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Nowadays, many people are fooled easily by the great promises that some real estates agents say. Here are some tips to avoid real estate fraud:

Always, always, always understand what you are signing and agreeing to, and, always seek assistance from a skilled real estate attorney. If you do not understand something you’re being asked to sign, ask for clarification and re- read the document again before signing.
Ask for and check referrals and references for real estate industry professionals. Check the licenses of the real estate professionals with state, county, or city regulatory agencies. Make sure that the people you’re dealing with are in good standing with the appropriate regulatory bodies.

Be suspicious of such low investment. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Be wary of strangers and unsolicited contracts, as well as high- pressure sales techniques and people who play to your emotions.

Extreme caution against this kind of people should be greatly measured.

A Ponzi scheme usually offers abnormally high short-term returns in order to entice new investors. The high returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises (and pays) require an ever-increasing flow of money from investors in order to keep the scheme going.

The system is doomed to collapse because there are little or no underlying earnings from the money received by the promoter. However, the scheme is often interrupted by legal authorities before it collapses, because a Ponzi scheme is suspected and/or because the promoter is selling unregistered securities. As more investors become involved, the likelihood of the scheme coming to the attention of authorities increases.

The scheme is named after Charles Ponzi, who became notorious for using the technique after emigrating from Italy to the United States in 1903. Ponzi was not the first to invent such a scheme, but his operation took in so much money that it was the first to become known throughout the United States. Today’s schemes are often considerably more sophisticated than Ponzi’s, although the underlying formula is quite similar and the principle behind every Ponzi scheme is to exploit lapses in judgment arising from investor naïveté.

Definition of Real Estate in the Web According to Google

• A portion of the earth’s surface extending downward to the center to the earth and upward into space, including all things permanently …
  realestate.aol.com/glossary
• Land and anything permanently attached to the land whether by nature or by person.
  www.rileycountyks.gov/index.asp
• an identified parcel or tract of land, including improvements, if any.
  www.lucianoappraisals.com/gpage4.html
• Term for land and all fixtures to land, including buildings and other improvements.
  www.assignmentscanada.ca/definitions/realestateterms.html
• Land, including all inherent natural attributes and man-made improvements of a permanent nature placed thereon.
  www.buckeyereserve.com/glossary_of_terms.htm
• Land and anything permanently affixed to it, including buildings, fences and other items attached to the structure.
  www.metrolibertymortgage.com/commonterms.html
• One who is licensed by the state to carry on the business of dealing in real estate. A broker may receive a commission for his or her part in bringing together a buyer and seller, landlord and tenant, or parties to an exchange.
  www.titleguarantynm.com/glossary/glossary_b.asp
• Land and all physical property on, below or attached to the land. Houses, sewers, trees and fences are all real estate.
  www.ncbuy.com/credit/glossary.html
• A term which is used to describe land. Real property is transferred by a deed. All other property is known as personal property.
  www.national1credit.com/Commonly_Used_Legal_Terms1.html
• Land and its appurtenances (attachments such as buildings or other structures or improvements)
  woodmoorsite.com/glossary.html
• Includes real property, leasehold and business whether with or without premises, fixtures, stock in trade, good of chattels in connection with the operation of the business.
  www.ottawahomesandcondos.com/looking_buy_glossary.cfm
• This refers to the physical land and appurtenances, including structures affixed thereto. In some states, by statute, this term is synonymous with real property.
  www.charmeck.org/Departments/LUESA/Property+Assessment+and+Land+Records/Real+Estate/Real+Estate+Terminology.htm
• This is the land, appurtenances and all structures erected thereon. Usually used synonymously with real property.
  caruthersinc.com/glossary.php
• A piece of land and whatever physical property is on it.
  bank-street.co.uk/glossary.html
• land, improvements to the land (buildings), a mine or quarry, minerals, standing timber and any estate or interest in the previously mentioned property.
  www.appraisalrelief.org/en/cms/
• Commonly used to mean land and whatever is attached to land (such as houses, trees, fences and the like).
  svc013.wic009tp.server-web.com/social_justice/ntreport05/app1.html
• Homes, offices, or other land or buildings that you can invest in. An investor might choose to invest in a house if he thinks it is in a market where property values will rise in the near future.
  www.nfec.info/main/resources/glossary
• is land and any additions and improvements, such as buildings, sewers, sidewalks, and anything else considered to be permanently attached to the land. …
  thismatter.com/Money/Real-Estate/Tutorial/Realty.htm
• Land and those things erected or growing upon it, such as buildings, fences or crops. The term embraces items such as light, plumbing and heating fixtures when permanently attached.
  nesara.org/main/dictionary.htm
• Land including all the natural resources and permanent buildings on it. Specialized technician A person with the knowledge and skill needed to carry out a specific technical procedure.
  www.economicadventure.org/teachers/glossary_dec.cfm
• A section of land including all the natural resources (above and below the surface) and any permanent buildings or structures located on it. See also “Real Property.”
  www.canequity.com/mortgage-resources/
• This is the land itself and all things permanently attached to it.
  www.one-ifbyland.com/dictionary.htm
• Such gifts will be counted at fair market value as determined by a qualified third-party appraiser, subject to IRS rules and regulations.
  www.wvuf.wvnet.edu/Text/tdefinition.htm
• Land or land and improvements. Statutory law may broaden a definition of real property to include, for example, mineral rights or machinery permanently attached to a building. …
  www.co.gwinnett.ga.us/cgi-bin/gwincty/egov/ep/gcbrowse.do
• real property: property consisting of houses and land
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• Real estate or immovable property is a legal term (in some jurisdictions) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. …
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real estate

Because of the past year’s abundance of real estate market, mortgage fraud and other fake real estate related scams increased. The perpetrators of these range from brokers looking to make fast money to drug dealers laundering ill-gotten wealth.

Year by year, fraudulent scams victimize people and businesses from many walks of life, even struggling families lured into home loans which they cannot afford and honest real estate investors fleeced out of their investment money.

By federal tax fraud investigations and money laundering, the Internal Revenue Service plays a vital role in order to fight real estate fraud.

The FBI calls it the “latest scam on the block,” but for years now we’ve been warning people and reporting about scam artists who steal your identity and then your home. Now, after years of reporting and writing about this sinister act, the FBI is stepping up its efforts to make homeowners aware of the horrible connection between identity theft and real estate fraud.

For More Info : Go to FlippingFrenzy

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna announced that much of his 2008 legislative agenda has survived the 2008 Legislative session.

Mortgage foreclosure fraud:

House Bill 2791, sponsored by Sen. Pat Lantz, D-Gig Harbor, helps reduce foreclosure rescue schemes, including those with an option to allow the original homeowner to buy or lease back the property. The bill has passed the Senate, 39-6.

Identity theft:

Bills giving ID theft victims more tools in the fight to clear their names are now one step closer to the Governor’s signature.

House Bill 2637, which allows records provided by out-of-state businesses to be authenticated by affidavit rather than in person in criminal cases, has passed both houses and now heads to the Governor’s desk.

HB 2637, sponsored by Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, was recommended by the Law Enforcement Group against Identity Theft (LEGIT). LEGIT was a workgroup convened after McKenna’s 2005 ID Theft Summit formed to identify ways to better ensure successful identity theft prosecutions and reduce the number of crimes that occur in Washington.

Senate Bill 5878 incorporated two proposals requested by the Attorney General’s Office, one requiring police reports for victims of identity theft and the other clarifying that each act prohibited by the identity theft statute is a separate unit of prosecution. The bill, prime-sponsored by Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, passed the House of Representatives 95-0 on Tuesday.

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Real estate and mortgage scammers be very warned! The Missouri lawmakers have final identified mortgage fraud as “making false statements or failing to disclose material facts” on Thursday that created the specific crime of mortgage fraud. Anyone found guilty of mortgage fraud can have his or her licenses revoked. The bill also creates fines for real estate brokers, agents and appraisers. It also attempts to influence real estate appraisals through extortion or bribery.

The bill, which had already passed the Senate, was endorsed 141-5 by the House last Thursday and now goes to the governor.

This bill will protect the people from real estate scammers.

Image source: www.cumortgageservice.com

Property-casualty insurers

Fraud is a serious problem, half of all property-casualty insurers say. Insurance Research Council-Insurance Services Office (2002)

The amount of fraud their company has experienced has increased over the last three years, more than one of three insurers say. Nearly half say fraud has stayed the same. Insurance Research Council-Insurance Services Office (2002)

About 11-30 cents — or more — of every claim dollar is lost to “soft” fraud (smalltime cheating by normally honest people), nearly half of property-casualty insurance companies say. Hardcore scams steal only a small fraction of that money. Insurance Research Council-Insurance Services Office (2002)

Only one of four insurers thoroughly investigate cheating on insurance applications. Even fewer insurers investigate insiders such as employees and agents who commit premium fraud. Research Council-Insurance Services Office (2002)

More than two of five property-casualty insurers have increased spending to fight fraud over the last three years. More than four of five insurers have formal anti-fraud programs. Insurance Research Council-Insurance Services Office (2002)

Nearly three of five insurers say their efforts to combat are only moderately effective, or lower. Research Council-Insurance Services Office (2002Fraud-control spending by property-casualty insurers rose from $200 million in 1992 to $650 million in 1996. Insurance Research Council (1997)

98 percent of property-casualty insurers have a fraud-control program, and most insurers have special investigation units. Insurance Research Council (1997)

Half of property-casualty insurers have broad, public-information programs directed against fraud. Insurance Research Council (1997)

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Be educated all about real estate fraud, real estate appraisals and many others from an Insider’s point of view and never be fooled again. Learn them by attending live seminars and classes from Real Estate Agent, Real Estate Appraiser, SRA with the Appraisal Institute, speaker, educator and creator of numerous real estate classes all based on the experience that only an experienced Insider would have – Richard Hagar.

You could take a 10-hour class or a 2 to 7 hour class. He holds different live seminars and classes from the basics of Real Estate Appraisal up to Appraising Unusual Residential properties. For more information about the classes and seminars he offer check out www.richardhagar.com.

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From the years 2002 to 2005, Georgia has been consistent on the top among mortgage and real estate fraud cases in the United States documented by The Prieston Group. The Prieston Group is a fraud protection and prevention group. The types of fraud operations preying on Georgia real estate investors include false rent verifications, occupancy fraud,appraisal fraud,investment schemes, broker fraud, and identity theft. Because of this, the state now upholds the Georgia Residential Mortgage Fraud Act which names misstating, omitting, and misrepresenting facts and intentions in real estate deals as criminal acts. The Georgia Residential Mortgage Fraud Act continues to boom the real estate industry of state.

Source: http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-19-2006-99686.asp
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