Ground Zero

USA Today has called Las Vegas 'mortgage fraud ground zero', and by briefly examining the percentage of total homes in foreclosure there, it's easy to see how they could come to this conclusion. Please read the following quote taken from their article on the subject:

In the shadow of Sunrise Mountain, where Rolling Hills Drive turns into Gold Mine Drive, a plain two-story home sits unoccupied, like thousands of other houses here in southern Nevada.
Some of these empty homes have "for sale" signs. Others bear signs saying "foreclosure." Authorities say hundreds of them, including this one on Rolling Hills Drive, should have a different sign out front, one that reads "fraud."

Prosecutors contend this house was sold last year to a straw buyer as part of a sprawling mortgage fraud perpetrated by a husband-and-wife team involving 277 properties in greater Las Vegas.

Prosecutors have charged Eve Mazzarella, 30, and Steven Grimm, 45, with bank fraud, alleging the two caused banks to make more than $107 million in dubious loans and netted a profit of at least $15 million. Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. A trial has been scheduled for October.

To the untrained eye, the size, scope and sophistication of the alleged scheme is noteworthy. But to the FBI in Las Vegas, the problem is the opposite: In recent years, there have been so many mortgage fraud cases, the bureau and local prosecutors have had to establish a special task force to combat the problem.

Read the full article here.