Don't miss the article in today's New York Times about three Atlanta ladies who got together to expose rampant mortgage fraud in their leafy suburban Atlanta subdivisions.  Conventional wisdom has always held it that the primary loser in these deals is the lender, but these three crusaders helped show that there are real quality of life issues that are the colateral casualties of these crimes.  One woman joined the fight when illegal flipping contributed to an artificial 30% rise in the tax assessment of her primary residence.

The article does not take any pains to discriminate between illegal fraud-based flipping and the the perfectly legal brand practiced by ethical real estate investors, but it was an interesting article nonetheless.