure “rescue” plans, bankruptcy and short-sale frauds, and reverse-mortgage schemes, criminal individuals have taken advantage of the collapse of the housing market, and are likely to be active for some time, a number of experts predicted.

The warning came as representatives of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, established by President Obama in November 2009, met in Los ...