Another Loan Mod Scammer Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison

[Corey Dutton]

Years after the real estate meltdown, U.S. regulators are finally catching up to all of the loan modification companies that scammed these distressed homeowners out of millions. One such perpetrator just had his day in court. But was the punishment of 1 year in prison enough for this 37 year old, Maryland man?According the MPAmag.com, Brian Kelly was operating under the business name, ‘Home Owners Protection Economics Inc.’ or ‘HOPE’ and scammed innocent homeowners out of a total of $4 MM. The company would get homeowners who were underwater in their mortgages to pay upwards of $2,000 in fees, in the “hope” they would obtain successful loan modifications. The company would then send homeowners a “do-it-yourself application” that was essentially just a copy of the one provided by the government to homeowners for free.

I truly “hope,” no pun intended, that this is just the start of a wave of convictions for these types of individuals and companies who took advantage of distressed homeowners during a time of extreme uncertainty. These types of individuals and organizations are able to mobilize and set up shop quickly when they see an opportunity and an easy way to scam people out of money.

(Source: Link to the entire article on MPAmag.com:

http://www.mpamag.com/mortgage/maryland-man-sentenced-in-massive-loan-modification-scam-17971.aspx)

Posted by Corey Curwick Dutton