Fraudulent Covid Aid Drove Up U.S. House Prices, Report Says

Researchers found that people who defrauded the government for pandemic relief poured money into housing markets, driving inflation in some areas

Homes in Cook County, Illinois. Researchers who linked pandemic loan fraud to higher real-estate prices said more than 30% of pandemic loans in the county were suspicious. Photo: eileen meslar/Reuters

Fraud against the Paycheck Protection Program was widespread enough to bump up real-estate prices within certain U.S. ZIP Codes, researchers at the University of Texas concluded, blaming the abuse on some of the financial technology companies that provided the loans.

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