What is it about the real estate and mortgage industries: they always seems so rife with fraud. This was true of course in the heady days of the bubble, when tons of fraud (fraud news) occurred in the name of getting people--anyone--approved for financing.

In the wake of the financial crisis, has the industry learned anything? I'm sure many people have. But there are still a lot of attempts of fraud plaguing the lending industry.

No one will be surprised by the Bloomberg article about two Connecticut agents who came up with a scheme to buy homes via a short-sale, even though they knew of people willing to pay more. They then flipped the just-purchased home for a quick and dirty profit. Fortunately, they got caught. They will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty to federal charges. Freddie Mac has been warning about such schemes. While these were caught, you would have to think that many more get away with this type of action.

For more:
- here's the article

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