Elderly Chicago Woman Victimized In Predatory Lending Scam; Brings RICO Charges Against Lenders

New York Times' Op-Ed Columnist Bob Herbert recently recounted the story of an elderly Chicago, Illinois woman who is facing the loss of her home in an alleged predatory lending scam:

• Like vultures, the mortgage lenders began circling the single-family house with the tiny front lawn on Merrill Avenue. They knew that the woman who owned the house was old and sick and that her two aging daughters were struggling with illness and poverty as well. That was all to the good as far as the lenders were concerned. The predator’s mission is to home in on the vulnerable. “The people that wanted to put through the loan called me about a hundred times,” said Rosa Dailey, who is 65 and going blind and needs an oxygen tank at times to help her breathe. “I kept telling them no, because I didn’t think we could afford it. But they kept saying how it was to our advantage. So I finally said: ‘All right, let’s see what we can do.’ ”

For more, see A Swarm of Swindlers (may require registration; if no registration, try here).

Ms. Dailey's mother and older sister are now dead and she is facing the loss of her home. Chicago, Illinois Attorney William Spielberger has taken up Ms. Dailey’s case by filing a federal Racketeering (RICO) lawsuit on her behalf in September against Citi Residential Lending, a subsidiary of Citigroup that acquired Argent Mortgage, as well as WM Specialty Mortgage, a subsidiary of Washington Mutual, and (the curiously named) Integrity First Mortgage.