Poughkeepsie, Newburgh Rank #1 in Country for Mortgage Fraud

Homebuyers in the Hudson Valley are more likely to engage in fraud than anywhere else in the country.

In a new report released by CoreLogic, the cities of Poughkeepsie, Newburgh and Middletown rank number one in the nation when it comes to mortgage fraud. There are many types of fraud that can take place when someone applies for a mortgage. Most of the time it involves falsifying information to receive more money than the property is worth, or hiding risks that may prevent the borrower from getting a mortgage in the first place.

CoreLogic shows the Hudson Valley with a risk index of 200, which is considerably higher than Las Vegas, which ranks number two with a 171 index.  Rounding out the top five places in the country with the highest incidences of mortgage fraud are Miami/Ft. Lauderdale Florida, McAllen/Edinburg Texas and Cape Coral, Ft. Myers Florida.

It's unclear why the Hudson Valley ranked so high, but CoreLogic reports that occupancy fraud is on the rise throughout the country. This type of fraud occurs when applicants purposefully misrepresent their intended use of a property. For example, they say it will be their primary residence when they are actually using it for a rental property. Occupancy fraud has risen almost 25% in 2020, while other instances of fraud, like using a false identity, lying about income or hiding other debt are all on the decline.

While lots of fraud is happening in Dutchess and Orange County, not all of it is necessarily being committed by local residents. This year, out-of-state investors are more responsible for committing mortgage fraud. On the average, over 23 percent of fraud is committed by out-of-state-investors, a number that has been increasing since 2013. These out-of-towners are more likely to have higher 90-day delinquencies and mortgage fraud rates.