During the second quarter of 2017, the percentage of mortgage applications that contained indications of fraud increased nearly 17 percent, according to the CoreLogic Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index.
The index found that an estimated 13,404 mortgage applications, or 0.82 percent of all mortgage applications, contained indications of fraud during the second quarter, a 16.9 percent year-over-year increase compared with the 12,718, or 0.70 percent one year ago.
“This past year we saw a relatively large increase in the CoreLogic National Mortgage Application Fraud Index,” CoreLogic Principal, Fraud Solutions Bridget Berg said in a release.
“If the factors that influenced the increase continue, including a shift to purchase transactions and growing wholesale channel origination activity, it is likely that mortgage application fraud risk will continue to rise as well,” she added. “Fraud on cash-out refinance transactions and home equity loans may become more of a factor in the coming years as home values and equity rise.”
The index found that the highest fraud risk existed in New York. The states with the highest year-over-year increases in fraud risk during the second quarter were Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Louisiana and Idaho.