Chicago Foreclosure Rescue Operator Gets 30 Months In Federal Prison

In Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reports:

• U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras was impressed by the bearing of the tall, trim man in a suit who stood before him two months ago pleading guilty to mortgage fraud. [Last week], Kocoras told Evans he had been looking for reasons to be lenient. But instead, the judge imposed a fairly stiff sentence of 30 months in prison after studying a probation officer's report on Evans' life and prospects for rehabilitation.

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• Evans began approaching homeowners who were in danger of losing their houses to foreclosure with a fake rescue scheme. If the homeowners temporarily transferred their homes to a third person, Evans told them, they could get back on their feet financially and take back the property. Instead, Evans sold their homes and pocketed most of the proceeds, according to his plea agreement.

• To get mortgage loans on the houses, Evans dummied up tax returns, W-2 forms and employment histories. Mortgage companies lent Evans' straw buyers a total of $245,000 on two properties. They failed to make payments, and the properties went into foreclosure. In both cases, the homeowners lost their houses.

• It wasn't the only time Evans had done that. In 2002, Evans orchestrated the transfer and sale of a home owned by David Shank, a 46-year-old mentally disabled man. Shank's home was mortgaged for $94,000, and Evans' real estate company pocketed $65,000 of that.The home went into foreclosure, and Shank was forced to relocate to a group home. After an 18-month legal battle, the Cook County Public Guardian forced Evans to repay the $65,000.

For more, see Mortgage fraud case ends in 30-month sentence.

Go here for criminal prosecutions of foreclosure rescue operators.