Elderly Blind Oregon Homeowner Loses Home In Equity Stripping, Foreclosure Rescue Deal; Reportedly "Made Whole" Thru Legal Settlement

In Portland, Oregon, Willamette Week recently reported that the Oregon state legislature will be considering a proposed bill targeting foreclosure rescue scams this week. Buried at the end of the article is the story of one elderly homeowner for whom the proposed bill, if passed, won't help.

• The bill comes too late, however, for Evelyn Allen, a 73-year-old Northeast Portlander. According to a civil lawsuit last year, Jason Larry Somera and Mark Caravia saw Allen’s name on a foreclosure list. Allen owed $26,000 against a property assessed at $156,000. They offered to “lend” her $40,000 against her property, with no payments due for two years. But Allen—who is described by her attorney as “completely blind”—actually signed away her property for $40,000.

• “Defendants knew Allen was blind and took advantage of her blindness to fraudulently obtain her signature signing the title of her home over to them,” Allen’s attorney, Erin Olson, wrote in the lawsuit. Although the men refinanced the Allen’s house for $180,000 and sold it to a third party, Olson was able to get her client “made whole” as part of settling the lawsuit. Charlie Williamson, the attorney for Somera and Caravia, says his clients “could have done things better,” but adds “I don’t think they broke the law and I don’t think they defrauded this lady.” Olson disagrees. “This was really egregious behavior and extremely stressful for my client,” Olson says. “I hope the Legislature will make it more difficult for this to happen.”

For more, see Rescue Me (A Portland Cop is targeting foreclosure vultures. Next week, the Legislature will, too).

Go here , here , here , and here for other posts on elder financial abuse. whale