Seattle Feds Bag Woman In Alleged Scam That Placed Title To Homes Bought By Novice Homebuyers Into Other Clients' Names & Pocketed Their Loan Payments

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Seattle, Washington):

• LIZA BAUTISTA, 50, of Tukwila, Washington, was arraigned [] in U.S. District Court in Seattle on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and misuse of a Social Security Number, in connection with a scheme to defraud lenders and line her own pocket.

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• According to the indictment, BAUTISTA held herself out as someone who could help first time buyers with bad credit purchase their first home. According to the indictment, she took advantage of these purchasers naivete—they trusted BAUTISTA when she told them the paperwork was all in order, and that they had purchased their first home.

• In reality, BAUTISTA had obtained the home loans and placed title to the properties in the names of past clients who had better credit. These past clients were shocked when lenders started contacting them about homes they had never purchased. The naive buyers could not understand why lenders kept mailing information to their home in the names of other people.

• Some of these new purchasers made their mortgage payments to BAUTISTA who pocketed the payments instead of passing them on to the lending institutions. When the young purchasers learned they had not really purchased their dream home, they had to move out, and the lending institutions lost thousands as the homes were foreclosed and sold at a loss. BAUTISTA pocketed about $20,000 on six loans worth over $800,000.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Former Mortgage Originator Indicted for Scheme Misusing Former Clients’ Personal Information (Woman Allegedly Obtained Loans in the Names of Past Clients for New Novice Purchasers).