New York, Florida ranked as two of worst for mortgage fraud activity

The number of mortgage fraud cases climbed during 2009, according to the fourth-quarter mortgage fraud index from MortgageDaily.com, as the total dollar value involved in those cases remained steady year-over-year. The mortgage fraud index, which is based on mortgage fraud activity and the number of cases being prepared by federal prosecutors, hit 1,677 in 2009, up from last year’s rating of 1,488, as the dollar amount attributed to the cases declined slightly to $5.31 billion from last year’s total of $5.38 billion. In the fourth quarter of 2009, New York and Florida ranked as two of the worst states for mortgage fraud activity, according to the report, ranking as the third and second worst states, respectively, on the index. TRD