TheMReport

August 2012

TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.

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SECONDARY MARKET ANALYTICS SERVICING ORIGINATION THE LATEST ORIGINATION Mortgage Fraud Balloons During Q1 Despite previous reports that fraud had plateaued, data from the first quarter of the year indicates an uptick. report from MortgageDaily.com showed that mortgage fraud contin- ues to cause foreclosure problems for the most victimized states. The Mortgage Fraud Index, A which reflects mostly criminal cases involving law enforcement and court proceedings, showed that mortgage fraud crawled up in the first quarter of 2012. The index was 1,151, slightly above Q4 2011's 1,141 index. The highest recorded index was 2,790 in fourth-quarter 2008. "Activity has been fairly consis- Citi Launches 'Military Road to C to Recovery Tour," designed to help current and former armed services members who need assistance with their mortgages. The tour will feature five itiMortgage lately announced the launch of its proprietary "Citi Military Road Program, a reduced-payment program for qualifying service members who have PCS orders. Service members required to Recovery' Tour Seeking to assist members of the U.S. Armed Services, Citi's mortgage division rolls out mobile support operations. with local nonprofit housing counseling groups in each market. For the San Diego event, homeowner-support events near military bases all around the United States. At these events, Citi's relocate who have CitiMortgage- owned first mortgages may have their monthly payments on non- escrowed loans reduced to $250 (or to their escrow payment only on es- crow loans) for a six-month period. "Military families face many Homeowner Support Travel Team of mortgage experts and HUD- approved housing counselors will have individualized discussions with both current service members and veterans. The first event took place in San Diego on June 29. Citi also announced its Citi Military Permanent Change of Station (PCS) Transfer Assistance 40 | THE M REPORT unique obstacles when it comes to purchasing and maintaining a home," said CitiMortgage CEO Sanjiv Das. "We would like to thank the military and veterans organiza- tions and other individuals who have so generously offered their time and expertise to help us in our efforts," he added. Military Road to Recovery events are hosted by Citi along Citi worked with Housing Opportunity Collaborative, a Southern California nonprofit that seeks to promote equal access to housing for all people in the region. Other stops on the tour include Norfolk, Virginia; San Antonio, Texas; and Columbia, South Carolina. Military Road to Recovery tent as smaller mortgage bankers hit with repurchases continue to uncover fraud committed during the housing boom years," said Mort- gage Daily founder and publisher Sam Garcia. "We continue to see a correlation between elevated fraud levels and foreclosures in states like Arizona, California, and Florida." According to Garcia, most of the cases involve crimes committed five or more years ago, a sign that improved technology and increased fraud prevention practices are re- ducing losses on recent cases. Florida held the highest state index with 163. The state has held the No. 1 posi- tion for four of the past five quarters. For the first time since the index's in- ception in 2006, North Carolina broke into the top five with an index of 53. Florida also sat in first place events are open to all former and current members of the armed services, and participants do not have to be CitiMortgage custom- ers to attend. Citi encourages any military mortgage borrowers, who have missed payments in the past or think they will in the future, to attend. based on dollar amount involved, with losses more than doubling from the previous quarter. Florida has been in the top five states in this category in nearly every report since the index launched. Top State Indices •Florida (163) •California (160) •Minnesota (70) •Ohio (60) •North Carolina (53) Top States by Amount •Florida ($260 million) •North Carolina ($226 million) •California ($208 million) •New York ($144 million) •Nevada ($134 million) lthough mortgage fraud activ- ity seems to be leveling off, a

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