Fighting fraud: One agent's story of survival

What word strikes fear into the hearts of mortgage and settlement services professionals? No, it’s not government, but that was a decent guess.

Fraud.

It’s the scariest word today. It’s an issue that touches every party to a transaction and leaves nothing but misery in its wake. We write a lot about fraud at The Title Report — reports on indictments, pleas and convictions of fraudsters; news on underwriters and lenders hurt by defalcations; features on the latest technological and legislative solutions meant to curb future problems. They are articles that are detached from the harsh reality of the crime. This story isn’t one of those stories. This story is about Mark and Leigh Kraushaar and their recovery from fraud in their business.