Utah Mortgage Loan

After years in the top five, the state overtook Florida to move into the No. 1 spot based on 2006 data compiled by the Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI), which will release a report on home-loan fraud in mid-April. The company, part of information services company ChoicePoint, is a clearinghouse for fraudulent home-loan activity reported mainly by mortgage lenders.
On a per-capita basis, Utah has 2 1/2 times the national average of loans containing alleged fraud or serious misrepresentation, said Jim Croft of MARI. In the category of subprime loans made to people with marginal credit, the rate of fraud is even worse - three times the national average, he said.
The state's dubious distinction is bad news for consumers. Utah lenders say residents pay more for their home loans - about one-quarter of a percentage rate higher - than people in other parts of the country because of the high level of fraud and increased risk of default.

Arizona among top 10 states for mortgage fraud

Arizona has shot up to No. 7 in a ranking of states with the greatest amount of mortgage fraud, blowing past the 23rd spot it held the previous year.

This is the highest Arizona has placed on the Mortgage Asset Research Institute's annual fraud survey, which 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.

Utah is No. 1, bumping Georgia from the top spot it had held since 2002. That state now ranks No. 8. Georgia recently passed legislation cracking down on mortgage fraud. Utah, like Arizona and other states with problems, hasn't passed similar laws. .

Story Inspires Wells Fargo Home Mortgage to Award Bloomington, Ill ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ill., March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- It's the classic story of achieving the American Dream: a young boy -- born in a small one-room, dirt- floor house with no electricity or running water -- spends much of his childhood laboring in the fields near his small Mexican village. As a teenager, he comes to the U.S. to attend school, learn English and find a job. As an adult, he is able to save enough to purchase his first home. Through a few more real estate investments, he begins to build the wealth for himself, his wife and two children that he couldn't possibly imagine as a small boy living in poverty.

While it sounds like the next feel-good Hollywood box office hit, it's the real-life tale of Bloomington, Ill.'s Vicente Adame, and his story has inspired Wells Fargo Home Mortgage to award him with up to $250,000 after taxes for the purchase of a new home.