Mortgage Fraud

Federal law enforcement estimates that fraud cost mortgage lenders as much as $4.2 billion in 2006 alone. Furthermore, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) – a bureau under the U.S. Department of the Treasury – has reported that the number of mortgage-related suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed has increased nearly 60% per year on average over the past four years.

As one of our core investigative services, Hillard Heintze specializes in uncovering mortgage fraud committed by borrowers, mortgage brokers and lenders and related mortgage service providers.

Uncovering mortgage fraud requires, among other factors, extensive practical knowledge and “hands-on” experience about more than merely where to look, what to ask for and how to validate and substantiate critical, case-winning, legally-valuable information through more than one source.

It also requires understanding – and paying constant attention to – the granular, more nuanced aspects of many interrelated domains. One of the most important, for example, is developing and continually refining the interpersonal approaches used by investigators – a key factor that can result in much higher response rates from individuals targeted by an investigation. A second domain includes the set of technical capabilities that underlie a careful, fact-based approach to data analysis. And a third involves an acute sensitivity to compliance with a complex set of federal and constantly changing state regulatory requirements.

This crucial set of insights – often overlooked and undervalued by prominent mortgage investigation firms favoring a “factory” approach to closing case files as quickly as possible – is one of the reasons that our firm is rapidly emerging as one of this nation’s leading experts on mortgage fraud.

Whether investigating a single case or a large mortgage portfolio, Hillard Heintze offers best-in-class mortgage fraud and verification services including due diligence in investigating misrepresentation or deception in all phases of the mortgage application process.