After six straight years of double-digit growth, lenders' reports of suspected mortgage fraud remained relatively flat during the first half of 2009, according to a government report released Friday.
The Treasury's ""Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said"":http://www.fincen.gov/news_room/rp/files/sar_by_numb_13.pdf depository institutions reported 32,926[IMAGE] [COLUMN_BREAK]
cases of possible mortgage fraud in the first six months of last year.
That's an increase of less than 1 percent compared to the 32,660 suspicious activity filings during the same period in 2008 â€" a stark contrast to the 39.31 percent increase when comparing the first six months of 2007 and 2008.
But FinCEN says the numbers are still well above historical norms. Mortgage loan fraud presently ranks third among the types of financial fraud reported, compared to ranking sixth in the corresponding six-month reporting period in 2008.
""FinCEN remains focused on its proactive efforts to assist state, local, and federal investigators in efforts to use SARs [Suspicious Activity Reports] to crack down on mortgage fraud and foreclosure rescue scams, and to identify other emerging trends and patterns,"" said FinCEN Director James H. Freis, Jr. ""Fraudulent and criminal activity is seldom static and predictable, each financial industry sector has an important role to play in identifying these activities.""