Oregon AG Scores 1st Conviction Under New Law Targeting Loan Modification Scams, Mortgage Fraud; Defendant Gets 61 Months, Ordered To Pay $469K

From the Oregon Department of Justice:

• Oregon Attorney General John Kroger [] announced the conviction and sentencing of a Salem mortgage broker on mortgage fraud, theft, identity theft and tax evasion charges.(1) [...] Julian James Ruiz III (DOB: 4/28/1971) was sentenced to 61 months in prison after pleading guilty to 2 counts of Aggravated Theft in the First Degree; 1 count of Aggravated Identity Theft in the First Degree; 1 count of Identity Theft in the First Degree; 1 count of Mortgage Fraud; 1 count of Forgery in the First Degree; 1 count of Tax Evasion; and 1 count of violating House Bill 3630, which prohibits collecting advance fees for loan modifications.

• Ruiz was stripped of his mortgage license and permanently barred from working in the industry. The judge also ordered Ruiz, manager and owner of American Home Modifications, a Salem-based loan modification company, to pay $469,500 in restitution to more than 100 victims.(2)

For the Oregon AG press release, see Mortgage Broker Sentenced To Prison (Julian James Ruiz III pleads guilty to multiple counts of theft, mortgage fraud and tax evasion and is sentenced to 61 months in prison).

(1) This is the first criminal case completed by the Attorney General's new Mortgage Fraud Task Force. The Mortgage Fraud Task Force was created by Attorney General Kroger in late 2009 to combat fraud in the mortgage and foreclosure relief industries.

(2) See also, the Statesman Journal: Mortgage fraud costs man his freedom (Dealings will send him to prison and ban him from license):

• Several of Ruiz's former clients spoke at the sentencing. "He took advantage of our trust because we did not know English. We considered him a friend," said Veronica Villasana, who addressed the court in Spanish with the help of an interpreter. "He promised to help me, but he did not," said Julian Ortiz, who also spoke through an interpreter. Ortiz said he was charged $2,500 for loan modifications services and is now on the verge of losing his home.