Two Florida men who operated a scam that falsely promised changes to a borrower’s mortgage payments through the
Christopher Godfrey and Dennis Fischer ran a scam from January 2009 through May 2011 under the name Home Owners Protection Economics Inc. The defendants influenced struggling homeowners, particularly Massachusetts residents, who were looking for a federally funded home loan modification to pay HOPE anywhere from $400 to $900 to help them obtain their goal.
Among the misrepresentations the scammers used were claims guaranteeing a loan modification under HAMP, which is part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, would be given to a borrower at risk of foreclosure.
Instead, the conspirators did little, if any, work on behalf of the homeowners. The defendants simply conducted a “do-it-yourself” scam by mailing the homeowners easily accessible HAMP applications and then instructing the borrowers to submit the applications on their own after the upfront fees were already paid to HOPE.
The HOPE customers had no advantage in the application process, and, in fact, most of their applications were denied, TARP said.
HOPE also claimed to homeowners that it was a certified nonprofit organization, according to TARP.
“While our nation was mired in the housing crisis, Godfrey and Fischer ripped-off thousands of struggling homeowners to the tune of more than $4 million,” says Christy Romero, special inspector general for TARP.
“Applying for a HAMP modification is free, and free federal mortgage counseling is available. SIGTARP will not tolerate fraud related to TARP, and those guilty of utter disregard for the law and common decency will be brought to justice and held accountable for their crimes.”
