Freddie Mac’s Surprising Definition Of Short Payoff Fraud
Short Sale Fraud - Freddie Mac Drops A Huge Bomb On Real Estate Investors
Short Sale Fraud - While not yet a law or an official policy, problems loom on the horizon thanks to a new take on short sales. The news from Freddie Mac on short sales could cause serious legal and practical issues for real estate investors.
On Friday, April 16, 2010, the organization posted an educational article titled “Emerging Fraud Trends: Short Payoff Fraud.” The article stated, in short, that short sales could be fraudulent if the lender does not have information about a pre-arranged flip of the property after the short sale to another buyer. This could mean problems for investors who have been short sale flipping, or negotiating short sales with banks and then selling the properties at a profit.
The rest of the article detailed scenarios and red flags for “short payoff” fraud. The scenario was set up around a short sale negotiator or facilitator that engineered a short sale of an 80,000 dollar home with outstanding debt of 100,000 for 70,000 dollars. In the scenario, the facilitator fails to notify the bank he has a higher offer, 95,000, on the house. When both transactions close and the facilitator pockets his profit, Freddie Mac considers him to have committed fraud since Freddie Mac has now taken a “larger than necessary” loss on the sale.
The writer encourages everyone involved in short payoffs to look out for short payoff flags. These flags include sudden borrower default, a borrower who is current on other obligations and the buyer of the property being an entity rather than a person. The article also tells readers to keep an eye out for resale options in their purchase agreement.
Buyers, sellers and lenders all are encouraged to report short sale fraud the second they become aware of or suspect a second purchase contract for a higher price. Short sales may not be breaking the law, but Freddie Mac’s PR team certainly wants the process to be as difficult as possible for all real estate investors.
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