Massachusetts Foreclosure Rescue Operator Gets 2-2.5 Years As Mastermind In Fraud Scam; Sale Leaseback Deals Among Ripoffs Run On Desperate Homeowners

From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:

• An Oxford man has been sentenced to State Prison after pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court for his role in a complex scheme in which fraudulent documents were used to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in numerous real estate transactions involving distressed properties in the Worcester County area,(1) Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office announced [].

• Allen Seymour, age 42, pled guilty to charges of Forgery (4 counts), Uttering (8 counts), Inducing a Lender to Part with Property (12 counts), and Larceny by False Pretenses. After the change of plea, Superior Court Judge James R. Lemire sentenced Seymour to serve two years to two and a half years in State Prison, followed by five years of probation. Seymour’s State Prison sentence will begin following the completion of a federal prison sentence on an unrelated matter. Judge Lemire also ordered Seymour to pay restitution in the amount of $750,000 to the victims. While on probation, Seymour is prohibited from working in the real estate industry.

For the Massachusetts AG press release, see Oxford Man Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to State Prison in Connection with Orchestrating Complex Mortgage Fraud Scheme.

(1) According to authorities, Seymour targeted properties in danger of foreclosure. He personally approached the owners of these properties and presented a variety of rescue options. For those homeowners who merely wished to sell their property to avoid foreclosure, Seymour offered to purchase the property for the amount owed to the foreclosing lenders. For the several homeowners who wanted to remain in their homes, Seymour presented rescue plans which ranged from “lifetime leases” and “reverse mortgages” to a simple refinance. Some of these homeowners were told they would need to transfer title of the property to an “investor,” and some were not. Seymour had some homeowners sign innocuous documents to begin the process. These innocuous pages were then discarded and substituted with pages purporting to grant Power of Attorney from the homeowner to an associate of Seymour.