Information from Lenders (IFL) initiative
Contact
Information should be clearly marked 'Information From Lender – Mortgage Intelligence' and sent to:
Welcome to the Information from Lenders webpage. This page explains what you need to know about the initiative and provides links to the most important documents.
Background
In 2006 The Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and a representative group of mortgage lenders met to discuss how best the industry can share information and mitigate the risk of mortgage fraud and financial crime. Since then we have worked together to develop a consistent approach to reporting fraudulent activity by mortgage intermediaries.
In July 2008 members of the FSA met representatives from many lending firms at four venues across the country. During these discussions we explained how we process IFL reports, how we investigate a firm and the role that Enforcement often play. The reception at all of these meetings was extremely positive and displayed a strong desire by all parties to work more closely together to combat mortgage fraud. During the four events we answered many queries and took several away to look at in more detail. These questions, and the answers, are included in one of the documents available to download from this page.
Criteria for reporting mortgage fraud
This is a voluntary initiative which has already proved very successful. We are interested in both proven and suspected fraudulent mortgage applications where the lender considers the matter sufficiently serious to remove the intermediary from their panel or a subsequent investigation identifies fraud.
Listed below are some examples of proven and suspected fraud. They are not exhaustive and we appreciate there will be other examples of fraud which result in a lender removing an intermediary from their panel.
Proven Fraud
- Actual fraudulent documentation, i.e. bank statements, utility bills, wage slips, accountant references, P60s, Passports, Driving Licenses etc.
- False employment or income details
- Inconsistent information relating to the same applicant, i.e. various applications made with different incomes/details either to the same lender or lenders within a group, different details on mortgage applications to other finances e.g. bank accounts etc.
Suspected Fraud
- Doubts over income and employment details
- Suspicious behaviour or trends occurring on completed accounts - for example a broker whose completed cases have an unusual rate of suspicious arrears/repossessions, benefit claims or fraud complaints
- Links with other applicants where fraud has not actually been proven, i.e. shared addresses, accountants, purchases on same development, identical loan amounts etc.
- Links between different mortgage applicants i.e. shared bank accounts, addresses etc.
- Applications cancelled when further information/verification is requested
- Suspected fraudulent documentation
- One or more of the above in several cases from the same broker or other suspicious trends.
What to include in your submission
Please send us as much information as possible. Amongst the things we need are the precise reasons you have for suspecting the broker; the names and address of suspected accountants, solicitors and valuers; copies of suspected applications. Everything that you provide us can be useful in someway and will be treated as strictly confidential.
We have created a template reporting document that is available from the Downloads section of this page. The form is not compulsory but it will help you to include the information that is most valuable to us.
Who to contact
Information should be clearly marked 'Information from Lender – Mortgage Intelligence' and sent to our IFL inbox: IFL@fsa.gov.uk
If regulated firms have any queries about any of the above please email the IFL inbox above.
If you are not a regulated firm but would like to anonymously report the activities of a regulated firm, please contact the consumer contact centre: 0845 606 1234.
Downloads & Links
Template reporting document [DOC]