Foreclosure Rescue Equity Stripping Victims Burst Into Courtroom Applause As Feds 'Frog-March' Sale Leaseback Peddler To Prison For 13+ Years

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Associated Press reports:

• Victims applauded as a Pennsylvania man was sentence to over 13 years in prison for tricking homeowners into turning their houses over to him then evicting them.



• A federal judge in Philadelphia ordered 47-year-old Gennaro Rauso taken into custody immediately after his sentencing Monday. KYW-AM reports victims who attended the hearing began clapped as he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs. Prosecutors say Rauso offered to rescue more than 200 struggling homeowners by offering them a deal that was too good to be true.



• Officials say Rauso got his victims to sign over their properties in return for a promise to pay off the mortgage and rent the property back to the owners. But victims say Rauso took their money and homes then dumped them on the street.(1)

Source: Victims applaud mortgage fraud jail term in Pa.

(1) Rauso was also the target of at least one civil lawsuit (a suit that probably serves a good template for those looking to undo these types of real estate swindles) where a homeowner successfully voided the sale leaseback ripoff, and which left the (presumably unwitting) lender which failed to physically inspect the premises and inquire into the rights and equities of the occupants in possession before providing a mortgage loan to finance Rauso's scam partially holding the bag. See:

• Pennsylvania B'kruptcy Court Voids Sale Leaseback Scam; Victimized Homeowners' Continued Possession Leads To Invalidation Of Subsequent Deed, Mortgage,
• Fowler v. Rauso (aka In re Fowler), 425 B.R. 157 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 2010).