Mortgage Fraud Includes Church

A California woman is filing suit against a mortgage professional for fraud, a case that is unfortunately becoming commonplace. But in a new twist to the story, the lawsuit is also against her pastor of more than 10 years, citing that he was in on the fraud. The woman was trying to avoid defaulting on her mortgage when she turned to the pastor, who referred her to a parish member. The suit says the mortgage broker and the pastor had her sign papers she had never read or received copied of, and that a month later she was informed that she no longer owned her home.

To make matters worse, she was ordered to turn over her house keys and pay rent on the home. The woman had sold her home in the documents, and it would now cost her $390,000 to get her house back. The fraud has been seen before and is dubbed a “distress” scam, where owners that are on the verge of foreclosure are contacted and given documents to sign, supposedly saving their home. The papers are title and deed to the home, handing over ownership to the “buyer.” The state of California is now investigating the broker, the pastor and the “buyer” of the home for fraud.