A former Pennsylvania real estate agent has been convicted of four counts each of wire fraud and money laundering for defrauding more than $6.2 million from 14 mortgage lenders and 34 homeowners.
Joanne Seeley was a licensed real estate agent in the Keystone state until December 2006. In the fall of 2007, she became the owner and operator of S&D Property Solutions, a foreclosure rescue company that induced lenders to make false loans between 2006 and 2008 in Cumberland, Dauphin, York and Adams counties.
According to court evidence, Seeley's scam involved identifying residences scheduled for a sheriff's sale and advising homeowners that they could avoid foreclosure by selling the property to an investor or another buyer. This investor would then lease the property back to the homeowner after the sale, in which Seeley assured the homeowner that the sale would allow them to pay off personal debts, rebuild their credit rating and allow them to qualify for a new mortgage after buying the property again.
Court testimony also said that Seeley promised the homeowners that the buyer would hold any equity they had in their property in escrow after the sale as the seller's downpayment.
In order to recruit buyers and investors for this fraudulent scheme, Seeley assured these individuals that they would be reimbursed for all out-of-pocket expenses, including their downpayment and an $8,000 fee for engaging in the transaction after the closing.
The buyers were also promised that they would receive monthly rent from the homeowner that would cover the majority of their mortgage payments. Additionally, some buyers were given an upfront payment to make up the difference between their mortgage payments and the rent they received.
To fulfill the scam, Seeley submitted several false documents, such as inaccurate employment and occupancy verifications and incorrect leases and rental income, to the lenders in order for them to approve the loans for the unqualified buyers.
Seeley also submitted redacted sales contracts to the lenders that hid the buy-back agreement made between the buyer and seller as well as the fact that the buyer's downpayment was refunded to them from the loan proceeds.
Seeley charged the homeowners anywhere from 40% to 47% as commission for her services, which were never given as promised, resulting in none of the homeowners being able to buy their homes back.
In addition to receiving this commission, Seeley also converted approximately $2.3 million of the total loan proceeds for her own personal use.
Each count that Seeley was found guilty of is punishable by a maximum of 20 years' incarceration and a $500,000 fine.
