Mortgage fraud

A Texas lawyer pleaded guilty to his role in an elaborate $5 million mortgage fraud scheme involving pricey beach homes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston.

The Federal Savings Bank has been under a spotlight since it was revealed that it provided $16 million in mortgages to onetime Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

While mortgage application defect risk declined overall in March, at the local level it varied considerably, according to First American Financial Corp.'s Loan Application Defect Index.

The bank holding the mortgage on a home owned by a Wichita, Kans. woman accused of embezzling millions from two physician-owned medical businesses and her estranged husband has stated foreclosure proceedings.

WEI Mortgage discovered a data breach from an email phishing scam last fall that may have exposed loan package information and identifying data such as Social Security numbers.

A special agent who used to work for an investigative arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement pleaded guilty to defrauding Freddie Mac and SunTrust Mortgage through a short sale.

There is now less fraud risk associated with adjustable-rate mortgage applications and this will offset some of the higher hazard associated with a purchase market.

Heads of a large real estate investment company with offices in Alaska and California have agreed to pay $3 million in fines for what a federal agency says was a scheme to "bilk" hundreds of investors out of millions of dollars.

Lonnie Brantley Jr. avoided prison by striking a plea deal for lying to federal housing regulators during an investigation into his troubled mortgage lending business.

It is important for lenders to understand in what locations and property types their application fraud risk rests as the market share of purchase loans rises.