Two women out of Pompano Beach, Fla., are facing more than five years in prison for their roles in scamming distressed borrowers into financial transactions that robbed them of their homes without providing relief.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra out of the Southern District of Florida sentenced Lisa Wright, 46, and Cathy Saffer, 52, of Pompano Beach to 66 and 60 months in prison, respectively.
Authorities claim the two women operated a company called Foreclosure Solution Specialists from 2006 through 2009.
Distressed homeowners contacted the pair when facing foreclosure. Authorities say the two women told homeowners their properties would be sold off to investors, and they would get the opportunity to remain in their homes after the sales.
Instead, the homes were sold off to straw purchasers using fraudulent information on mortgage contracts, the Justice Department said. The scheme ate up any remaining equity and landed homeowners in foreclosure.
Wright pled guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Saffer went to trial and was convicted of three counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud.
kpanchuk@housingwire.com
