In 2009 fraud in the Uk has broken the £2 billion barrier for the first time. Mortgage accounts for 18% of that figure.
With numbers like these it is easy to see why banks and building societies have become more careful about lending money and checking applicants income claims more carefully. The UK land registry system also needs an overhaul as some of the fraud takes place on homes where the owners do not know that a mortgage has been raised against their property. Identity theft is becoming a huge problem and we all need to be very careful about disclosing personal information and checking our records that nothing unusual is happening.
The forecast is that the problem will get worse and possibly the amount of fraud may reach £5 billion per year! That is a staggering amount. Unfortunately it will be as usual the innocent that have to help pay back the amounts defrauded through higher interest rates and charges.