Norfolk Alleged Straw Buyer Arrangements Catch The Eye Of The FBI

In Norfolk, Virginia, The Virginian Pilot reports on the stories of two individuals who unwittingly found themselves involved in so-called straw buyer arrangements which were allegedly orchestrated by Aretha Smiley, 37, a loan officer for a now-defunct mortgage company.

In one of the cases, an area woman falling behind on her bills went to Smiley seeking a refinance and reportedly ended up involved in an equity stripping, foreclosure rescue scam in which a straw buyer was allegedly used to pull all of the homeowner's equity out of her home of 23 years. The FBI is looking into both cases, according to the story.

For more, see Mortgage scams hit home amid real estate crunch.