The Way We Live Now: The case for mandating fraud reporting by persons involved in real estate closings and settlements

Abstract

Purpose

The paper seeks to focus on the causes of the recent subprime lending crisis in the US residential property market.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the present situation.

Findings

A number of causes for the crisis are shown, including the fragmented structure of the real estate settlement process, and the various people involved in real estate closings who operate under different regulatory and supervisory regimes with varying intensities of enforcement effort. This fragmentation makes it difficult to regulate the conduct of real estate industry insiders. Fragmented regulation also provides opportunities for swindlers, con‐artists, and fraudsters.

Originality/value

The paper makes a case for a meaningful regulatory reform, namely mandatory fraud reporting by all those involved in residential real estate closings and settlements.

Citation

Linn, C.J. (2009), "The Way We Live Now: The case for mandating fraud reporting by persons involved in real estate closings and settlements", Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 7-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/13590790910924939