NJ Woman Gets 2 To 5 For Pocketing Upfront Cash In Exchange For Phony Mortgage Help To Avoid Foreclosure

In Monroe County, Pennsylvania, the Pocono Record reports:

• A New Jersey woman will be spending two to five years in state prison after she was sentenced on Tuesday for promising to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and then keeping the money she was given for their mortgages. Shirley Gail Matthews, 53, of Pemberton, N.J., told homeowners that she could negotiate with their mortgage company and help them keep their homes. She was convicted in July of keeping the money she was given and never using it to help pay mortgages. The charges were part of a lengthy history of similar charges, prosecutors said, and Matthews currently faces similar charges in Wyoming County.

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• She was found guilty by a jury in Monroe County Court of deceptive business practices, theft by deception and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds.

For more, see Woman gets prison time after mortgage scam conviction.

See also, The Allentown Morning Call: Mortgage scam ends with prison:

• ''It's outright theft and thievery,'' Monroe County President Judge Ronald Vican told her. "It's the lowest form of disreputable conduct.'' [...] ''She's made a practice of this,'' Vican said, noting her prior theft record as he rejected her lawyer's request for a lighter sentence. ''And she's picked on people who are really vulnerable.'' foreclosure rescue loan modifcation upfront fees