Mortgage fraud is a serious crime, not only in the state of Ohio, but also throughout the country. There are federal laws in place that attempt to prevent such a crime. Despite this, there are still people who complete fraudulent mortgage applications, either purposefully or by accident. It is estimated that 10 percent of all applications are fraudulent due to simple mistakes made. Today, we will discuss some common defenses used when faced with mortgage fraud charges in Cleveland.
If you made an honest mistake on the application or didn’t know that you were being misled by the mortgage company, you will need to prove this in order to have the charges dropped. This can be done by bringing in expert witnesses for testimony. You might also want to have a forensic accountant or a property valuation expert conduct an investigation with a white collar crime attorney on your behalf.
The other defense commonly used in mortgage fraud cases is using the loan application as evidence. There’s so much information that must be provided on the application that if most of it is missing, the lawyer might be able to prove that the applicant truly did not have intent to commit fraud, but that it was the advisor who committed the crime.
Lack of intent is another defense used in mortgage fraud cases. It can be nearly impossible to prove in this type of case that the applicant intended to withhold information or intended to provide false information on his or her application.
If you are applying for a mortgage in Cuyahoga, you need to be very careful when completing the application documents. You don’t want to make even the slightest mistake as charges could be levied against you.