If your organization is faced with volumes of mortgage files requiring post-closing audits, re-verification of critical documents or reviews of early-term delinquencies, Inquesta is the experienced, high-quality provider you are looking for to assist your internal team conduct single or bulk audits and investigate suspected mortgage fraud.

 

Inquesta has been providing best-in-class mortgage investigation and verification services for over a decade to help all segments of the mortgage industry, from originators to loan insurers to second market mortgage investment organizations. Our services reduce risk and better protect and enhance the long-term value of our clients' mortgage loan portfolios.

 

Whether investigating a single loan, an entire portfolio with thousands of cases or a random representative sampling to risk-rate an asset, Inquesta specializes in the due diligence necessary to investigate misrepresentation or deception in all phases of the mortgage origination process:

 

   > Post-Closing Audits. These are detailed and comprehensive quality-control audits that include

      underwriting, compliance reviews, red flag reviews, re-verification of critical origination and closing

      documents, and review of the origination appraisal.

 

   > Re-Verification of Critical Origination and Closing Documents. We conduct reviews and re-

      verifications of critical mortgage loan documents and provide findings reports that identify loans

      that merit further investigation.

 

   > Mortgage Fraud Investigations. Our full-scale investigations are conducted by highly trained

      investigators who contact borrowers and third-party entities, such as employers, landlords and

      closing agents. Our reports provide clients with a comprehensive record of all interviews, findings

      and evidence.

 

   > Litigation Support. We conduct audits and investigations in support of legal counsel whose

      clients are directly involved in mortgage-related litigation or pre-trial mediation or negotiation.





Case study: Investigation of a Single File Uncovers Massive Six-State Fraud Scheme

 

A mortgage insurance company assigned a single file to Inquesta to audit the circumstances of an abandoned Florida property in foreclosure proceedings.
 
The borrower and many others had attended an “investments” seminar that was endorsed by a participating known sports celebrity. During the seminar the celebrity praised his own good returns on his investments through the group. The fraudsters offered deals to buy investment properties with no down payment and no closing costs, and that would earn rental income to cover the mortgage, association fees and taxes, and a modest profit from renters who were already in residence. They also offered to manage the properties and collect rents. Additionally, “investors” would be paid $5,000 cash for each property after closing as an additional incentive, and they were to earn additional profits when a property resold after a year at an appreciated value.
 
After “buying” three properties, including the assigned file, the borrower received rental checks for only three months, and then the checks stopped. It turned out that the monthly rental payments were smaller than promised and did not even cover mortgage payments. When he visited the property he learned that the renters had vacated even before he closed. Unable to get new renters, and with the “property management” company out-of-business, the borrower abandoned the property and could not make mortgage payments.
 
Inquesta’s intelligence link-analysis and investigation uncovered that the same group of fraudsters operated the scheme in at least five other states. Over a hundred other suspicious property sales in the six states were traced to them. The scheme focused on false appraisals. Lenders who though they were financing 90% actually financed as much as 150% against the true values. The fraudsters realized tremendous profits even after covering existing mortgage notes, closing costs and their payoffs to co-conspiring appraisers, mortgage brokers, and real estate agents. And the “investors” were left to deal with lenders when the frauds came to light.
 
Our findings gave our client the evidence it needed to rescind the policy and avoid a very large loss. Additionally, our investigative report led our client to identify many other files in their portfolio that they had not flagged as suspect.