Three Calif. loan mod scammers sentenced

Source: Housingwire

A California woman will spend the next year under house arrest for defrauding borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure. Sara Beth Bushore Rosengrant and her accomplices Ziad Nabil Mohammed al Saffar were sentenced last week for operating a loan modification scam in San Diego. Not being a U.S. citizen, al Saffar will be deported after serving 21 months in federal prison. Both pleaded guilty to the scam. Daniel al Saffar also admitted working as a sales representative connected to the operation and will serve six months under house arrest. Each defendant paid $30,000 in restitution to the victims before being sentenced. According to court documents, the three operated under a business name Compliance Audit Solutions or CAS Group. They offered false audits of mortgages for borrowers who could no longer afford monthly payments, and claimed to find "violations" in the documents to force the banks into negotiations. They built websites named after the Home Affordable Modification Program, claimed to be affiliated with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and charged fees ranging from $995 to $3,500. Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program long warned borrowers to not pay third-party companies up front for a modification. "These sentencings are the result of a fraud scheme that specifically targeted the most vulnerable homeowners struggling to cope with the collapse in the housing market," said Christy Romero, special inspector general at SIGTARP.

URL to original article: http://www.housingwire.com/content/three-calif-loan-mod-scammers-sentenced

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