Mortgage Fraud Exposed by CBC Marketplace

Mortgage fraud impacts Canadians looking to buy a home.

CBC Marketplace recently went undercover to investigate suspected mortgage fraud reported by True North Mortgage — exposing networks involved in this criminal activity. They also found "unwitting buyers" taken advantage of in the scheme.

After watching the episode, Chirag Mehta, True North Mortgage Director of Operations, says what surprises him the most with this type of fraud:

It's everyone up and down the line that would have to either know about it or look the other way to perpetrate this level and scale of mortgage deception.

Read the CBC article here:

Real estate agents caught on hidden camera facilitating mortgage fraud for a fee

Watch the CBC Marketplace episode below (also available on CBC TV and CBC Gem; aired October 14th, 2022, 50th season):

Mortgage fraud hurts all Canadians.

Dan Eisner, Founder and CEO, states in the CBC article that not only does mortgage fraud keep "honest people out of the market as they compete for various homes," he says it also increases the likelihood of mortgage default and panic sales that can impact the housing market.

Trusted by Canadians, we advocate for our clients.

True North Mortgage "has detected and stopped multiple fraudulent applications submitted," along with exposing counterfeit documents and fake company information that go so far as to have a person pick up when calling a number and a "real website" to facilitate the fraud.

It's more important than ever to use a mortgage broker (and lender) you can trust. According to CBC Marketplace, big banks aren't immune to this fraudulent activity, and one in five mortgage brokers indicated they would help with a fraudulent application:

Marketplace producers also cold-called 25 mortgage brokers or agents in five hot real estate markets across the country including the Greater Vancouver area, Calgary, Edmonton, the Greater Toronto Area and Montreal. The majority of mortgage agents said they would not help with a fraudulent mortgage application, but one in five said they would.

"That's stunning to us," says Eisner. "We advocate for our clients and go the distance to check on details to protect our clients, our in-house lender THINK Financial, and our industry."

Chirag Mehta also adds, "our highly-trained brokers are salaried and non-commissioned, so they're incentivized to help our clients instead of risking their jobs — and unified through several systems that help detect and prevent mortgage fraud."

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