Tag Archives: FinCEN

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said this week that suspicious activity reports (SARs) indicating mortgage loan fraud increased seven percent in the first half of this year. Banks and thrifts filed 35,135 mortgage-related SARs from January to June 2010. The federal agency found that reports referencing the term short sale appeared 827 times, and SARs referencing broker price opinion appeared 41 times during the first quarter of this year alone.

A proposal released Monday by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) would require non-bank residential mortgage lenders and originators to establish anti-money-laundering (AML) programs and to file reports with federal officials when suspicious activity is detected. Under current regulations only banks and insured depository institutions are required to file suspicious activity reports (SARs), which have become a critical tool in prosecuting mortgage fraud and related crimes.

Despite a continued crackdown, mortgage fraud is still a major cause of concern within the industry. In fact, according to the 2009 mortgage loan fraud study just released by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the number of mortgage fraud suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed last year edged up 4 percent compared to the previous 12 months. Mortgage SARs were most prevalent in the Los Angeles and Miami metro areas, both of which reported more than 10,000 filings in 2009.