Foreclosure Rescue Scam Leaves Homeowner & Straw Buyer Holding The Bag

The Boston Globe reports on a foreclosure rescue operator called National Foreclosure Centers, who has left one financially strapped Massachusetts homeowner in more trouble due to an equity stripping deal, and an unwitting straw buyer in Florida holding title to five properties that are now in foreclosure. According to the story:

• The company was run by Eric L. Turner, a Florida resident who had created a string of similar firms beginning in 2004, Florida incorporation records show: Foreclosure Solution Group, Saving the American Dream Inc., Home Savers USA Corp. and, in 2006, National Foreclosure Centers. Turner could not be reached for comment. The phone number for National Foreclosure Centers is no longer in service. The website directs visitors to a similar site for a new company called United Foreclosure Networks. People answering the phone at United Foreclosure said he worked there, but Turner did not return several messages left at the office or at his home in Plantation, Fla.

In April, the Massachusetts homeowner sued the Florida straw buyer, National Foreclosure, the closing agent, and the mortgage company that made the loan in the foreclosure rescue deal, accusing them of defrauding him out of his home and more than $100,000. The straw buyer has since returned legal title to the home to the homeowner, but the mortgage company still claims having a lien on the home. The lawsuit is continuing.

Turner, no stranger to trouble, was indicted in June on 16 counts of fraud in an unrelated case dating to 2001. He pleaded not guilty and currently awaits trial in a South Florida Federal court. In 2004, he settled civil charges in the matter brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and agreed to pay more than $160,000 in penalties.

For more, see Default threat ignites scams (Firms prey on homeowners; A cautionary tale in Roxbury) (if link expires, try here).

For more on equity stripping scams, generally,see DREAMS FORECLOSED: The Rampant Theft of Americans' Homes Through Equity-stripping Foreclosure 'Rescue' Scams (4.61 MB approx.).