AP Photo/Reed Saxon
- Real estate professionals say they've seen a surge in housing fraud over the past year.
- It's a consequence of tight conditions sparking desperation from both buyers and sellers.
- Some experts say they expect the situation to get worse as market dynamics continue to shift.
When fraud victims contact Mark Berman, an attorney at Ganfer Shore that frequently deals with cases of real estate fraud, they're often distraught. Many of them were close to closing on a property when they received a legitimate-looking email or text asking them to wire a chunk of money to wrap up the deal.
It becomes clear later that the request was sent by a fraudster, part of a wave of similar scams looking to take advantage of frustrated homebuyers and sellers clamoring to transact in a tough market.