Fraud case invites mistaken identity
What a difference an “S” can make.
A day after state and local prosecutors said they had shut down a mortgage fraud ring involving six Los Angeles companies, businesses with similar names have been caught in the fallout.
“I’m getting inundated with calls,” said Joe Dovarro of Nation Mortgage Inc. -- not the Nations Mortgage Inc. that was accused with five other companies of defrauding thousands of Californians, costing some their homes. “I’m happy they’re getting rid of people who are giving our industry a bad name, but, hey, I’m one of the good guys here.”
The companies that authorities closed were Lifetime Financial Inc., Nations Mortgage Inc., Greenleaf Lending Inc., Virtual Escrow Inc., Olympic Escrow and Direct Credit Solutions Inc. Seven associates face charges of conspiracy, grand theft and elder abuse.
Dovarro said he wasn’t altogether surprised at the sudden flood of calls from angry customers: In January, a woman who said she had been scammed by Nations Mortgage called his Woodland Hills-based company threatening to report it to the Better Business Bureau.
A search of public license information on companies with the name “Nations Mortgage” on the Department of Real Estate’s website turned up five results statewide.
At Virtual Escrow Title Technology Solutions, the story is similar.
The Orange-based software company has received dozens of phone calls from clients who saw news reports of the alleged fraud ring, which included Virtual Escrow Inc.
To make matters worse, owner Randy Lee says his company is commonly known as Virtual Escrow, and its Web address is www.virtualescrow .com.
“The news about this fraud scheme in L.A. is causing us enormous problems,” Lee said. “One person hears it and they tell someone else. . . . Every title company that we do business with -- they’re all concerned.”
But Lee said he could see the humor in the situation.
“We just laughed and went, ‘What else?’ ” he said. “There’s nothing we can do.”
The criminal and civil actions against the companies and their associates are believed to be the most ambitious by law enforcement since California’s once-booming housing industry was hit last year by a crippling downturn.
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