Real Estate Agent Suspected Of Key Role In Mortgage Scam Now Accused Of Rent Skimming By Disgruntled Tenant

In Tampa, Florida, the St. Petersburg Times reports:

• Tampa real estate agent Lori Polin played a key role in one of the state's "most dramatic" mortgage fraud schemes, according to Florida's attorney general. Polin is still an agent — and she's still engaged in questionable dealings, an angry tenant claims.

• Jeff Cole, who rented Polin's Tampa condo, says she collected over $14,000 in rent yet stopped making mortgage payments and did not inform him that the bank was foreclosing — an increasingly common problem for tenants in a tanking real estate market. Polin, who still has a $50,000 homestead exemption, also asked Cole and his mother not to tell the bank she was renting out the condo for fear it would kill a sale, he said.

• "She accepted rent for nine months while lying to her mortgage company about her occupancy status," Cole said. "She asked me and my mother to keep her little secret … to save her own a---." Polin, who works for ReMax Power Advantage in Tampa, did not return phone calls seeking comment. Jeremy Anderson, head of the office, would not comment.

For more, see Tenant paid thousands in rent for condo that was in foreclosure.