Debt relief scheme forces families into foreclosure

Personal debt and serious financial challenges can be extremely difficult to manage on a practical and emotional level. For the thousands of people across the state of Florida and the entire country confronted with issues such as harassment from collection agencies, the need to eliminate debt quickly becomes desperate in many cases. Unfortunately, the eagerness of people to address their financial issues fast is exploited by illegal operations out to take advantage of families in their most vulnerable state. One incident of a family being driven into foreclosure by a scam serves as a sobering reminder that individuals should always seek the sound legal counsel a trusted bankruptcy lawyer before committing themselves to any debt relief plan.

The man responsible for forcing his victims into foreclosure has been tried and sentenced for wire and bank fraud. Not only will he be forced to pay over $300,000 in damages but he also faces a five-year prison sentence for illegally operating as a mortgage company.

The man’s scheme involved buying the victims’ home for a limited amount of time under the guise of allowing them to improve their credit and buy back the property in the end. While the man had the house in his possession, he collected rent from the victims and took several loans on the home’s equity. Ultimately, the situation came to a head when the defendant allowed the home equity loans that he took to go unpaid, placing the house into foreclosure and leaving the victims without their money or title to the house.

The case can serve as a cautionary tale to anyone with personal debt and/or bad credit because the man preyed on victims facing such difficulties and contacted them specifically.

Source: texomashomepage.com, “Mortgage Company Scams out of Homes and into Foreclosure,” May 27, 2014