HOUSING FRAUD
State accuses Broward firms of mortgage fraud
The plan is simple: Find someone facing foreclosure, take advantage of their trust, then take their homes.
Posted on Thu, Mar. 27, 2008
BY MONICA HATCHER
Three Broward county companies and their owners are being sued by the Florida attorney general for allegedly defrauding hundreds of thousands of dollars in home equity from more than 30 families facing foreclosure.
Coral Springs-based Florida Housing Council, Equity Investment Capital Management, and Star Enterprises allegedly approached homeowners with an offer to save their homes from foreclosure, but instead charged them bogus fees and, in some cases, evicted them to sell the properties for profit.
The lawsuit was announced the same day as lawmakers in the Florida house unanimously approved a bill aimed at protecting consumers from the abusive practices of some foreclosure rescue services. The legislation will move to the Senate in the coming weeks.
Also called equity skimming or equity stripping, the schemes are characterized as a ploy to rob homeowners in foreclosure of money they could have realized through the sale of the property.
The schemes have proliferated in recent years as homeowners facing foreclosure often had substantial equity in their properties.
''We see hundreds of clients a year that have fallen victim to foreclosure rescue scams and anything that will assist to save somebody's home is a step in the right direction,'' said Jeffrey Hearne, an attorney with Legal Services of Greater Miami.
A typical scheme was outlined Tuesday in the attorney general's complaint. Company principals Jack Moussa and Rose Moussa are alleged to have induced homeowners to sign contracts, which transferred the titles of their homes into a trust controlled by their companies. Calls placed to the couple's Coral Springs home were not returned.
Then, according to the complaint, the homeowners were charged various fees for signing the trust agreements even though no services were provided. Jack Moussa, at times, told consumers the Florida Housing Council was a government agency, according to the complaint.
Once ownership was transferred, the companies charged homeowners rent. The complaint alleged that when a payment was missed, people were evicted and Jack Moussa would either keep the homes or sell them.
The lawsuit filed against the owners of the Coral Springs companies seeks damages under the state's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and an injunction to prevent the defendants from working in real estate.
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