To curb money laundering, Uncle Sam is expanding a rule requiring settlement providers to determine and report the names of participants in all-cash transactions. But the trend of seller impersonation fraud is proving harder to stop.

First, the fraud. According to numerous sources, more and more homeowners are falling victim to seller impersonation scams, in which a fraudster claims to own a property using phony documents as proof. If no one at the title company is eagle-eyed enough to notice the rip-off, and the local recording office doesn’t spot it, either, a new deed is issued in the swindler’s name.

The con artist then turns around and "sells" the property at an attractively low price, absconding with the proceeds before anyone is the wiser. By the time the deed -- no pun intended -- is done, the con is long gone.

The scam is often run on vacant land or unoccupied vacation homes, but not always: In one recent case in North Carolina, a woman managed to obtain the title to a multimillion-dollar house despite it still being occupied by the real owner and his family.

ABC reporter Diane Wilson wrote that "according to North Carolina law, the Register of Deeds does not have a duty to verify the legal sufficiency of a deed when it is presented for registration," although "the office can refuse to record a document if fraud is suspected." (It wasn't, in this case.)

It’s hard to say how prevalent seller impersonation fraud is. For one thing, if the targeted property is vacant land, it can be months -- or even years -- before the real owner even discovers the fraud. Also, this type of scam is not a separate category in most crime statistics. For example, the Federal Trade Commission says nearly $2.7 billion in losses were reported from imposter scams in 2023, but that includes all imposter schemes -- not just real estate ones.

A study prepared for the American Land Title Association (ALTA) is more telling. It found that 28% of title insurance companies experienced at least one attempted title theft in 2023. Of those, 16% said they had paid claims related to seller impersonation.

In August, six industry and consumer groups -- including ALTA, the National Association of Realtors and the National Notary Association -- formed a coalition to address this type of scam. They released an educational brief called "What Is Deed Fraud?" to publicize the issue and advocate for changes.

Among other things, the groups want better protections for taxpayer information, while keeping land records accessible and public; more ID-verification options for in-person notarizations; and new continuing education requirements for real estate licensees and notaries. The groups also want property owners nationwide to have free access to property recording notification systems -- something only a handful of states currently offer.

Other than these proposed steps, though, property owners are typically on their own when it comes to combating imposter fraud. It helps if they purchased an enhanced title insurance policy when they bought the place: An enhanced policy generally covers events after the title is transferred, whereas a regular policy only covers events prior to taking ownership.

If the owner opted out of an enhanced policy and comes up against impersonation fraud, they'll have to hire an attorney to sort out the problem. To help support victims, the six industry groups are calling on state legislatures and local governments to earmark more resources for combating fraud. They also are asking governments to step up and help legit owners reestablish titles in their names.

Some states are rising to the occasion: In New York, where deed theft was not a crime previously, a new law now names it a form of grand larceny and extends the statute of limitations, giving prosecutors at the state and local levels more time to investigate cases.

When identifying potential cases of fraud, title companies told ALTA that common red flags included transactions involving vacant land and requests to use an unknown notary. All-cash transactions also carry a higher risk, they said.

Speaking of all-cash transactions: Title companies and attorneys will soon have to report the identities of all parties involved in all-cash real estate deals. It's part of a continuing effort to thwart drug cartels and foreign officials from laundering ill-gotten gains through American real estate.

Previously, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) required title companies and attorneys to report the names of the “beneficial owners” of limited liability corporations and the like in cash deals over $300,000 in certain locations. But starting Dec. 1, the dollar threshold will be removed, as will the geographic limits.

FinCEN also is expanding the amount of information that must be reported. Now, reporting persons must provide their names and addresses, as well as those of both parties to the transaction, plus their dates of birth and taxpayer identification numbers.

The agency also wants information about any money that changes hands, including the amounts and the names of the financial institution from which the payment was drawn. If a lender not subject to anti-money-laundering rules was involved, it wants information about that lender, too.

If the past is prologue, millions of homeowners with high-rate mortgages won’t refinance their loans, even as mortgage rates tumble.

Refinancing offers significant savings and can potentially improve your financial stability. Still, there are all kinds of reasons people don’t do it: Perhaps they no longer qualify for financing or can’t afford to close on a new loan. They might not know how to begin the process, or they don't want the hassle.

Then again, maybe they just aren’t paying attention to the fact that mortgage rates have finally started to fall. A year ago, rates hit a peak of 7.79% -- but by this September, they'd dropped to 6.2%.

Whatever the reason, previous cycles suggest that many borrowers eligible to refinance just don’t do so.

"Even as interest rates fell to historic lows in 2020 and 2021" -- a low of 2.65% in January 2021, to be precise -- "about 3.7 million mortgages (7.4%) still had interest rates of at least 6%," according to a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

At today's rates, roughly 2.5 million borrowers are good candidates to refinance, says the CFPB. And if rates dip to, say, 5.5%, then over 7 million people could potentially refi.

Still, the fear is that too many borrowers will miss the boat again. To encourage people to refinance, the watchdog agency is exploring ways to streamline the process. Director Rohit Chopra says the agency is also working to curb the “exorbitant closing costs and junk fees” that make refinancing too expensive for many.

So, does it make sense for you to refi this time around? Here are some things to consider.

One rule of thumb is that it doesn’t pay to refinance unless rates have fallen by 2 percentage points or more. But now, with millions of recent homebuyers sitting on mortgages over 6%, it might make sense to take the step sooner. According to figures from the CFPB, someone who took out a $400,000 mortgage in October 2023 at 7.79% could have trimmed their monthly principal-and-interest payment by $427 had they refinanced at 6.2% in September.

The 1.59% slide in mortgage rates has already triggered a flurry of refinance applications. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, refis accounted for 55.7% of all loan applications for the week ending Sept. 20 -- which was "175% higher than the same week one year ago," per a news release from the group.

Some borrowers will still sit tight, waiting for rates to fall even further, but there’s no guarantee that will happen. Indeed, some economists point out that the Federal Reserve’s rate cut was already baked into mortgage rates by lenders who expected it. And any future cuts from the Fed wouldn't necessarily decrease loan rates.

If you decide to refinance, know that it isn’t cheap. Generally, plan on spending roughly 5% to 7% of the mortgage amount on closing costs -- which may or may not include the cost of an appraisal, title search and application fees.

That’s a lot of cash, but many lenders will allow borrowers to roll those costs into the loan balance.

Then again, that may defeat the purpose of refinancing: With a higher balance, the monthly payments may not fall by much -- or at all. It’s doubtful that recent buyers have built up enough equity in their homes to give them much of a borrowing cushion.

It’s best to sit down with a mortgage broker or loan officer, work the numbers and make an informed decision.

One factor to consider is how long you plan to stay in your house. If it's only a couple more years, you won’t be there long enough to recoup your costs. But if you plan to remain longer, refinancing might make sense.

While you’re pondering all of this, make sure you can qualify for a new mortgage. Put your credit history in order: Don’t use more than 30% of the total credit allocated on your cards, and pay on time. Any late payments over the previous 12 months will be counted against you.

Check to see how much equity you have built up in your house since you bought it. For the most part, home values have been rising steadily in recent months, but in some markets, values have fallen. Mortgage companies generally won’t lend more than 80% of a home’s value, so if your loan-to-balance ratio is greater than that, you may not be a good candidate. That's especially true if you took out a second mortgage or used credit to get through the pandemic-induced economic downturn.

Still, check with a loan officer anyway; some lenders may be willing to proceed with a higher ratio if a borrower checks all the other boxes.

Lastly, make sure you have some cash on hand. Refinancing costs are significant -- expect to pay almost as much as you did to close the original loan. Even if you can roll some charges into your new loan, you'll still have to put some funds down.

Cash is king when it comes to buying a house. Always has been, and always will be. And these days, individual cash buyers -- as opposed to cash-laden investors -- have an even better shot of scoring the house of their dreams.

The share of investors currently trolling the resale market is at its lowest point since 2008, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. And the National Association of Home Builders says all-cash sales in the new-home sector have also been trending lower.

Consequently, individual buyers now face less competition from investors -- and paying with cash gives them a leg up on buyers who must use financing.

Sellers like it when there is no mortgage involved: For one thing, cash allows for a quicker closing. An appraisal is not required, and no lender means there will be no lender-caused delays. All in all, there is less risk of something derailing a cash transaction on the way to settlement.

But there are downsides. Do you really want to empty your piggy bank, close out your retirement accounts and unload all your stocks and bonds, just to have all those assets tied up in a house?

You might, if there was a way to get your cash back in relatively short order. And that's possible with a technique known as delayed financing.

Delayed financing isn’t a kind of mortgage. Rather, it is a method for refinancing a cash purchase right after closing. Normally, homebuyers have to wait at least six months to pull money out of their deals. But with delayed financing, there is no waiting period.

The technique is particularly helpful in competitive markets in which bidding wars are common. Unfortunately, "not many people know about this program, and even fewer are using it,” says agent John Meussner of Fair Oaks, California.

When he posted about it on the ActiveRain real estate site in 2014, the response was “tremendous,” Meussner reports. “Comments like, ‘My lender didn’t know what I was talking about when I asked him about delayed financing’ were common,” he wrote in a follow-up post.

There are plenty of reasons you might want to retrieve some money out of your purchase. One is that houses are illiquid assets: It often takes months to buy and sell them -- unlike, say, stocks, which can be traded in seconds. Also, the money you used to buy your house cannot be used to make other investments. That goes against the adage that it's wisest to diversify your holdings -- to spread your money among different types of assets.

All-cash purchases also violate another basic investment tenant, which says it's best to invest with borrowed money, putting less of your own cash at risk.

Delayed financing pushes aside all these drawbacks. But as always, there are rules:

-- First and foremost, the refinanced mortgage has to be purchased from your lender by secondary market entity Fannie Mae. Check with your lender first to make sure that's the case.

-- Next, while there is no six-month wait to refinance, there is a six-month window in which you must do so. The window opens the day you close on your house and stays open for 180 days thereafter. If you miss the deadline, the opportunity is lost.

-- Refi now or later -- what’s the difference? In a regular refinance, the loan amount usually cannot exceed 80% of the home's value. But in a delayed financing, the loan amount can go up to the actual amount of your original investment in the property, as documented by the HUD-1 settlement statement -- plus whatever closing costs, prepaid fees and points you paid at that time.

That total, though, is subject to the loan-to-value ratio set for your new mortgage. And the loan amount cannot exceed Fannie Mae’s maximum loan limit, which changes yearly. Currently, that limit is $766,550 in most places, and about $1.15 million in high-cost markets.

-- Only your acquisition and closing costs can be financed under the delayed financing exception. Any costs incurred to renovate the property cannot be included. If you want to recoup those costs, as well as some of your original outlay, you’ll have to wait six months and apply for a standard cash-out refinance.

-- The purchase must have been an arm's-length transaction in which the buyer and seller both acted in their own individual interests.

-- The source of funds for your cash deal must be documented with bank statements, personal loan documents or a loan on another property you own. Any loans, including home equity lines of credit, used as a source of money for the purchase must be repaid from the proceeds from the delayed financing exception.

-- Gift funds can be used as a source of cash. But if the money Mom and Dad gave you must be repaid, it is not a gift; rather, it is a loan that must also be repaid from the delayed refi proceeds.

-- There can be no outstanding liens on the property, so make sure your taxes, insurance and homeowners association dues are paid up.