Virginia Foreclosure Rescue Operator Wastes No Time (2 Months) Copping Guilty Plea In Sale Leaseback-Peddling Racket Targeting High-Equity Homeowners

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Norfolk, Virginia):

• Philip Villasis, 41, of Chesapeake, Va., pleaded guilty [] in Norfolk federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Villasis faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 18, 2012. [...] A federal grand jury previously indicted Villasis on January 19, 2012. Villasis’ co-defendant, Ray D. Gata, previously pled guilty to the same charge on February 28, 2012.



• According to court documents, from November 2006 until February 2011, Villasis and Gata engaged in a foreclosure rescue scheme that defrauded homeowners and mortgage lenders.



• Villasis promised homeowners that he could save them from foreclosure by arranging a sale of their homes to Gata and other straw borrowers. To further entice the homeowners, Villasis promised that they could remain in their homes after the sale, pay rent, and he would resell the homes back to them once they were more financially secure.



• Villasis and Gata profited from this scheme by taking all of the proceeds from the home sales. To complete the scheme, Villasis and Gata executed false closing documents that showed the proceeds of the sale going back to the homeowners when, in fact, the proceeds were going to Villasis, Gata and the other straw borrowers.



• The homeowners received nothing from the sale of their homes while Villasis, Gata and others received in excess of $170,000. In almost every case, Villasis required the homeowners to pay more in rent to cover a larger mortgage, and ultimately evicted these homeowners from their homes.(1)

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Chesapeake Man Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud Scheme.

(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).