Florida Cops Arrest Alleged Ringleader In Mortgage Scam That Duped "Rent To Own" Tenants, Straw Buyers, Lenders

WBBH-TV Channel 2 (Fort Myers, Florida) reports:

• One of the alleged ringleaders of a major mortgage fraud scheme has been arrested and denied bond. Eric Heckler faces 16 counts of mortgage fraud, ... 17 counts of defrauding a financial institution and one count of racketeering. In March 2006, ten people were charged in the alleged scheme that took advantage of the hot Southwest Florida real estate market (see Ten charged in alleged mortgage scam).

The alleged scam involved paying straw buyers with good credit a $5,000 fee to purchase homes at inflated prices in transactions in which the alleged scammers pulled cash out of the deal. The operators then rented the homes on a "lease with option to buy" basis to tenants with bad credit with the understanding that after reestablishing their credit, the tenants would be able to buy the homes. Those charged in the operation allegedly pocketed the rent and stiffed the lenders out of their mortgage payments, allowing the homes to go into foreclosure, and leaving the tenants, the straw buyers, and the mortgage lenders all holding the bag.

The total haul over the two years the scheme operated was about $3.8 million. For more, see Fugitive charged in mortgage fraud operation arrested.

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