According to a recent article from Housing Wire, another scam is on the loose. And, it is targeting mortgage companies. In 2018, Fannie Mae identified 30 fake companies that appeared on borrowers’ mortgage documents as their place of employment. And, a little later, another 15 more companies were identified and released. Last Wednesday, Fannie Mae sent a bulletin to lenders identifying at least 15 more imposters that it has seen on borrowers’ mortgage documents. That means that there are at least 65 fake employers at large that could appear on mortgage documents during the underwriting process.
To avoid giving borrowers’ sensitive information to these fictitious companies, lenders need to be as scrupulous as ever in looking for red flags in loan documents. Verifying that a borrower’s place of employment really exists has never been more crucial - crucial, yet ever time-consuming.