The problem is there are scammers out there damaging the credibility and the integrity of the industry of professionals who are really working to help seniors with extensive education and guidance. These scammers are using seniors to obtain the mortgage just for profit and creating false loans on less then suitable housing. Unfortunately; seniors can be targets in many areas but being a target in the mortgage industry hurts everyone who is doing things legally and ethically to help people.

As the economy gets worse and it will and more homes come on the foreclosure list more and more scammers will look for people over 62 to try and sell home to seniors or use them as straw buyers or worst commit fraud by having them state long term residency in these homes for the sake of receiving funds from a Reverse Mortgage.

In a recent study that the government has release more seniors are being lured into these scams and it will hurt many seniors in the future who are really in need of a mortgage of this kind, these scammers will make it harder for real seniors to obtain them if they are not stop.

Reverse Mortgage Fraud Schemes

Unscrupulous loan officers, mortgage companies, investors, loan counselors, appraisers, builders, developers, and real estate agents are exploiting Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs)—also known as reverse mortgages—to defraud senior citizens. They recruit seniors through local churches, investment seminars, television, radio, billboard, and mailer advertisements, to commit the fraud primarily through equity theft, foreclosure rescue, and investment schemes.33 Equity theft schemes are the most common method used by mortgage fraud perpetrators to exploit HECMs. Perpetrators, often with the aid of straw buyers, execute a scheme designed to withdraw false equity from properties. They typically identify foreclosed, distressed, or abandoned properties (or buyers) using information contained within county deed records. Perpetrators purchase the properties using straw buyers who commit occupancy fraud by fraudulently stating they will be using them as their primary residence. They recruit seniors to "purchase" the properties from the straw buyers. This is generally accomplished by the perpetrator transferring the deed to the property to the senior with no exchange of money. After the senior is living in the home for at least 60 days, the perpetrators arrange for the seniors to obtain HECMs, with the aid of a fraudulently inflated appraisal, and encourage the seniors to request a lump sum disbursement of the equity. The perpetrators, often in collusion with the settlement attorney, abscond with all of the equity at closing. They facilitate appraisal fraud by arranging for minor cosmetic repairs, or falsely documenting repairs, that were never performed to inflate the appraisal. They also fraudulently create fictitious loans and liens that enable them to distribute the loan proceeds to themselves, the straw buyer, and others at closing. As more members of the “baby boomer” generation turn 65, their vast and expanding real estate holdings make reverse mortgage fraud an increasingly attractive scam for perpetrators.