Foreclosure Rescue Scam Mastermind Found Guilty Of Dozens Of Felonies; Ran Upfront Fee Land Grant Scheme, Sale Leaseback Rent Skimming Racket

In San Diego, California, XETV-TV Channel 6 reports:

• The mastermind of a scam in which about 400 homeowners in San Diego and Riverside counties were tricked into paying nearly $2 million in fees in hopes of beating foreclosure was convicted Tuesday of dozens of felonies. After an eight-week trial, 63-year-old William Hutchings was found guilty of 160 counts of conspiracy to commit grand theft, grand theft, rent skimming and deceitful practices by a foreclosure consultant. [...] Five of Hutchings' co-defendants -- including his wife and ex-wife -- have pleaded guilty, and four are set for trial on May 18, said Deputy District Attorney Stephen Robinson.

• In the scam, which ran from January 2007 to May 2008, the defendants acquired grant deeds to homes in foreclosure, based on untrue or misleading statements that they would prevent homeowners from losing their homes through foreclosure, prosecutors said.(1)

For more, see Foreclosure Scheme Ringleader Convicted of 160 Charges.

(1) According to the story, two methods were used for inducing owners of residences in foreclosure to participate in a so-called land grant program, prosecutors said. One method required homeowners to pay a one-time fee of up to $10,000 to put their property in a land grant. The second method was a lease-back scheme in which homeowners paid the defendants $500 or more and then transferred their property via land grant deeds to the defendants for no consideration and then made monthly payments, purportedly to rent their homes back. In both scenarios, homeowners were eventually foreclosed upon and evicted and retained no legally recognized title to their property, prosecutors said.