An incident at American Financial Resources compromised the information of 216,645 borrowers, the company acknowledged.

But current economic and geopolitical tensions and the shift to a purchase market means lenders should remain vigilant, Ace Quality Management warned.

Lakeview Loan Servicing is facing eight class action lawsuits from borrowers who claim the company was negligent in protecting their information, including Social Security numbers.

The property owner obtained bogus loans on a portfolio spanning 2,500 apartments across more than 70 multifamily properties, prosecutors said.

The scheme highlights a risk that could grow as distressed borrowers exit forbearance.

The year-over-year increase in reports was the largest in several years for both lending/finance companies and government-sponsored enterprises, according to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Dollar losses from business email compromise attacks, many of which target real estate transactions, grew to $2.4 billion last year from $1.8 billion in 2020, a Federal Bureau of Investigations report found.

A California man and his unnamed co-conspirator netted a total of at least $5 million from thousands of homeowners, federal prosecutors said.

The fugitive and five others, including a Realtor, were indicted this month on 25 counts for lying to obtain lines of credit and properties for themselves and clients.

Industry leaders identified mobile device usage and consumer-granted third-party access to data as emerging risks.

A rise in reverse occupancy fraud is contributing to the uptick, a CoreLogic report found.

Danny Yen, owner of Real Estate Educational Services, received a permanent ban on conducting future related training and agreed to testify in any legal proceedings against originators he assisted.

The defendants and an attorney convinced homeowners to hand over their properties while the pair filed bogus claims to keep creditors’ foreclosures at bay.

The borrower sent bogus documents to a settlement company claiming a $111K lien was satisfied to complete a sale.

Eleven other defendants participated in the elaborate scam, which led to approval of unqualified buyers and numerous defaults of FHA-backed mortgages.

The settlement is a reminder that officials who oversee the loan officer licensing system do actively police the fulfillment of professional requirements by loan officers.

The crime highlights the importance of ensuring the integrity of documentation used by lenders to verify loan information at a time when defect risk is rising.

Error findings related to income and employment reached a high point since Aces Quality Management started its report in 2016.

The federal sentencing of the onetime president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, Ron McCord, follows a guilty plea and admissions related to improprieties in warehouse lending and servicing arrangements.

Application for loans to buy a home are a quarter more likely to contain misrepresentations than other loans in the market, CoreLogic said.