Salt Lake City Foreclosure Rescue Operator Facing Five Felonies In Dubious Sale Leaseback Deals With Financially Strapped Homeowners

In Salt Lake City, Utah, KUTV Channel 2 reports:

• A lot of people sign important documents without really reading them, but for an elderly Utah couple that oversight cost them their home. Emery and June Mitton were visited recently by the owner of a company called "Residential Resolve," which claims to help homeowners with financial troubles. In fact, the company motto holds, "We save homes."

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• Seeking a resolution to their mortgage troubles, the Mittons eagerly paid attention to [Residential Resolve owner Jeff] Wangsgard's proposal. A short time later, Wangsgard then accompanied the couple to a bank and paid $13,000 toward their delinquent mortgage payments. After Wangsgard's grand gesture, the Mittons signed some documents on the spot without really reading over the fine print. What they didn't know was that one of the documents was an "assignment of beneficial interest and land trust" -- which essentially handed over the home and property to Wangsgard. Believing that the documents were merely an application for a new loan arrangement, the Mittons were shocked when, days later, Wangsgard showed up at their home with a locksmith and demanded that they leave. "He said, 'I'm here to evict you,'" June recalled. "'I'll give you some time to pack some clothes, then we are changing the locks.'"

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• Apparently, though, several of Wangsgard's other "customers" were not OK with their deals. [Last] week, the "Residential Resolve" owner appeared in Davis County court and was charged with five felonies stemming from his dealings with the Mittons and other clients. The charges against Wangsgard include communications fraud and exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

• "Other people came forward," said assistant state attorney general Charlene Barlow. "If you have one occurrence, maybe someone is confused. But when you have two or three different people coming forward... it's a much easier case to present to a jury." The charges against Wangsgard are a direct result from the Mittons' case and two others that are similar in nature.

For more, see How A Utah Couple Was Kicked Out Of Their Home By Mortgage "Helper." (read story) (watch video).

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

Go here and go here for criminal prosecutions of foreclosure rescue, refinancing, and other deed scams. whale