Share house investors find themselves entangled in alleged mortgage fraud
The Asahi Shimbun newspaper has reported on potential mortgage fraud occurring with companies that tout share houses to real estate investors.
When buying an investment property from one of these companies, buyers typically entrust the entire loan application process to one of the many real estate agencies connected to the seller. The seller's side will take copies of the buyer's bank book showing their savings. At some point, and by whom remains unclear, the documents submitted to the bank are forged in order to improve the chance of obtaining finance or obtaining a loan much larger than would normally be approved. There are apparently cases where a buyer’s savings have been falsely inflated by as much as 10 times the true amount, along with false records showing a large deposit made to the seller.Read more