Interthinx, Inc., a subsidiary of First American Financial Corporation
(NYSE: FAF) and a leading provider of comprehensive risk mitigation
solutions for the financial services industry, released its quarterly
interactive Mortgage Fraud Risk Report, citing the National
Mortgage Fraud Risk Index is 101 for Q4 2014—up 3 percent from the last
quarter, and is unchanged from one year ago.
Mortgage Fraud Risk Report highlights for Q4 2014:
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Florida is the riskiest state this quarter, with an Index of 130.
Property Valuation and Occupancy Fraud Risk are the main drivers of
Florida’s overall risk index.
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The Identity Fraud Risk Index is up 15 percent from last quarter due
to a higher frequency of alerts identifying issues with a borrower’s
SSN trace.
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The Property Valuation Fraud Risk Index is 120, down 2 percent from Q3
2014 and up 19 percent from Q4 2013, with the slight decrease due to a
decline in the frequency of alerts identifying specific valuation
issues.
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The Occupancy Fraud Risk Index is 131, down 2 percent from last
quarter, and down 6 percent from Q4 2013, a change attributed to
decreases in the frequencies of loans involving possible straw-buyers,
and a decreased rate of owner-occupied loans where the borrower has
multiple active loan applications on file.
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The Employment/Income Fraud Risk Index is 61, while down 20 percent
from one year ago, the 3 percent increase from last quarter is due to
higher rates of alerts identifying notable variances in borrower
reported income on loan applications.
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Special Interest: Eight-quarter analysis shows purchase transactions
are riskier than refinance transactions, primarily because of higher
risk in the Occupancy and Property Valuation Fraud Risk indices.
While the National Mortgage Fraud Risk Index is up, mortgage fraud risk
has become more geographically dispersed, demonstrating how mortgage
fraud perpetrators prey on economic and market opportunities. Although
for the past several years areas with concentrations of distressed
properties and borrowers—California and Florida, for example—have
presented a wealth of opportunity, risk in the Northeast remains high
and is increasing in parts of New York. Mortgage fraud risk is also
rising in MSAs in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and the Dakotas—trends that
warrant monitoring due to the volatility presented in energy dependent
regions.
“Clearly, mortgage fraud is a crime of economic opportunism, the nature
of which serves to remind our industry that state, MSA and ZIP code
trends can be more directly linked to cause and effect than the national
trends,” said Jeff Moyer, president of Interthinx.
The full report is available at: http://www2.interthinx.com/l/17902/2015-04-29/vxmrh
About the Mortgage Fraud Risk Report
The Mortgage Fraud Risk Report is an Interthinx information
offering created by an internal team of fraud experts. This is the
twenty-third time Interthinx has released its quarterly report. The
report provides deeper insight into current fraud trends through the
analysis of millions of loan applications amassed from the industry’s
use of the Interthinx FraudGUARD® loan-level fraud detection
tool. The Fraud Risk indices are influenced by many factors including
house price indices, concentrations of defaulted and foreclosed
properties, market demand and supply, employment rates, collusion by
parties to loan transactions, regulation, and changing consumer
patterns. By analyzing the data in the Mortgage Fraud Risk Report,
it is possible to reach conclusions linked to the overall market
experience and gain actionable intelligence to empower risk
mitigation in real time.
For more information about Interthinx and its Mortgage Fraud Risk
Report, please visit http://www.Interthinx.com.
About Interthinx
Interthinx, Inc., a subsidiary of First American Financial
Corporation (NYSE: FAF), provides essential solutions to mitigate
risk in the mortgage lending marketplace. Interthinx offers capabilities
in mortgage fraud and verification, property valuation, compliance,
quality control and loss mitigation that are used by the nation's top
financial institutions. Interthinx helps its clients minimize risk,
increase operational efficiencies, satisfy regulator demands, manage
data verification and remain compliant. For more information, visit www.interthinx.com
or call 1-800-333-4510.
About First American
First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF)
is a leading provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk
solutions for real estate transactions that traces its heritage back to
1889. First American also provides title plant management services;
title and other real property records and images; valuation products and
services; home warranty products; property and casualty insurance; and
banking, trust and investment advisory services. With revenues of $4.7
billion in 2014, the company offers its products and services directly
and through its agents throughout the United States and abroad. More
information about the company can be found at www.firstam.com.
Copyright Business Wire 2015