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jfjnrtlanb OOhscruer
March 3, 2010
Predators Make Matters Worse
Scammers go after troubled mortgages
J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
W hen Jo se p h in a C a silla s re ­
ceived a phone call last fall, she
thought she had found a w ay to
prevent losing her hom e to foreclo­
sure.
H erhusband, M arco C asillas had
lost his jo b as a m echanic, throw ing
his fam ily, like thousands o f other
O re g o n ia n s , in to tu rm o il. T h e
couple, w ho have three children and
a poodle-cocker spaniel m ix, fell
behind on their m ortgage, and w o r­
ried that th e y ’d lose their house.
Last fall, Josephina C asillas said
she received a phone call from som e­
one speaking in Spanish, her first
language, offering to m odify their
m ortgage so they could stay in their
house. T here was only one catch,
she said, they needed to pay $2,700
up front. Feeling desperate, C asillas
said she paid the m oney.
T hey thought ev ery th in g w as
fine, until they received a notice late
last m onth that they w ere being With Oregon s unemployment rate stubbornly high, more homeowners are finding themselves on
evicted and had three days to clear shaky ground with their mortgages. Some companies hope to make a buck off their plight.
out, according to C asillas, w ho said behind on their m ortgages. Som e o f C onsum er and B usiness Services, at 80 percent. T hey w ill then often
they h av en ’t been able to recover counties have even started sending
V elez said that m any com panies request som ew here betw een $ 1,500
the m oney.
out fliers to delinquent borrow ers will approach hom eow ners citing and $4,000 up front in exchange for
In O re g o n , u n e m p lo y m e n t has w arning them to w atch out.
unrealistic success rates-som etim es a prom ise that they w ill keep the
stay e d at a s tu b b o rn ly h ig h lev el,
The O regon A ttorney G e n era l’s
c a u sin g an in c re ase in fo re c lo ­ office d id n ’t respond to a request
su res. A c co rd in g to a re c en t r e ­ for the num ber o f com plaints it re ­
p o rt by the M o rtg a g e B an k er's ceived by press tim e.
A sso c ia tio n , n e arly 1 in 10 o f
“O regon is virgin territory for
If you ’ re b eh in d on y o u r m o rt­ B etter B usiness B ureau to see if
O re g o n 's 6 2 8 ,0 0 0 m o rtg ag e s w as these scam artists,” said R ichard
gage, the best w ay to avoid g et­ there are any com plaints lodged
e ith e r b e h in d o r in fo rec lo su re. C astro, com m unications and public
ting conned is inform ation.
against them .
As the ran k s o f d e sp e ra te p eo p le affairs specialist for N eighborW orks
C
o
n
su
m
er
advocates
reco
m
­
F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n , c h e c k
sw e ll, so h av e th o se o f p eo p le A m erica, a netw ork o f com m unity
m
end
trying
to
w
ork
som
ething
th e fo llo w in g w e b site s: T h e O r­
h o p in g to m ak e a q u ic k buck.
developm ent organizations.
out
w
ith
y
o
u
r
bank.
U
nder
O
r­
e g o n D e p a rtm e n t o f C o n su m e r
D uring the 2008 legislative ses­
C om panies that seek to m ake a
egon
law,
if
y
o
u
’re
facing
fo
re­
a n d B u s in e s s S e rv ic e s at
sion, O regon law m akers p assed the profit o ff o f people behind on their
closure you are entitled to a m eet­ fo re c lo s u re h e lp .o re g o n .g o v ; th e
M ortgage R escue Fraud Protection m ortgages have been contacting
ing w ith y o u r len d er to discuss O re g o n A tto r n e y G e n e r a l at
Act, w hich aim ed to crackdow n on victim s directly by checking local
y o u r options.
d o j.s ta te .o r .u s /f in f r a u d /
com panies trying to squeeze cash foreclosure listings. T h e y ’ve also
If you do d ecid e to use a third m o rtg a g e _ fra u d ; an d N e ig h b o r­
out o f people behind on their hom e begun putting up fliers in resid en ­
party, check them out first. See if h o o d
W o rk s
at
paym ents. H ow ever, despite the law, tial areas and placing ads on the
th
e
y
’re
licensed
with
the
O
regon
lo a n s c a m a le rt.o rg . Y ou c an a lso
these com panies are still eyeing radio and in new spapers.
D
ep
artm
en
t
o
f
C
o
n
su
m
er
and
g et free a d v ic e fro m a H o u sin g
struggling hom eow ners.
‘ ‘O ur m ajor concern i s that they ’ re
Business
Services;
and
m
ake
sure
an d U rb an D e v e lo p m e n t-c e rti­
A ccording to a recent report from guaranteeing that th e re ’s a solution
that
they
are
accredited
w
ith
the
fie d
c o u n s e lo r
at
the Federal R eserve B ank o f San for th ese fo lk s,” said F ern an d o
U.S.
D
epartm
ent
o
f
H
ousing
and
m a k in g h o m e a f fo rd a b le .g o v /
Francisco, O regon is seeing a prolif­ Velez, a co nsum er inform ation spe­
U
rban
D
evelopm
ent.
A
lso
check
c o u n s e lo r.
eration o f scam s that prey o f people cialist w ith the O regon D epartm ent
Mortgage Options
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victim in their hom es, said Velez. But
w hen the dust settles, the hom e-
o w ner loses their hom e and the fees
paid to the com pany.
Som e com panies offer to negoti­
ate w ith the lender, but others are
m ore com plex. R ecently the A ttor­
ney G eneral o f C alifornia advised
struggling ho m eo w ners to avoid
“ forensic audit loans,” w hich prom ­
ises to review loans looking for
m alfeasance that w ould release them
from their m ortgages.
O th er m ortgage scam m ers will
put hom eow ners in debt to the co m ­
pany that seizes their hom e.
L ast m onth, the O regon C o n ­
su m er and B usiness S ervices office
issued a cease-and-desist and as­
sessed $ 250,000 in fines against
A nthony Schw artz, w hom the O CBS
alleges w as using a com plex set o f
legal docum ents to lend m oney to
s tr u g g lin g h o m e o w n e r s w h o
handed over their deeds in exchange
f o r th e m o n e y . W h e n th e
h o m eow ners w ere unable to pay
back the loan, according to the OCBS,
Schw artz seized their hom e, m aking
a tidy profit.
C astro said his organization is
stepping up an advertising c a m ­
paign to w arn hom eow ners. H e also
said that it’s possible to get the
m oney back by talking to a certified
m ortgage re lie f counselor.
A fter the C asillas received their
eviction notice, they panicked. They
shacked up tem porarily in a hotel
that they struggled to pay for.
T h e f a m ily o w n e d a n o th e r
h o u se th a t th ey re n te d out to a n ­
o th e r fa m ily th a t h ad a n e w -b o rn
liv in g w ith th em . W ith n o w h e re
e ls e to tu rn , th e y r e lu c ta n tly
e v ic te d them .
M arco C asillas, got his jo b back
and things seem to have stabilized
for the fam ily. But Josephina re­
m ains resentful.
“ It’s not about the m oney that
sh e w a n ts b a c k ,” sa id J e s s ic a
C a s illa s , J o s e p h in a ’s d a u g h te r
translating for her. “ I m ean ev ery ­
one needs m oney, obviously; it’s
ju s t sad that they're doing this to
people. L uckily we found som e­
w here to go. O th er people a re n ’t as
lucky.”
Legacy Unmatched
In 2 0 0 8 , B o g le saw a n e w s p a ­
p e r a rtic le a b o u t h o w th e P o lice
sic fo r lo cal p a p e rs, as w ell as B u r e a u ’s c o ld c a s e u n it w a s
D o w n B e a t m a g a z in e w h e re he b a c k e d up, a n d q u ic k ly o ffe re d
serv ed as a c o n trib u to r c o v e rin g h is se rv ic e s. H e h a d h o p e d to
P o rtla n d .
w o rk as an in v e stig a to r, b u t th e
“ D ick w as a g re a t, k in d g u y ,” b u re a u h o p e d to p u t h is sk ills to
said F ran k A lk y e r, the p u b lis h e r use in the p u b lic a ffa irs aren a.
o f D o w n B e a t m a g az in e . “ H e w as
B o g le u sed his c o n ta c ts to h e lp
an o ld -sch o o l jo u rn a lis t w ho knew la u n ch a n ew in itia tiv e th a t p u t
his ja z z and lo v e d th e P o rtla n d p h o to s an d in fo rm a tio n fro m co ld
s c e n e .”
c a s e files on p la y in g c a rd s d is ­
continued ¿ ^ J ro m Front
trib u te d in lo c al ja ils , in h o p es
th a t th e y w o u ld sp u r an in m ate
w h o k n ew so m e th in g to c o m e fo r­
w ard.
B o g le d ied at L e g a cy S a lm o n
C re e k H o sp ital in V a n c o u v e r o f
c o n g e s tiv e h e a rt fa ilu re . H e is
s u rv iv e d by fo u r d a u g h te rs, one
so n , an d his w ife N o la B ogle. A
c e le b r a tio n o f B o g le ’ s life is
p la n n e d fo r so m e tim e la st th is
m o n th .