Will the FHFA IG Go After ‘Strategic Defaulters’?

Consumers who attempt to pull off a ‘strategic default’ may have to deal with the Feds. No, not the FBI.  National Mortgage News’ Lew Sichelman reports in an upcoming column that the Office of the Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency has strategic defaulters on its ‘to do’ list.  (A strategic defaulter is an underwater mortgagor who has faithfully paid his mortgage, but who decides to go delinquent because he believes there is a financial advantage in doing so – perhaps to obtain a loan modification.) Meanwhile, the IG’s office, according to a recent presentation, has several investigative reports in the works including one that will assess Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s adherence to mortgage underwriting standards. Stay tuned.