Mark Farhood and Jason Sant each pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for operating a national online foreclosure rescue scam that deceived hundreds of distressed homeowners into surrendering their properties. U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga from the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Farhood to 11 years in prison and Sant to six years in prison. Each defendant was also ordered to forfeit approximately $2 million in fraud proceeds to the government, along with various bank accounts and other assets.
According to court documents, the conspirators co-owned Home Advocate Trustees, which also went by the names Walk Away Today, First Equity Trustees, Home Security Consultants, Sell Fast USA, Short Sale Buyer, USA Sell House Fast and USA Rental Housing. The defendants marketed the businesses nationwide as “purchasers of distressed real estate” to help vulnerable homeowners avoid foreclosure and the negative effects this could have on their credit scores.
The companies told homeowners they could negotiate with lenders to purchase mortgage notes at a discount and falsely claimed to be in business for 17 years. They also claimed they had a 90% success rate in obtaining these notes and claimed to be the nation’s largest volume buyer of short-sale and overleveraged real estate.
However, the defendants admitted in court that negotiations with lenders never occurred. They added that the scheme was a way for them to claim hundreds of residential properties at basically no cost and then reap millions of dollars in profits by renting the homes to unsuspecting tenants.
In addition, as part of the scam, the operators submitted fraudulent loan modification applications to lenders under the Treasury Department’s Making Home Affordable Program in the name of the homeowners without their consent. These inaccurate applications were meant to delay the lenders from foreclosing on the properties, which allowed the scammers to maximize the time period during which they could collect rental income from unsuspecting tenants.
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Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.