Husband, Wife Each Get 10 Years In Mortgage Fraud Scam Involving Purchase Of Recently Foreclosed Minnesota Homes Prior To Redemption Period Expiration

From the Office of the Hennepin County, Minnesota Attorney:

• James and Wendy Ober, who had pleaded guilty to racketeering in a major mortgage fraud case, were sentenced [last month] to 120 months each in prison.
  
  Hennepin County District Court Judge Joseph Klein, in justifying an upward departure in the sentence, found that the Obers, through their Mortgage Partners, Inc. business, had committed a major economic offense, engaged in the fraud with three or more people, used the identities of others and targeted vulnerable people, specifically those who were losing their homes to foreclosure.
  
  According to the criminal complaint filed by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the James Ober, 44, Wendy Ober, 42, and their associates would find houses in foreclosure where the bank already had purchased it at a very low price during the sheriff’s sale. Under Minnesota law, the owners have a limited time period to purchase their house back at the lower price. The Obers would use straw buyers to purchase the properties at the low price.

For the Hennepin County Attorney press release, see Couple sentenced to 10 years in prison for mortgage fraud.