Mortgage con artists

This piece from CNN/Money on mortgage fraud is a MUST READ!

A lot of ordinary, well meaning folks are being taken to the cleaners by sweet talking con men. The government is trying to crack down, but their results are not very good so far.

Your best defense is knowledge.
Understand the con and render the artist impotent.

"Since the housing market started to soar in 2001, mortgage fraud has become the fastest-growing white-collar crime, according to the FBI. Last year crooks skimmed at least $1 billion from the $3 trillion U.S. mortgage market.

Now that the market is slowing, fraud is only rising. As business dries up, there's increasing pressure on lenders, brokers, title companies and appraisers to be profitable. That means loan and title documents aren't scrutinized as carefully as they might be, and courts - many of them so low-tech they resemble Mayberry - can't keep up with the volume of paper.

Then there's the mad rush to sell, particularly by people who paid high prices for homes and suddenly can't afford the mortgages.

It's like a tasting menu for con artists and grifters, so tempting that in some cities drug dealers have turned to mortgage fraud, plaguing lower-income neighborhoods with crooked mortgages rather than crystal meth."

This slideshow gives a summary of some of the common cons, including the "Rent to Steal", "Straw man swindle" and the "Million dollar dump".