Calgary Cops Seek Suspect Wanted For Targeting Elderly Couple In Alleged Home Equity Ripoff; Accused Of Setting Criminal Interest Rate On Loan

In Calgary, Alberta, The Calgary Herald reports:

• Police are looking for a man who allegedly scammed an elderly couple into unknowingly signing away their home to the suspect, officials said. Police say they are looking for Richard William Hoffman, 38, after Hoffman allegedly offered a loan to the victims. The suspect allegedly told the elderly couple in 2006 they could use their southeast Calgary home as collateral.

• The couple then signed an agreement in June 2007, police say. The couple thought the agreement was a reverse mortgage. In reality, police say, the document pledged the home to the suspect and did not give any rights for the elderly couple to remain in their home. Hoffman has since started to foreclose on the house, police say.

• Police say the couple was loaned $84,000 and owed $150,000, putting the interest rate at 65 per cent. Since it is illegal under Alberta law to have a loan interest rate exceed 60 per cent, police have charged Hoffman with unfair trading practices.

Source: Police looking for man who allegedly scammed elderly couple out of their home (Richard William Hoffman being sought after 65% loan).

For follow-up stories, see

• Calgary Herald: Scam that could render Calgary couple homeless would have been legal with lower rate: Police: It is illegal to charge more than 60 per cent interest annually, say police, so if they had signed off on 59 per cent interest, it would have been legal; A complaint has been made to the Law Society of Alberta against the lawyer who was present when the victims signed the paperwork;

• CBC News: Accused in seniors' loan scam surrenders: Richard William Hoffman, 38, is charged with unfair practices under Alberta's Fair Trading Act, and with setting a criminal interest rate under the Criminal Code. Hoffman surrendered the day after police released a picture of him to the media. [...] The couple is still living in the home and involved in a legal battle to retain ownership.