Mortgage Modifications Fraud Cases Emerge in Ariz., Calif.

Mortgage modifications fraud prompted authorities to charge two Arizona firms and arrest one California lady this week.
Mortgage Modifications Fraud Cases Emerge in Ariz., Calif.
Updated:
Mortgage modifications fraud prompted authorities to charge two Arizona firms and arrest one California lady this week.

On Wednesday, the Arizona Attorney General’s office nabbed two mortgage firms in the Phoenix area on the suspicion of “violating consumer fraud statutes,” the Phoenix Business Journal reported.

Principal Reduction Group LLC and Queen Creek Mortgage LLC, who companies that offered mortgage modification services, aer suspected of fraud over their false advertising of their principal reduction services, the Journal said, citing the state’s Attorney Terry Goddard. The two firms allegedly charged upwards of $5,000 for the programs.

Earlier this week, a Salinas, Calif. woman was arrested and accused of scamming people who came to her in hopes of restricting their mortgages, the Monterey Herald reports.

Blanca Maciel Sanchez, 37, allegedly posed as a real estate agent, an accountant, as well as a mortgage broker and scammed victims via her fake businesses, which were called “Maciel Financial Services” and “First Continental Mortgage.”

Sanchez apparently received money every month from homeowners who thought she would help them avoid foreclosure, but clients found out they were duped after being evicted from their homes, Fox affiliate KBCA reported, citing local authorities.

Sanchez will be charged with mortgage fraud, embezzlement, grand theft, and forgery.