@James Bartlett There can be civil and criminal penalties for mortgage fraud.

The reason I know this is some of my clients over the years and pretty sharp folks went down that rabbit hole and before they committed asked me to step in so I went through the whole pitch.. its amazing these guys are very good at what they do.. but end of the day they are just criminal orignizations.. 

Here’s why: http://www.keloland.com/news/article/news/joseph-stanford-talks-about-criminal-case and he has a new scam under Pro Close USA: http://www.procloseusa.com/#!

The policies are basically in favor of loser criminals and other dead beats at the expense of the "rich" who made different choices so we weren't poor all of our lives...

@Matthew Fortune Title insurance would not only cover your loss, it would cover the legal bills required to defend/prosecute your case.This is a no brainer in the REO scenario.

Make sure you run credit checks, criminal background and contact previous landlords.

An even bigger issue is that Zillow routinely misses evictions and criminal charges that a quick docket search in the locations listed in in the credit report turns up.

I prosecute people for a living. 

The OP will be opened up to criminal prosecution for a federal offense by committing mortgage fraud.

For all the greatness that this country offers it is also a playground for criminals and victims get screwed all the way around.Looking back I can see many red flags with this whole scenario and how it went down.