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| The nation’s business community is warning of a rogue company operating a scheme that uses legal technicalities to help borrowers eliminate their mortgages. One of the independent agents promoting the program claims to have already shafted hundreds of lenders.
Participating in the recently uncovered scam, dubbed a “national mortgage elimination scheme,” could lead to foreclosure, according to a press release from the Better Business Bureau. There is no record of Oakland, Calif.-based Dorean Group, the company running the scam, with the California Secretary of State, the BBB said. No telephone number is listed with information assistance and the company’s mailing address is a UPS Store. Dorean uses independent agents to promote its program, the bureau said, which like other schemes of this nature, claims the U.S. banking system is flawed to persuade homeowners that mortgage elimination is legal and ethical. Dorean charges a $3,000 fee and has borrowers convey the title to their homes to a trust through a quitclaim deed. The bureau said its investigations led it to Ohio’s Cuyahoga County Recorder’s office, where it found several properties there were involved in the activity and all had quitclaims naming two Dorean officials as trustees, D. Scott Heineman and Kurt F. Johnson. Afterward, the borrower’s lender is presented with a document that contains 40-50 “legal” challenges to the loan. Dubbed the “CPA Report,” the document outlines “violations” of federal laws committed by the lender. The lender must respond with proof of the validity of the loan within a certain amount of time. When the lender fails to respond, a power of attorney is filed which gives the trustees authority to act on behalf of the lender. Using the power of attorney, a “Discharge of Mortgage” is filed certifying that the loan has been satisfied. The bureau claims the two Dorean officials appeared on the power of attorney and discharge of mortgage paperwork. When the BBB contacted lenders holding the original mortgages, it reportedly found some were just becoming aware of Dorean Group and its tactics, and another had no knowledge of this activity. The lenders confirmed that the paperwork is suspicious at best and fraudulent at worst. The “elimination” process subsequently requires that a refinance loan for the home be obtained. The new loan is then “eliminated” using the same technique, according to the regulator. Capital Creation Resource, one of Dorean’s representatives, promotes the scheme on its Web site, CCRSolution.com. In a new loan, the borrower refinances the property at the maximum loan to value ratio possible for the purpose of compensating the provider with 50% of the funds, CCR with 25% and keeping 25% for him or herself. “The new loan will then go through the elimination process at no additional cost,” according to the site. Rich Brimer of Simi Valley, Calif., was the registrant of CCRSolution.com, according to Network Solutions. CCR offers phone numbers to call for more information. In the first minutes of a recorded conference call about the mortgage “elimination” program, the company’s marketing director labeled the call as “fun and exciting” because the “information we’re sharing, No. |
