Interthinx Second-Quarter Mortgage Fraud Risk Report Notes Shift in Mortgage Fraud Hot Spots

January 1, 2011 / 3 min read

Florida increases as Chicago decreases

AGOURA HILLS, CA, August 11, 2011 — Interthinx has released its quarterly Mortgage Fraud Risk Report, covering data collected in the second quarter of 2011. The report, which tracks overall and type-specific mortgage fraud risk and provides an in-depth analysis of fraud risk from specific ZIP codes to state and national levels, now includes nongeographic risk profiling. According to the most recent analysis, fraud risk has decreased significantly in the Chicago metro area. Miami now ranks among the top ten riskiest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for three of the four type-specific fraud risks tracked in the report.

The top spot in the ZIP code table for the last four quarters belonged to either 60636 or 60621, which are adjoining ZIP codes in Chicago. As of this second-quarter report, Chicago moved off the list of the top 20 riskiest ZIP codes with significantly lower risk of fraud across all types.

“The Mortgage Fraud Risk Report has been drawing attention to Chicago for a year, and the recent decrease in mortgage fraud risk in the Chicago ZIP codes was as dramatic as it was sudden. It suggests that when the industry has actionable intelligence and increases its scrutiny of an area, word gets out, and the fraudsters move on,” said Kevin Coop, president of Interthinx. “It’s exactly what we expect to accomplish with this report. Our FraudGUARD^® tool makes it difficult for criminals to operate, and now our quarterly Mortgage Fraud Risk Reports tell the industry where fraudsters are concentrated so the industry can take steps to shut them down.”

Miami, on the other hand, has experienced a resurgence in fraud risk and has been high on the list of risky MSAs for the past year. Like the rest of the state, Miami is struggling to get the problem under control, with five of the top ten riskiest ZIP codes and eight of the top 20 in Florida. In the second quarter, Miami was ranked No. 1 in identity fraud risk, No. 2 in occupancy fraud risk, and No. 9 in property valuation fraud risk.

Previous Interthinx Mortgage Fraud Risk Reports have described fraud patterns based primarily on geographic characteristics, but beginning with this report, it includes additional selected characteristics relating to the loan (e.g., purpose and amount), the borrower (e.g., income and FICO™ score), and the property (e.g., appraised value and property type) that can be used to provide additional insights from which to develop actionable intelligence.

The Mortgage Fraud Risk Report is an Interthinx information product created by an internal team of fraud experts. The report was prepared with input from Constance Wilson, Ann Fulmer, Shane De Zilwa, and the Interthinx analytics team. This is the ninth time Interthinx has released its quarterly report, which is providing deeper insight into current fraud trends through analysis of the more than 12 million loan applications amassed from the industry’s use of the Interthinx FraudGUARD loan-level fraud detection tool.

For more information about Interthinx and its Mortgage Fraud Risk Report, visit http://www.Interthinx.com.

About Interthinx
Interthinx, a Verisk Analytics subsidiary, is a leading national provider of comprehensive risk mitigation solutions focusing on mortgage fraud, collateral risk and valuation, regulatory compliance, forensic loan audit services, loss mitigation, and loss forecasting. With more than 20 years of experience in customizable risk evaluation technology, Interthinx offers proven and effective predictive analytics to the residential mortgage industry through its experience with millions of loan applications and fraud incident data from thousands of monthly loan reviews. Throughout the mortgage life cycle, the Interthinx suite of services can increase the value of client portfolios with its comprehensive and holistic approach to loan quality and compliance. Winner of multiple awards for technology, Interthinx helps clients reduce risk, increase operational efficiencies, satisfy regulator demands, manage data verification, remain compliant, and mitigate loan buybacks. The Interthinx quarterly Mortgage Fraud Risk Report is a standard for the financial services industry. For more information, visit http://www.Interthinx.com or call 1-800-333-4510.

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Contact:
Rick Grant
Tel: 800-979-9049
Cell: 570-497-1026
rick.grant@rga-pr.com