Mortgage fraud attempts surge by 34.6%

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1. Realtors spend record $14.7 million on Q1 lobbying

The National Association of Realtors scaled up its Washington lobbying effort in this year's first quarter, as the industry deals with major imminent changes regarding real-estate commissions.

The NAR spent $14.7 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2024, according to a disclosure filed Monday. The figure was the largest amount of money the group had spent in any first quarter.

The lobbying spend comes at a time when the NAR and real-estate brokerages are facing litigation from home sellers alleging that they conspired to keep commissions for their agents artificially inflated.

2. Mortgage fraud attempts surge by 34.6%

In 2023, mortgage companies saw a 34.6% increase in fraud attempts compared to 2022, with an average of 2,619 monthly attempts per business. Despite improved vigilance, fraudsters are reverting to traditional methods like phone fraud, which caused 28% of the losses.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions reports that fraud losses are costly, with each dollar of fraud costing $4.36 to resolve. Fraud is prevalent across all customer interaction stages, but is particularly prominent in new account creation and during funds distribution, often involving synthetic identity theft.

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3. Catch up quick

🏡 Two states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers. (Redfin)

⏳ The dream of Fed rate cuts is slipping away. (WSJ)

💸 Warren Buffet’s HomeServices of America pays $250 million to settle commission lawsuits. (Forbes)

🏦 Republic First is seized, assets sold to Fulton Bank. (BankingDive)

4. Mortgage application payments remained flat in March

Homebuyer affordability declined in March, with the national median payment applied for by purchase applicants increasing slightly to $2,201 from $2,184, according to the MBA’s Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI), which measures how new monthly mortgage payments vary across time – relative to income.

“Homebuyer affordability conditions remain volatile as recent economic data continues to show that the economy and job market are strong. These factors will keep mortgage rates at elevated levels for the near future, sidelining some prospective buyers from entering the housing market,” said Edward Seiler, MBA’s Vice President.

5. HUD retracts some proposed changes to HECM for Purchase program

The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday announced that a proposed change to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for Purchase (H4P) program has been modified to bar the practice of premium pricing, and it will only allow interested party contributions (IPCs) on H4P closing costs from property sellers, builders, real estate agents, and developers.

This is after concerns were raised in the public comment period following the proposed H4P changes announced late last year.

You’re all caught up. See you on Wednesday!

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