Victim Of Home Improvement Contractor To Lose Home Of 40 Years

NorthJersey.com recently reported on the story of a Paterson, New Jersey woman and her family who were victimized by a local home improvement contractor and a mortgage company in a scam that has left the homeowner in the process of losing her home of 40 years. The gist of the story is that:

• she unknowingly signed for a mortgage loan on her home,
• the contractor she hired took the proceeds of the loan and did little work,
• the work that was done lacked the necessary permits and resulted in a local building inspector stopping the work on the home,
• the basement subsequently collapsed, leaving the house sitting lopsided,
• ultimately, it was determined that the mortgage lender's appraiser had overvalued the home by $100,000.
• the homeowners also claimed that their signature was forged and earnings were inflated.

The homeowner filed a civil lawsuit against D&M Financial (the mortgage lender), and both East Coast Developers (the home improvement contractor) and John Evans (its owner) in 2003. A state court arbitrator ultimately ruled that the contractor was paid "in an apparent conspiracy with D&M" for a "predatory loan," and that D&M, the lender, was liable.

Unfortunately for the homeowner, the mortgage loan was sold several times. A state court subsequently ruled that the current holder of the loan had no knowledge of what had gone on earlier among the original parties and therefore ruled that a foreclosure action brought by the current mortgage holder could proceed.

Regarding the mortgage lender, investigations by banking regulators in New Jersey and New York of D&M Financial reportedly revealed that a few dozen banks have sued it for unloading bad loans on them. In one action brought in Brooklyn Federal Court, D&M was alleged to have been engaged in or having some connection with "vastly inflated appraisals," misstating borrowers' incomes and writing false checks for about $20 million in loans.

As far as the the contracting company and its owner are concerned, their phone number has been disconnected, they are not registered with the State of New Jersey as a home improvement contractor, and efforts to locate them were fruitless.

For the story, see Mortgage scam turns 40-year dream into a nightmare for Paterson family.

For links to Federal Court cases involving DMC Financial Corporation, see DMC Financial - Party Index (To view court documents, PACER Registration required).

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