Mother-Daughter Con Team Cost 24 Homeowners about $4.4 Million
It never hurts to ask to see some legitimate proof of professional certification, and when someone offers to take over your payments and then brings in their daughter to help you draw up the paperwork, it might pay to check their credentials. A mother-daughter team of con artists in California spent nearly two years talking distressed homeowners into letting them “take over” their mortgage payments by renting out their properties[1]. The daughter, posing as a notary, presented legal-looking documents for the homeowners to sign and then, once the owners of the property moved out of the houses, the rent monies were simply placed in the mother’s bank account. Between 2007 and 2009, the team allowed most of the homes to simply slide into foreclosure while taking the rents for themselves.
The mother and daughter have been charged with 44 felonies and ordered to pay restitution, but they have no funds to do so and the daughter is headed to rehabilitation for drug use.
[1] http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x301494020/Mother-daughter-sentenced-in-real-estate-scam