When it comes to mortgage applications, the Greater Hartford area is seeing an uptick in honesty. That bucks the increasing national trend of increasing fraudulent information.
First American Financial Corp., a global provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions for real estate transactions, said its survey of November applications showed Greater Hartford experienced a 5.3 percent monthly decrease in defect frequency, third best in the country.
Defect frequency estimates the frequency of defects, fraudulence and misrepresentation in the information submitted in mortgage-loan applications. First American Financial Corp’s fraudulent index fell 1.3 percent in November compared to October and decreased by 8.2 percent year over year. This is the fourth month-over-month decline in a row of defect and misrepresentation risk, equaling the lowest point in the index since its inception and wiping out the upward trend observed in the first half of the year.
According to the index, the intended occupancy type of a home purchase or mortgage refinance can be predictive of the risk of mortgage loan misrepresentation and even fraud. In November, investor-occupied applications were 29 percent riskier than owner-occupied applications. The increased investor-based risk can also be seen in multi-unit applications, a popular property type among investors. First American said multi-unit properties are 30 percent more likely to have defect and misrepresentation risk than a single-family home.
