A Downside of Short Sales

STRUGGLING homeowners have found some refuge in short sales, in which lenders allow borrowers to escape foreclosure by selling a home for less than what is owed on the mortgage. Government programs offering incentives to both parties will push the number of short sales to 400,000 this year from 100,000 in 2008, according to CoreLogic, a financial consulting firm.

But the jump in short sales has also given rise to a new form of fraud — which, as a recent study by CoreLogic suggests, could undermine the burgeoning practice.

Fraudulent short sales take many forms, but Frank McKenna, the vice president for fraud strategy at CoreLogic and one of the report’s authors, says one arrangement is more common than others.

Click Here to Read: A Downside of Short Sales...