CoreLogic, a data firm that provides insight for real estate and financial institutions, released a new report showing which markets and metros are at the highest risk for mortgage fraud. Miami and surrounding Florida metros dominate the top ranks, followed by New York metros.
The report, “Mortgage Fraud Brief,” outlines the first quarter of 2016. With quarter-over-quarter analysis, the brief reveals which markets are at the highest risk of mortgage application fraud.
For the study, CoreLogic examined several factors that play into the forecast.
First, the report estimates the number of possible fraudulent mortgage applications by “applying the rate of applications in the CoreLogic Mortgage Fraud Consortium data with high risk of fraud to the estimated loan application volume in each quarter and geography,” according to its website. It then takes this data and bases it against the CoreLogic LoanSafe Manager score.
The report highlights the strongest factors in mortgage fraud by looking at undisclosed debt, employment, income, property, occupancy and identity.
In the first quarter of 2016, a startling number of Florida metros made the top 15 list. Although the Fraud Risk Index for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach places the region at no. 1 — meaning it has the highest risk of applications that contain some hint of fraudulent information — the number has steadily decreased since 2014.
In the second quarter of 2015, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach had a Risk Index of 339, but that number has since dropped to 286. However, the region is still a higher risk than any other in the country.
Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida sits at the fifth spot, and has seen an increase of 22 percent in its Risk Index quarter-over-quarter.
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New York-Newark-Jersey City (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) sits at the fourth spot and saw an increase of 1 percent in its Risk Index.
