Nevada AG Calls For More Criminal Prosecutions & Jail Time For Loan Modification Scammers

In Las Vegas, Nevada, KLAS-TV Channel 8 reports:

• Nevada ranks number one in the nation for mortgage modification scams. Most of the resources in the Nevada Attorney General's Office have been dedicated to tracking down and prosecuting fraudulent loan modification companies. [...] Right now, the AG's office in Las Vegas has complaints against 128 loan modification companies and has dozens more under investigation.

• Chief Deputy AG John Kelleher says each company has anywhere from 20 to 200 loan modification victims each. [...] Kelleher says he now spends 90-percent of his time putting together complaints against loan modification scammers. He says in one case they served search warrants and the company owner flew to the Philippines. The FBI is tracking that person down right now.

• Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto wants the scammers to know there is nowhere in the world they can hide. "We are going to hold them accountable. It's a crime to come into this state and take advantage of people who are already victimized because of the economy," she said. The AG wants to charge these companies on anything from theft to mortgage fraud to racketeering. If convicted, the people doing loan modification scams could spent two to 20 years in prison per count. There are an estimated 14,000 victims in Las Vegas. "If you are working in this industry and you are defrauding people, we are going to find you. We are going to prosecute you and we are going to seek jail time," said Kelleher.(1)

For the story, see Nevada AG Targeting Mortgage Modification Scams.

(1) Up until now, the vast majority of prosecutions of loan modification scammers by the various state attorneys general around the country, as well as by the Federal government, have been in the form of civil lawsuits. Civil suits, while easier to bring and win in court for the prosecuting agency than criminal actions (due to the lessened burden of proof in presenting a case), offer no threat of felony conviction and jail time for the scammer.