Orange County DA Raids Homes Of Foreclosure Rescue Operators Currently Facing Civil Suits By State AG Alleging Bogus Loan Modifications, Short Sales

In Southern California, the Orange County Register reports:

• Investigators with the Orange County district attorney early Thursday morning searched three Ladera Ranch homes believed tied to a foreclosure rescue scam. Agents served search warrants on two homes on Roshelle Lane and one on Merrill Hill. The homes are connected to Terence Green Sr. and Stefano Marrero of Home Relief Services and Christopher Diener of the Diener Law Firm.(1)

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• The District Attorney’s Office declined to comment. [...] Alan Gordon, assistant chief trial counsel of the California State Bar, confirmed that the Orange County district attorney and some other agencies served search warrants today. He said the bar has been “working closely with several agencies” investigating potential loan mod scams.

For the story, see D.A. raids Ladera homes in loan-aid scam probe.

(1) California Attorney General Jerry Brown last week filed a civil lawsuit against these same men (go here for California AG press release),alleging that they charged homeowners $4,000 in upfront fees and then failed to get them cheaper payments on their home loans. Brown also charged that the companies sometimes promised to arrange a short sale — when a lender agrees to accept less than the debt owed on a property — but instead attempted to use customers’ personal information for the companies’ own benefit.