Prosecutors: Mortgage Broker Forged Loan Mod Approvals, Ripped Off Homeowners Out Of $105K In Loan Payments, Leaving Some Facing Foreclosure

In Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun reports:

• An Owings Mills man has been arrested on charges of forging loan modification documents that led five homes into foreclosure proceedings, state licensing officials said. Rodney Getlan, 45, has been charged by the Baltimore County State's Attorney with felony theft, operating without a license, mortgage fraud and other counts, according to a statement Friday from the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.



• For three years, from Jan. 2009 through Jan. 2012, Getlan forged documents that showed his victims had been approved for loan modifications by their mortgage lenders, according to the licensing department.



• In the charges filed this week, nine homeowners, authorities say, were told by Getlan that they were approved for better mortgage interest rates. Getlan then stole their monthly payments —totaling more than $105,000 — and changed the contact information they had listed with their lenders, so the homeowners would not receive past due and foreclosure notices, according to the statement.



• Two of the nine homeowners who used Getlan as a mortgage broker had their homes sold at foreclosure auction, the statement said, and three others have been notified that foreclosure is imminent.



• Getlan was arrested [] on the 46 new criminal counts and is being held on $500,000 bail. In addition to the new counts, Getlan pleaded guilty in February to stealing from a victim of his mortgage fraud scheme. He was given a two-year suspended sentence. He also has an arraignment scheduled next week on different burglary and theft charges.

Source: Licensing Dept.: Owings Mills man stole more than $100,000, put five homes into foreclosure.