Owner‐occupancy fraud and mortgage performance
研究发现，在住房抵押贷款中，借款人谎报自住而非投资的欺诈行为不仅存在于泡沫时期，至今仍普遍，且欺诈借款人违约率比类似投资者高75%，其违约更具策略性。
Abstract We identify occupancy fraud—borrowers who misrepresent their occupancy status as owner‐occupants rather than investors—in residential mortgage originations. Unlike previous work, we show that fraud was prevalent in originations not just during the housing bubble but also persists through more recent times. We also demonstrate that fraud is broad‐based and appears in government‐sponsored enterprise and bank portfolio loans, not just in private securitization; these fraudulent borrowers make up one third of the effective investor population. Occupancy frauds obtain credit at lower interest rates, suggesting a motivation for undertaking fraud. These fraudulent borrowers perform substantially worse than similar declared investors, defaulting at a 75% higher rate. We also provide evidence consistent with fraudulent borrowers’ defaults being more “strategic,” suggesting that this population poses a risk in the face of declining house prices.