Journal#21

My pick of the week is "Arizona among top 10 states for mortgage fraud". Arizona has went up to No. 7 in a ranking of states with the greatest amount of mortgage fraud, passing the 23rd spot it held the previous year. They say this is the highest Arizona has placed on the Mortgage Asset Research Institute's annual fraud survey. The placement is based on the number of mortgage fraud cases per total of state home loans. Data from the nation's biggest lenders are used to compile the survey. In January, legislation is making mortgage fraud a felony and a bill to license loan officers were introduced. It is estimated that 18,000 unlicensed people are taking mortgage applications and loan commissions in Arizona. But both bills could die if they aren't heard this week.