Conn. AG Files Civil Suit Against "Renegade Real Estate Ring" Putting Customers Into Unaffordable Mortgages; Referral To Criminal Prosecutors Possible

In Hartford, Connecticut, The Connecticut Post reports:

• Latinos throughout Southwestern Connecticut were victims of a wide-ranging predatory-lending scheme that used a Stamford real estate office to guide them into unaffordable mortgages, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal charged on Tuesday.(1) Many of the 120 or so victims are unable to speak English and about 33 homes have already been lost through foreclosure, said Blumenthal during an interview in which he said the case will be referred to state and federal prosecutors for possible criminal investigation.

• He detailed a "renegade real estate ring" in which customers dealing with Roman Realty, a Century 21 affiliate on Bedford Street, would be taken to an adjacent mortgage company and later have their incomes falsified by a third company for use on loan applications.

For more, see Blumenthal says Latinos were victims of predatory lending scheme.

(1) According to the story, Blumenthal, representing the state Department of Banking and the Department of Consumer Protection, has sued VRM Mortgage Company, Inc. and Roman Realty, Inc. and the companies' owner, Victor Roman, as well as VRM's office manager, Tony Mojica. He's also filed a lawsuit against Jose Flores, the owner of Harvard Financial Services, located on Virgil Street in Stamford.