http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIWJcb3tkWQ&feature=youtube_gdata

Short Sale Fraud - It’s not a law; nor is it an official policy, but it’s definitely going to be a problem regardless. The news from Freddie Mac on short sales could cause serious legal and practical issues for real estate investors.

The organization posted a new educational article on April 16, 2010 titled “Emerging Fraud Trends: Short Payoff Fraud.” The article stated, in short, that short sales could be fraudulent if the lender does not have information about a pre-arranged flip of the property after the short sale to another buyer. This could mean problems for investors who have been short sale flipping, or negotiating short sales with banks and then selling the properties at a profit.

The Freddie Mac poster went on to describe scenarios and red flags for short payoff fraud. The scenario involved a facilitator, whose description matched that of a real estate short sale investor, who negotiated a deal with a lender to short sale a home worth $80,000 with a debt of $100,000 for $70,000. The facilitator does not disclose that he already has an outstanding offer for $95,000 from a second end-buyer. The second the facilitator puts his profits in his pocket, Freddie Mac considers him guilty of fraud because his negotiations caused Freddie Mac to ultimately take a “larger than necessary” loss on the sale of the property.

The writer encourages everyone involved in short payoffs to look out for short payoff flags. Freddie Mac considers entities buying property, borrowers who are suddenly in default and borrowers who have not reneged on all of their loans to be red flags for short payoff fraud. Additionally, they encourage people to look for an option clause in their purchase contracts that allow the buyer to resell the property.

Buyers, sellers and lenders all are encouraged to report short sale fraud the second they become aware of or suspect a second purchase contract for a higher price. Short sales may not be breaking the law, but Freddie Mac’s PR team certainly wants the process to be as difficult as possible for all real estate investors.