The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said there has been an 88% year-over-year increase in mortgage loan fraud suspicious activity reports filed in the second quarter.
Financial institutions filed 29,558 MLF SARs in the second quarter, almost 14,000 more than the same quarter in 2010. According to FinCEN, this drastic spike in numbers is directly attributable to mortgage repurchase demands and special filings generated by several institutions.
FinCEN said most of the MLF SARs examined last quarter involved mortgages that closed during the peak of the real estate bubble.
According to FinCEN, 87% of the MLF SARs filed in the second quarter contained suspicious activity that took place before 2008. Meanwhile, 63% involved dubious activities that occurred four or more years ago.
In both 2011 and 2010, more than 80% of the MLF SARs involved suspicious activity amounts under $500,000.
Los Angeles had the most MLF SAR subjects in the second quarter.
