Elderly Among Those Targeted In Recently Busted Alleged "Bait & Switch" Refinancing Scam Ring

In Los Angeles, California, the Los Angeles Daily News reports:

• For Charles and Patricia Simmons, the offer seemed like a boon as they coped with extra medical costs: lower monthly payments on their $550,000 Inglewood home, reduced interest rates and $25,000 in cash. Instead, the couple ended up with no cash, a $5,600 monthly mortgage payment, deeper debt, much of their savings lost - and facing the potential loss of their longtime home. "Please, please, do something to help us and others like us," Patricia Simmons said Wednesday at a Los Angeles City Hall news conference. "There are so many crooked mortgage dealers that are hurting the elderly who are facing the loss of their homes like myself."

• Investigators say the Simmonses are among people throughout Southern California who were defrauded - apparently out of millions of dollars - in what officials call an elaborate bait-and-switch scheme operated by a San Fernando Valley group.

For more, see Elderly fear home loss in loan scheme.

For earlier post on this story, see California Authorities Bust Up Alleged "Bait & Switch" Predatory Lending Scam Operation, Thousands Victimized.