Operation Homewrecker

Here's the good news. The bad guys lost.

Here's the bad news. Over one hundred homeowners also lost. (they lost a lot more)

The Fed's have just busted a huge Foreclosure Rescue Scam, much of it operating in and around Sacramento, Tracy and Modesto. They were preying on the homeowners who were in danger of losing their home to foreclosure.

It's called an Equity Scam. It's nothing new. Here's how it works...

You are in trouble. You haven't paid your mortgage in over 3 months. Your Lender files what is called a Notice of Default. This is public record. That means the bad guys now know about you.

There's a knock at the door. It's a well dressed man. He's even smiling. He's obviously not a bill collector. He says he knows about your problem. He says can help.

Better than helping, he has a proposition you can't refuse!

• He's going to help keep you in your home.
• He's going to help you rebuild your credit.
• He's going to help you keep your equity.

This sounds like an Angel was sent from above. How's he going to do all this you ask?

He's got people. He might even refer to his people as "Angel Investors".

"We're going to add my investor to the property title. She'll charge you a low monthly rent while you continue to live here and rebuild your credit. Then, in a year or two, when you are ready, she'll sell the property back to you. Sounds good? OK, sign here."

The problem is that his Angel Investor doesn't pay your mortgage. She never intended to. In some cases she might not even know she owns the property. She might have been duped the same as you. They do however collect your rent. They might even sell your property out from under you then next day. You don't get to keep the house, you don't get to rebuild your credit, you don't get to keep your equity. You don't pass go, and you don't collect two Hundred dollars.

If you fall for one of these schemes the next thing you'll hear might be

Honey, what's that For Sale sign doing in our front yard?

or

Honey, the Sheriff's here and he says he has to escort us off the property!

Two things to remember:

1. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER sign over your Deed of Trust.
2. If it sounds to good to be true...

So you already know that one - right?

And just because I would love to their Mother's to see what they've been so busy doing, here's the sweet 16 indictment roll call:

• Charles Head, 33, of La Habra
• Jeremy Michael Head, 30, of Huntington Beach
• Elham Assadi, (aka Elham Assadi Jouzani, aka Ely Assadi), 30, of Irvine, California
• Leonard Bernot, 51, of Laguna Hills, California
• Akemi Bottari, 28, of Los Angeles
• Joshua Coffman, 29, of North Hollywood
• John Corcoran(aka Jack Corcoran), 52, of Anaheim
• Sarah Mattson, 27, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Domonic McCarns, 33, of Brea, California
• Anh Nguyen, 36, of Los Angeles
• Omar Sandoval, 32, of Rancho Cucamonga, California
• Xochitl Sandoval, 29, of Rancho Cucamonga
• Eduardo Vanegas, 28, of Phoenix
• Andrew Vu, 39, of Santa Ana
• Justin Wiley, 28, of Irvine
• Kou Yang, 32, of Corona, California