Market Matters

SoCal housing supply expands in February, Realtors say Source: LA Times According to new figures from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.), the number of homes on the market jumped in February as supply expands ahead of the spring buying season. C.A.R.’s chief economist, Leslie Appleton-Young, commented, “It’s a sign we’re getting back to a more normal market, certainly.” Read the full story

U.S. Criticized for Lack of Action on Mortgage Fraud Source: New York Times The Justice Department’s inspector general, the department’s internal watchdog, released the results of an investigation and audit of efforts to address mortgage fraud. The department is facing scrutiny for closing hundreds of mortgage fraud cases after little or no investigation and making the crime a low priority. A lack of accountability after the collapse of the financial and housing markets has bolstered criticism that there has been a lack of action on mortgage fraud. Making sense of the story The report shows that the F.B.I. considered mortgage fraud to be its lowest-ranked national criminal priority. However, the F.B.I. received $196 million from the 2009 to 2011 fiscal years to investigate mortgage fraud. The number of pending cases and agents investigating mortgage fraud dropped in 2011, despite the availability of funds, as new staff were not always used to exclusively investigate mortgage fraud. Data was reported to the public that wildly overstated the government’s results. For example, it had been reported in 2012 that 530 people had been charged with fraud when in actuality only 107 people were charged. It took months of review to clarify the data. The inspector general report also indicates that it was falsely reported that cases that had cost homeowners more than $1 billion had been addressed by authorities. This was a highly inflated number, as in reality it was $95 million. The report calls on the Department of Justice to “implement a methodology for properly soliciting, collecting, and reviewing information before publicly reporting results.” The department is also called on to develop a method to capture additional data that will allow it to better understand the results of its efforts in investigating and prosecuting mortgage fraud and identifying the position of mortgage fraud defendants within an organization. Read the full story