Commercial Mortgage Loans and Fraud

When borrowers or people in general hear "commercial mortgage and fraud" in the same sentence the word commercial mortgage broker seems to pop right in mind. The reality however is that many borrowers play a larger role in fraudulent loans than the professional in the business. Whether it's just trying to not disclose a certain piece of information or in the extreme creating false documentation, it is always the wrong thing to do and will almost always come back to the borrower.

Why inexperienced borrowers that do maybe 2 or 3 commercial mortgages in their lifetime think they are going to be able to trick a professional underwriter, whose job it is to thoroughly police the file is beyond me.

We recently had a loan where the borrower tried to cover up their 30 day, rolling late payments with a story about a previous bank employee(that was no longer with the bank) that permitted them to defer their payment and created a fake letter on the banks letterhead supporting their story. The letter did in fact fool all involved in the beginning of the process, which resulted in a pre approved loan and a good faith deposit that was sent into the bank by the borrower.

However, after the underwriter called the existing bank for a pay off statement and to confirm the story, the truth was revealed. The end result of course was a waste of 2 months and the $5,000 deposit will not be refunded to the borrower. The bank could take action or report the borrower though I doubt they will bother.

Commercial loans can be difficult and closing some are harder than others, but no matter how difficult the borrowers situation is, it is never a good idea to "misrepresent" the truth about their commercial loan. It will come back, and the borrower at a minimum will lose money and possibly serve jail time for commercial mortgage fraud.