The interest rates are increasing rapidly, causing it to become harder for buyers to get a mortgage.

CBC Marketplace did an undercover investigation and exposed real estate agents, brokers and even bank employees of fraudulent activity.

CBC Marketplace hid a camera and caught multiple real estate agents willing to create fake taxes, employment documents and salaries in order for buyers to qualify for mortgages they don't really qualify for.
 

 (Video Here)

Two marketplace employees went undercover as new Canadian residents looking to buy a new home. The employers told 10 agents that they could only afford a 20% down payment, but they were unsure about how much income they were getting. Since this is a factor that disqualifies them of a mortgage, 6 out of 10 agents were willing to create fake documents that allowed them to qualify for a mortgage.

"Income is not an issue, income we can make." said one agent trying to convince the buyer that they don't need to worry about how much they make compared to the price of the house. “Even if you are making 0 dollars, even if you are a housewife, we can make the income.”

“You know, by books, you will not qualify for this mortgage.” This was stated by an agent. “I will do some documentation showing that you guys are making more and that will get you what you want. But they cannot openly say it out in public because it's not the truth."

3 out of the 6 real estate agents caught facilitating this mortgage fraud work for Homelife Miracle Realty LTD. This company has 5 brokerages across the Toronto area. Marketplace has spoken with several buyers saying agents working for the same brokerage pushed them towards fraudulent  mortgage applications or even submitted one without their knowledge.

Ajay Shah is the broker record for Homelife Miracle Realty LTD. Shah said he does not support this behavior. Marketplace then told him that they caught multiple of his agents on camera.

Shah did not want to participate in an on camera interview but then went on to say “The maximum I can do is fire them because I don't have the authority to take the licenses away from these agents. That, only RECO can do."

Mortgage fraud was also found in big banks.

CBC Marketplace also found fraudulent mortgage applications supported by fake employment and tax documents being pushed through individuals working at one of Canada's biggest bank, Scotia Bank.

"You will get the bank rate, you will get everything from the bank.” Said one real estate agent in response to a question about their mortgage.

The Harding family incident. 

A couple by the name of Chris and Bibi Hardling immigrated from Guyana in 2021, and were very surprised when they found out that a Scotia Bank employee submitted a fake mortgage application on their behalf.

“All of our information had been altered,” said Bibi when she went into the bank to provide her security number and realized that there was fake employment information on both her and her husband's account.

The fake employment information stated that Chris was a manager for a hardwood flooring company and Bibi worked for a tax company. Both of these were false as Chris runs his own businesses in his home country, and Bibi had only worked in an elementary school for a few years.

The Scotiabank home financing advisor that the Hardlings used  for their mortgage application submitted false information under the direction of there real estate agent.

Before realizing that the employee was going to create fake documents, the Scotia Bank employee requested $5,000 to set up their profiles for the mortgage applications. The Hardlings then went on to send the money, believing that it was a legitimate cost.

After discovering it was a fraud, the Hardlings then complained to Scotia Bank but later received a letter saying that the bank closed their accounts.

Chris stated, "I was thinking at this point, 'OK, you come to Canada hoping to get a better life and everybody is just taking advantage of you.' There's no one to turn to that will actually represent you and say, hey, this is not how things are done here."

Later on, the Hardlings got an email from Scotia Bank saying they take fraud very seriously, so luckily the Hardling family received the $5,000 back and got their accounts reinstalled. Scotia Bank also stated that the employee that was handling their mortgage application got fired and no longer works for them.