Utahns hit hard by costly mortgage scam

LAYTON — Had she been in the market for a home, Marla Vandermyde might not have chosen the quaint, one-story house in central Layton with the neglected rosebushes out front.

But unbeknownst to Vandermyde, someone did choose the 43-year-old bungalow — using Vandermyde's Social Security number to obtain credit — as part of a combination identity and mortgage fraud ring recently uncovered by Utah investigators.

"Not too bad," the Salt Lake grandmother commented after seeing the house for the first time Wednesday. "It needs a little yard work done. It's cute."

The Utah Attorney General's Office says the Layton house is just one of 87 homes sold across the Wasatch Front as part of the complex scheme. And that, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said, "is just the tip of the iceberg."

The scam, which has already cost taxpayers some $2 million, is on its way to becoming the most costly in Utah history, Shurtleff said.

According to investigators, a handful of local mortgage brokers solicited buyers, mostly undocumented immigrants, to purchase the houses at highly inflated prices. The brokers would line up fraudulent Social Security numbers for the buyers and sometimes even give them money for a down payment, the Attorney General's Office alleges.

The homes eventually went into foreclosure, but not before the mortgage brokers pocketed large commissions from each sale and the homebuyers received six months to a year's worth of free rent.

The Office of Inspector General for the Social Security Administration began to uncover the scheme last fall when victims reported finding several home and car loans on their credit reports, said resident agent in charge Ron Ingleby.

At the same time, Ingleby said, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development discovered inflated property values on several homes. A subsequent joint investigation between the two agencies and the Attorney General's Office unearthed the full extent of the scheme.

The loans were federally insured through HUD, which covers the losses but then subsequently raises insurance premiums on legitimate mortgages to recoup the damages.

Vandermyde learned her Social Security number had been used in the scam in November, when she was contacted by the Social Security Administration.

"I was so angry and felt so violated," she said. "I didn't really understand how somebody got my Social Security number. . . . I feel I've always been a pretty cautious person about my personal dealings. I had no idea that this would happen to me."