Mortgage fraud up 100%

Mortgage fraud has doubled over the past year, according to figures from the Land Registry.

Channel 4 News uncovered figures that suggest mortgage fraud boomed in the last financial year, helped by easier methods of identity theft, and one analysts believes lenders could have billions of pounds worth of fraudulent mortgages on their books.

Land Registry records show the amount it paid out to lenders due to fraudulent house purchases hit £4m in 2007/08, up from just £2m in the previous year.

Paul Doxey, a forensic accountant at Navigant Consulting believes fraudulent loans may have been used to buy up to 60,000 properties in the UK.

He says more than £7bn of fraudulent mortgages are currently sitting on lenders’ books, and the actual figure could be more than double that amount.

The FSA has recently begun a crackdown on brokers participating in mortgage fraud, with many being banned and fined so far in 2008.

A recent rise in ID fraud is thought to be responsible for the rapid rise in fraud, according to Doxey, and lax lending criteria in recent years has contributed to the problem.

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