Beware false documentation, say Chris Bryden
and Michael Salter
A recent article in the Money section of The Times (14 July 2007) highlights the ability of unscrupulous would-be borrowers to artificially increase their demonstrable income to convince lenders to provide higher mortgages by way of false P60s, bank statements and other documents downloaded from the internet.
The report cites the Building Societies Association, which states that the use of such statements in mortgage applications is “rife”. Anyone using such documents to obtain a pecuniary advantage is liable to prosecution for theft or fraud-related offences. The sites offering this service insist that their activity is legal, billing themselves as providing a genuine service for those whose P60s are handwritten and therefore unacceptable, or have been lost; or simply for novelty purposes.
For legal practitioners there are more pressing concerns arising from the ease with which such documents can be obtained. It appears that bank statements from all the major banks can be quickly and easily created, with tailored details based on the location of the purchaser, such as standard direct debits to ensure
