Grand Rapids Homeowner Victimized In I.D. Theft / Refinance Scam, Says Federal Lawsuit

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, WOOD-TV Channel 8 reported last month:

• Identity theft through mortgages is enough of a problem these days that an FBI agent went to a local group of real estate professionals and warned them of the consequences. In one such case - in which a federal lawsuit was filed in Grand Rapids - the victim says someone who she thought she could trust took her advantage of her because she doesn't speak English.

• Artemia Maldonado's son got sick last fall so she wanted to sell her Grand Rapids home to go live with her son. She then went to Adriana Salazar. "She was familiar and she could speak Spanish, so it was a lot easier," Artemia Maldonado's interpreter said of Salazar. "Said she was going to help sell her home, that she was going to sell it to some investors."

• But Salazar didn't sell it. Instead, according to the lawsuit, Salazar conspired with a couple of Ottawa County brothers working in real estate and made Maldonado sign documents that refinanced her home, and bought another one [...] . Maldonado says she was told they were sale documents. She couldn't read them because she doesn't speak English.

For more, see Woman claims she's a mortgage ID theft victim. (watch video) (read story transcript).

Editor's Note: The lawsuit includes allegations of civil racketeering (RICO - involving alleged conduct constituting mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud), fraud, civil conspiracy, violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, breach of fiduciary duty, among others.

To view the lawsuit, see Complaint - Maldonado v. Salazar, et al.

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