Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is facing mounting allegations of mortgage fraud after federal housing regulators issued criminal referrals over discrepancies in her property filings.
CNN acknowledged the seriousness of the case Friday, with legal analyst Elie Honig saying the suspicious activity was “really problematic” for Cook, The Daily Caller reported.
Bill Pulte, the head of the U.S. Federal Housing Agency, confirmed that a second criminal referral has now been filed. He alleges Cook misrepresented a condominium in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when she claimed it was a “second home” on a 2021 mortgage application, then listed it as an “investment/rental property” on a government ethics form eight months later.
“Three strikes and you’re out,” Pulte wrote on X, detailing what he said were repeated false representations by Cook about her properties in Cambridge, Atlanta, and Ann Arbor.
According to Pulte, Cook’s filings from 2022 through 2025 consistently described the Cambridge condo as an investment property, contradicting her original mortgage application. He further alleged that Cook falsely claimed her Atlanta condo as her primary residence while simultaneously claiming the same status for her Michigan home, and later designated her Ann Arbor residence as her home address while renting it out.
Such discrepancies could have given Cook access to better loan terms. Lenders typically offer lower rates for second homes and primary residences than for investment properties, which carry higher down payments and interest rates because of higher perceived risk.
Cook acknowledged in court filings that documents were altered, but has suggested that clerical mistakes were to blame. CNN’s legal expert, Honig, said the defense lacks a credible explanation.
“There’s three properties, OK? Within a two-week stretch, she gets a mortgage on a place in Michigan and says that’s her principal residence. Two weeks later, she gets a mortgage on a place in Atlanta and says that’s her primary residence. And now there’s a third place in Cambridge that she said was her secondary residence, but she’s actually renting it out,” he said during a Friday segment.
“Now, why would someone do all this? Because you get better interest rates, because you get better tax benefits,” Honig added.
He noted further that Cook’s legal filings offered “no explanation of what she did, how this happened,” dismissing her suggestion of clerical error. “That’s not gonna fly, because Lisa Cook is one of the most established, accomplished financial and economic experts in this country,” Honig said.
Pulte maintains that Cook’s conduct could amount to both mortgage fraud and occupancy fraud, with potential tax implications.
Cook, recently fired by President Donald Trump, has acknowledged manufacturing documents connected to her personal mortgage applications.
Trump removed Cook last week after citing mortgage fraud allegations referred by Pulte.
In a letter to Cook, Trump wrote, “Pursuant to my authority under Article II of the Constitution of the United States and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, as amended, you are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately. I have determined that there is sufficient cause to remove you from your position.”
Cook, appointed to the Fed’s Board of Governors by President Joe Biden, has filed a lawsuit challenging her removal.
The suit, assigned to a Biden-appointed federal judge, names Trump, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and Chairman Jerome Powell as defendants. She is represented by attorneys Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen.
“We have obtained a document Lisa Cook submitted to the U.S. Government while serving as Federal Reserve Governor. In it, on February 28, 2023, she represents to the U.S. Government that the Atlanta property is her personal residence,” Pulte stated.
“However, Lisa Cook, as a then-sitting Fed Governor and six months earlier, on September 1, 2022, appears to have listed that same property for rent.”
Pulte argued that the timing of the two loans indicated Cook’s lenders may not have been aware of each other’s underwriting processes, a situation he described as consistent with occupancy fraud.