Lenders are using a variety of tools to prevent mortgage fraud
Borrowers considering inflating their income, even just a tad, checking the box to indicate they plan to live in the home when they’re not, or exaggerating their job description better think twice. Lenders are turning to websites and other tools to help nab fraudulent borrowers and perjurers looking to bilk lenders out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Making sense of the story

• During the height of the market, borrowers could get away with lying about their income, debt obligations, and the like to obtain financing.  But not anymore.  According to a representative from the Mortgage Bankers Association, there are “more fraud checks than ever, and it’s on every loan, not just a sample.”

• More important, perhaps, the focus now is on preventing fraud rather than dealing with it after the fact.

• Sometimes the fraud check is as simple as a quick call to the customer right before the loan is closed to verify information supplied on the loan application.  Such a call to an otherwise unsuspecting borrower can sometimes uncover a lie perpetrated by a corrupt loan officer who’s in it for the commission – or more.

• In other cases, lenders are using sophisticated databanks to spot fraudsters.  One website, for example, provides salary data on various industry positions so the lender can determine if the borrower is overstating his income.

• Another site provides historical wage data, and yet another checks the information supplied by self-employed borrowers, including whether the borrower’s company exists, who the principals are, the number of employees, and the annual revenue.

• There are also sites that will tell lenders where there are judgments against the borrower or liens against other properties the borrower might own.

Read More from Los Angeles Times Real Estate

Stockton Real Estate – Dave Thurman

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C.A.R. Newsline is a weekly e-newsletter covering vital industry information including economic reports, legislative developments, and new real estate products and service.

Asking prices on for-sale homes rose 0.5 percent in April compared with March on seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest report by Trulia’s Price Monitor. Together with increases in March and February, asking prices in April rose nationally 1.9 percent quarter over quarter, seasonally adjusted.

Within the largest metro areas, asking prices rose year on year in some neighborhoods, but fell in others. Rents, however, rose in nearly all parts of these major metropolitan areas.

In Los Angeles, asking prices increased only in the downtown area. Prices fell elsewhere throughout the region, most of all in Long Beach, where rents also fell.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, prices rose most in San Francisco and fell furthest in Alameda County.

Dave Thurman Real Estate

Here is an interesting story I found in my email inbox recently.  I hope you enjoy it! Hey Investors! Check out the latest from ForeclosureRadar…

Foreclosure Sales Continue to Plummet

For the second month in a row we’ve seen a dramatic drop in the number of properties sold at foreclosure, or “trustee sale”, auctions. Foreclosure sales in California are down 16.7 percent from February to March 2012 and down 53.1 percent from March a year ago. A total of 86,487 sales were scheduled to occur in California, but of those 80.0 percent postponed, and 10.6 percent were cancelled, leaving just 8,392 that were actually sold. Third parties, typically investors, purchased a record 38.6% of the properties that did sell in California.

Foreclosure starts rose in most states, with the largest increases occurring in Washington, California and Nevada. This, at least temporarily, reverses a downward trend, but even with the increase the volume of new foreclosures remains significantly down year-over-year in all the states we cover.

The increase in foreclosure starts is especially interesting in Nevada. Bank foreclosures came to an almost complete halt there after the passage of Assembly Bill 284, which made significant changes to Nevada’s foreclosure laws. The increase this month is directly attributable to new foreclosure starts by Fannie Mae, which is one of very few lenders to have filed any new foreclosures in Nevada since September 2011. Even with the increase by Fannie Mae it is still homeowner associations that are initiating the vast majority of foreclosures in Nevada.

ForeclosureRadar

Has the Market Stabilized?

Stockton Real Estate – Dave Thurman

Realty World – Dave Thurman

Stockton Real Estate · Homes for Sale · REALTOR® Since 1976

On Saturday, January 14, 2012 from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM, you are invited to our Open Office at 2652 East Main Street in Stockton. If you are looking for residential, commercial, or investment properties in this area, don’t miss this opportunity to visit and meet with Dave Thurman, REALTOR®. Appointments are not necessary!

• Pick up a free list of homes!
• Foreclosure auction dates & information.
• Get pre-qualified for a home loan.
• Ask questions about foreclosures and short sales.
• Discuss agency and disclosure requirements.
• Become a member & start up your own Shaklee business
• First-time buyers and investors are welcome.

For Sale – Open Sundays! $275,000

Raymus Built Home in Linden! Spacious single story 3 bedroom 2 bath on 70×115 lot. Fully landscaped front and back, lots of concrete with RV/boat parking and gazebo with a Catalina Spa. Open living room, formal dining room and kitchen with 10′ high ceilings, brick gas fireplace, built-in book cases on ceramic tile flooring. Master suite was extended with double sinks and walk-in closet. Also includes private office/den, inside laundry and 2-Car garage. Owner is licensed real estate broker. Virtual Tour

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Home prices continued to sink in the third quarter, falling to levels not seen since early 2003.

Home prices dropped 3.9% year-over-year during the three months ended Sept. 30, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index. On a quarterly basis, prices were slightly higher, squeezing out a 0.1% gain. [Read More]

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• Coming up: September Case-Shiller home price index
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• Text:S&P/Case-Shiller: Sep Home Prices -0.6% Unadj; -3.6% y/y
• Summary Box: Home prices down in most US cities
• Atlanta experiences largest plunge in home price index
• Here Comes The September Case-Shiller Home Price Index…
• Home prices in Chicago area slide – Chicago Sun-Times
• Home Prices Decline
• FHFA home-price index climbs 0.9% in September

The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) recently announced that it has shut down 85 alleged online mortgage modification scams that prey on vulnerable homeowners through Web banners and other Web advertisements.

SIGTARP investigates mortgage modification schemes in which companies charge struggling homeowners a fee in exchange for false promises of lowering the homeowner’s mortgage through TARP’s housing program known as the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Google, in cooperation with an ongoing criminal SIGTARP investigation of these scams, has suspended advertising relationships with more than 500 Internet advertisers and agents associated with the 85 alleged online mortgage fraud schemes and related deceptive advertising.
Fast Facts
Calif. median home price: October 2011: $278,060 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. highest median home price by region/county October  2011: Marin: $781,250 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. lowest median home price by region/county October 2011: Lake County: $96,500 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. Pending Home Sales Index: October 2011: 122., an increase of 3.1 percent compared with a prior year.

Calif. Traditional Housing Affordability Index: Third quarter 2011: 52 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates: Week ending 11/17/2011 30-yr. fixed: 4.0% fees/points: 0.7% 15-yr. fixed: 3.31 fees/points: 0.7% 1-yr. adjustable: 2.98% Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)

Number of Homes for Sale vs. Sold vs. Pending

September 2010 there were 1326 homes for sale in Stockton, California in comparison to September 2011 where there was a decrease to 1076 homes for sale. The number of homes sold in September 2010  was 384 and in September 2011 the number of homes sold increased to 402. In September 2010 there were 422 pending sales which increased to 479 in September 2011.

More graphs and charts from our MLS and  TrendVision Reports

Realty World – Dave Thurman

On Saturday, October 29, 2011 from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM, you are invited to our Open Office at 2652 East Main Street in Stockton. If you are looking for residential, commercial, or investment properties in this area, don’t miss this opportunity to visit and meet with Dave Thurman, REALTOR®. Appointments are not necessary!

• Pick up a free list of homes!
• Foreclosure auction dates & information.
• Get pre-qualified for a home loan.
• Ask questions about foreclosures and short sales.
• Discuss agency and disclosure requirements.
• Become a member & start up your own Shaklee business
• First-time buyers and investors are welcome.