At its May meeting, the Nebraska Mortgage Association Board of Directors endorsed the Mortgage Fraud Warning Notice which was jointly produced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the national Mortgage Bankers Association.
     The Nebraska Mortgage Association will distribute the notice to its 105 members and encourage its members to voluntarily integrate the notice into their loan processes. The notice makes clear that mortgage fraud is a federal offense with serious penalties.
     The notice states that mortgage fraud is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison or $1 million fine, or both. It further states that it is illegal for a person to make any false statement regarding income, assets, debt, or matters of identification, or to willfully overvalue any land or property, in a loan and credit application for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of a financial institution.
     Jan Meister, president of the Nebraska Mortgage Association, said mortgage fraud is a growing problem which affects innocent homeowners and communities as well as lending institutions. Solving the problem requires the cooperation of law enforcement and the real estate finance industry. The Nebraska Mortgage Association, as the voice of the industry in the state, has a responsibility to educate its members and the general public as to what constitutes mortgage fraud and what the consequences of it are.