California Feds, Local DAs Create Task Force To Target Foreclosure Scams, Mortgage Fraud

In California's San Joaquin Valley, the Contra Costa Times reports:

• Mortgage fraud has increased so dramatically in the San Joaquin Valley that a task force of federal, state and local agencies has been formed to fight back. The FBI, IRS, Secret Service, Department of Housing and district attorneys in Fresno, Tulare and other counties are among those involved. Their assignment: investigate mortgage fraud and foreclosure-rescue scams connected to the real estate boom and the bust that followed.

• The FBI has helped set up 65 similar groups to combat a nationwide epidemic of mortgage fraud blamed for $4 billion to $6 billion in losses, according to estimates. While the FBI helps organize such task forces fairly regularly, usually they're set up in response to violent crimes. The fresh focus on mortgage fraud reflects how prevalent it has become, said Steve Dupre, an FBI spokesman in Sacramento.

For more, see Feds fighting back (Agencies band together against rise in mortgage fraud).