HousingWire reports Ann Fulmer, with fraud analytics firm Interthinx, said the nation’s housing meltdown, with all the mortgage-backed securities litigation, bailouts, lost home equity, and lawsuits cost $13 trillion, almost as much as the $15 trillion gross domestic product (GDP) for 2011. Speaking at a Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) gathering, she noted, “We did not pay attention to data integrity on the way up, and so we have wiped out almost an entire year of gross domestic product in the United States.” She said in the future, loan originators or borrowers may try to fudge on loan applications, supporting documents, or manipulate numbers for the down payment amount. “If that becomes the standard then that becomes the problem area.” As MHProNews has learned, she added, “If you don’t get it right up front then you have a defective loan.”
