DALLAS — (Sept. 16, 2009) /PRNewswire/ U.S. mortgage fraud cases mostly held steady during the latest quarter, according to the FraudBlogger.com Index — a measure of active cases. But activity was up nearly 600% in New York to the highest of any state.
During the second quarter, the FraudBlogger.com Index declined 7% from the first quarter to 1323. The index was higher than 1230 a year earlier.
The index is published by MortgageDaily.com based on mortgage fraud cases tracked at FraudBlogger.com.
The dollar volume of mortgage fraud cases tracked during the second quarter was $1.6 billion, higher than $1.5 billion in the prior period but lower than $1.7 billion a year earlier.
| Period | U.S. Index | Dollar Amount |
| Q2 2009 | 1323 | $1,609,569,347 |
| Q1 2009 | 1427 | $1,528,763,071 |
| Q2 2008 | 1230 | $1,666,146,000 |
“This is the second straight quarter that the fraud index declined,” explained MortgageDaily.com Publisher Sam Garcia. “While $1.6 billion is a huge number, we’re not seeing the kind of growth we saw from 2006 to 2008.”
New York’s 333 index was the highest of any state. The Empire State’s index jumped 566% from the previous quarter.
Florida followed with a 130 index, 7% lower than in the first quarter. No. 3 California’s 120 index was 179% higher.
Massachusetts was noteworthy because its index was up 233% from the first quarter.
|
State
|
Q2 2009
Index |
| New York | 333 |
| California | 120 |
| Florida | 130 |
| Ohio | 83 |
| Pennsylvania | 57 |
By the dollar amount of active mortgage fraud, Florida’s $285 million was highest and up 6% from the first quarter. California’s $258 million placed it in the No. 2 spot — though that was 655% higher than the prior period. New York’s $234 million was up 130%.
Illinois was the only other state to top $100 million, up nearly 200% to $102 million.
“Three massive mortgage fraud cases in Florida, New York and California accounted for nearly $275 million in fraudulent loans,” Mr. Garcia added.
