LEE COUNTY, Fla -- New information reveals another reason leading to local foreclosure problems -- mortgage fraud. In fact Fort Myers ranks among the top ten cities in the nation for misrepresentation.

"The street's awfully quiet," said northeast Cape Coral resident, Daniel Garlock. But Garlock doesn't so much mind the quiet. What does concern him, the number of empty homes in his neighborhood.

"A lot of overgrown weeds around the houses look kind of run down. Just not very much attention is paid to them," he said.

One of the reasons that Southwest Florida may have been hit so hard with foreclosures, Florida ranked number one among states in 2007 for mortgage fraud.

In fact, by cities, Fort Myers rated number eight in misrepresentations - in credit and occupancy.

Simply put, experts say people were claiming property as a vacation home instead of investment property to get a better rate. Investment properties are riskier loans, because people walk away faster when they run in to financial trouble.

"Often times they'll go ahead and rent it out and it's truly being used as an investment property, or they're trying to turn around and sell it very quickly for an appreciation," said mortgage broker, Laura Hess.

Some were buying multiple properties, but then...

"In the last year, the property values have fallen so the people that were flipping properties are now just walking away," said Hess.

And leaving behind empty homes. But Garlock hopes that will soon change.

"It'd be nice to see more people out and the homes taken care of," he said.

Experts do believe that mortgage fraud is harder to get away with now, because the lending has been tightened.