This fraud had been reported going on in Long Island, NY but watching the news, it pops up wherever those with larceny in their hearts walk. This is the scam. A buyer arranges to purchase a seller's home for the asking price of, let’s say, $650,000. The buyer then arranges for an appraisal that values the seller's home at $750,000, and then mortgages 100% of the artificially "selling" price. The seller gets his $650,000 and the buyer pockets the difference.

Then the borrower will either flip the property again at another artificially inflated price to an associate crook, or more likely, default on all the loans, keeping the $100,000 extra they borrowed above the true cost of the home. Multiply that figure by the many homes in an area where these bottom feeders work across the U.S. and you find a crime wave. Unfortunately, without precise investigation you’ll find the extent of the scam.

While the above described scam is illegal, similar type legal deals are allowed. Take, for instance, the situation of a "sellers concession." The price might be increased by, let say, 6%, which the seller will give back to the buyer to cover closing expenses. This is not hidden and is done with full knowledge of the bank and the seller. The sales price must still fall within the range for the comparables for the home (cherry picking over a greater standard deviation may not be scrutinized) and the concession cannot exceed 6% or the total closing costs whichever is less.

These artificially high home sales are now being used as "comparables" to assess your property's value and even can affect you is by increasing your homeowner's insurance premiums, which are calculated in part based on the value of our home.

Your insurance company may assess the value of your home based on artificially inflated home sales which may in turn artificially inflate their assessment of your home’s worth.

In many areas require a college degree to become an officer of the law. Most of the towns I come across I see the police busting working people driving to and from work for minor traffic offenses and not using their talents in other more significant areas of consumer crime apprehension.

Illegal crimes against the tax payer as well as "legal crimes against the taxpayer " in the form of government union featherbedding, steering spending contracts, appropriations misdirected as well as disproportionate health insurance benefits, 20-years and early retirement, over-time pay, pay grades not equivalent to the private retail sector aggravate the working man’s/women’s perception of justice. The mayor should be a "taxpayer advocate." Almost every mayor I find is a glad hander, a self-promoter and doesn’t give a rats behind about the taxpayer. There are rare exceptions.