Scammer Gets 41 Month Stay In Federal Facility For Peddling Predatory Sale Leaseback Deals To High Equity Maryland Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Baltimore, Maryland):

• U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Charles Donaldson, age 58, of Bowie, Maryland, [] to 41 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme which caused the issuance of over $4.7 million in fraudulent mortgage loans and homeowners to lose over $1.2 million in equity in their homes.

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• “Charles Donaldson promised to rescue homeowners who were behind in their mortgage payments, but instead he stole the equity from their homes and used it to buy his own house, “ stated U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.

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• According to Donaldson’s plea agreement and court documents, co-conspirator Mary Dean was a loan originator and operated Sunset Mortgage Company from her home. Donaldson, who was also a loan originator, steered clients to Dean’s mortgage brokerage franchise.



• Beginning in 2005, Donaldson identified homeowners who were in financial distress because they were unable to make the mortgage loan payments on their homes and enticed the homeowners to participate in a foreclosure “rescue” plan.



• Donaldson told the homeowners that he would locate “investors” to purchase their homes and thereafter, the homeowners would pay rent to the “investors,” who would pay the mortgage and receive a small percentage of the homeowners’ equity; that the remainder of the homeowners’ equity would be transferred to Donaldson, who would hold it in escrow; and that the homeowners would buy back their properties after 12 to 18 months, giving them time to “repair” their finances and credit while they continued to live in their homes.(1)

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Loan Officer Sentenced in Fraudulent Mortgage “Rescue” Scheme Resulting in Losses of over $1.2 Million To Homeowners in Financial Distress (Conspirators Obtained Over $4.7 Million in Fraudulent Mortgage LoansLoan Officer Used Money Taken From Distressed Homeowners to Buy His Own Home).

(1) For more on this type of foreclosure rescue ripoff, see:

• Criminal Prosecutions Of Sale Leaseback Peddlers In Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Deals;
• Dreams Foreclosed: The Rampant Theft of Americans' Homes Through Equity-stripping Foreclosure 'Rescue' Scams (June 2005).