Mortgage Fraud And The Big Short By Starring Christian...

Mortgage fraud is one of the costliest, yet seldom prosecuted crimes in the criminal world. CoreLogic estimates approximately $13 billion in fraud losses occurred in 2012, according to the latest available data in the 2012 Mortgage Fraud Trends Report (Gerding, 2013). While these numbers may seem high, the approximate $13 billion in losses is only a fraction of what it would be if every case were to be prosecuted. Mortgage fraud was also a major contributing factor towards a national, and nearly global economic collapse in 2008 when the United States economy saw the worst recession it has seen since the great depression. Anyone that has seen the films â€Å"99 homes† starring Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon or â€Å"The Big Short† starring Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling has seen a largely realistic glimpse of mortgage fraud and how devastating it can be. White collar crime: Mortgage fraud Traditionally, there are three types of mortgage fraud that are the most common and well known. These three types are â€Å"fraud for profit†, â€Å"fraud for housing† and a third type that deals with overestimating a property’s value or submitting a false appraisal (Schmalleger, 2016). A relatively new fourth type of mortgage fraud that quickly escalated following the economic crash of 2008 involves a series of scams claiming to save property owners from foreclosure. A criminal that commits fraud for profit essentially inquires about a home or property, makes an offer desirable to the seller and places