In Arizona, our home state, we have been hard hit by mortgage fraud and the so-called “professionals” that helped to perpetrate that fraud. As a result, on the state level and the federal level, legislation has been discussed and in some cases, already introduced that will begin making risky transactions more costly to the participants.

Arizona has already passed a law making mortgage fraud a felony. “Cash back” scams and falsifying income documents among other things can actually earn a free stay in a 5 star jail cell. On a federal level many things have been discussed including the federal licensing of Mortgage Loan Officers that would be similar to a license that a Realtor must hold in addition to tightening the standards that define predatory lending. Currently, there is no such requirement. (Personally, I love that idea.)

Whatever the actual verbage is when these laws are passed, one thing remains constant and that is the need for consumers to very thorough when choosing who they will entrust one of their most important life purchases to. Stay tuned for more updates.