Elderly Victim Of Equity Stripping Deal Wins Hollow Victory As Court Ruling Comes Too Late To Allow Recovery Of Home; Scammers Claim To Be Broke

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

• Telsche Paulson, 86, lost her south Minneapolis duplex and now lives in a rented house in Farmington. A suit against a mortgage firm that offered to help Paulson avert foreclosure, alleged that the “refinancing” was really a sale, and the firm stripped $155,000 in Paulson’s equity in the deal.

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• This month, a federal judge ruled that the now-divorced couple at the center of the scheme, Timothy Beliveau and Shelley Milless, had "tricked" and "deceived" Paulson out of her home, equity and subsequent monthly payments. Paulson's situation is part of a case that federal investigators say encompassed 35 properties in Minnesota and drew in a number of Northwest Airlines pilots as investors.

• The judge's ruling was bittersweet for Paulson. In September, as she turned 86, she moved out of 4231 Pleasant Av. S. as a bank moved forward with foreclosure. She had lived there since 1958.

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• On Dec. 1, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz [...] handed Paulson her victory in her civil case against Tim Beliveau and Shelley Milless. But the couple, who split up last year, claim in court papers to have nothing left. Beliveau, whose million-dollar home in Mound is being repossessed, disagreed with the judge's ruling, saying Paulson knew what was happening the whole time.

• He didn't put up a defense in the civil case, Beliveau said, because he didn't want to damage his defense against any criminal charges, which he expects.

For the full story, see Bittersweet victory for victim of swindle (A court ruled that Telsche Paulson had indeed been cheated out of her south Minneapolis home, but it's too late to recover it).

For the court's order, see Paulson v. Beliveau, et al.

For earlier story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, see NWA pilots say they were misled in foreclosure venture (A Minnesota couple's investment and real-estate programs are under federal investigation).