Texas Woman Gets 99 Years In Alleged Mortgage Fraud, Payment Skimming Scam; Homeowners In Foreclosure, HUD Left Holding The Bag

From the Office of the Texas Attorney General:

• A Henderson County woman was [Monday] sentenced to 99 years in prison for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme. On Tuesday, a Navarro County jury found the defendant, Kandace Yancy Marriott, 52, of Gun Barrel City, guilty of engaging in organized criminal activity. According to prosecutors, evidence presented at the punishment stage showed Marriott received monthly mortgage payments from her clients, failed to remit those payments to the mortgage lender, embezzled the homeowners’ funds, and therefore caused her clients to default on their home loans.

***

• The scheme involved predominantly low-income purchasers whose residential loans were guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a result, when the unqualified buyers defaulted on their home loans, their mortgage lenders did not suffer financial losses. Instead, HUD – and therefore the taxpayers – had to cover the default costs. Investigators believe the defendants’ scheme cost the taxpayers more than $3 million.(1)

For the Texas AG's press release, see East Texas Woman Sentenced To 99 Years In Prison For Mortgage Fraud (Kandace Yancy Marriott convicted, three additional suspects await trial in alleged scheme).

(1) According to state investigators, the defendants illegally forged home buyers’ signatures, inaccurately completed loan applications, and falsified supporting documents, including the buyers’ rent payment verification statements, proof of employment, and Social Security Administration benefits data, among other items. Court documents filed by the state indicate that the defendants conduct was intended to ensure that unqualified home buyers loans were approved by mortgage lenders.