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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 79 IN THE NEWS New York Man Gets 9 Years for Mortgage Modification Scam Isaak Khafizov, a former owner of American Home Recovery (AHR), a mortgage loan modification business in New York, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to nine years in federal prison in connection with a mortgage modification scam that defrauded hundreds of homeowners and lenders. Khafizov was convicted in May 2012 of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and two counts of wire fraud. "Khafizov thought he had found his meal ticket scamming struggling homeowners during the height of the housing crisis, and he now has the next nine years in federal prison to think about how he destroyed so many peoples' lives," said Christy Romero, special inspector general for TARP (SIGTARP), in a press release. AHR was founded by Khafizov in 2008. From the spring of 2008 through the summer of 2009, Khafizov used AHR to commit systematic fraud that preyed on homeowners. Khafizov and AHR's salespeople fraudulently induced distressed homeowners all over the United States to pay AHR thousands of dollars in upfront fees by falsely promising the homeowners relief from their financial problems. e company, and Khafizov, promised homeowners better interest rates and lower monthly fees and claimed that the homeowners had been "pre-approved" for mortgage modifications by their lenders. AHR also falsely represented itself as affiliated with government agencies and said that it possessed special expertise in mortgage modifications. After receiving the large upfront fees from homeowners, Khafizov and AHR did little or no work to try to renegotiate the homeowners' mortgages. "On the rare occasion when Khafizov succeeded in getting a homeowner a mortgage modification, he typically did so by coaching the homeowner to lie about his or her income and assets on forms submitted to the mortgage lender," according to a release. In total, Khafizov defrauded hundreds of consumers out of more than half a million dollars in fees. Pennsylvania RANK: 12 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate JANUARY 2014 2.84% 2.74% 2.74% YEAR AGO 3.11% 3.42% 3.42% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -8.6% -19.8% -19.8% Top County MONROE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JANUARY 2014 3.46% 4.14% YEAR AGO 2.94% 3.75% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 17.9% 10.5% Top Core-Based Statistical Area EAST STROUDSBURG, PA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JANUARY 2014 5.47% 10.93% YEAR AGO 6.26% 13.19% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -12.7% -17.1% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the January 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary January 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Pennsylvania Michael A. Kusenko, Jr. Broker/President ERA Meridian Real Estate Group 2624 Leechburg Road, Lower Burrell, PA 15068 724-335-5681 phone | 724-335-6699 fax erameridianreo@comcast.net email www.meridiansells.com web Rhode Island RANK: 11 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate JANUARY 2014 3.99% 2.79% 2.79% YEAR AGO 4.04% 3.89% 3.89% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -1.3% -28.3% -28.3% Top County PROVIDENCE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JANUARY 2014 4.96% 3.33% YEAR AGO 4.93% 4.79% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 0.6% -30.6% Top Core-Based Statistical Area PROVIDENCE-NEW BEDFORD-FALL RIVER, RI-MA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JANUARY 2014 4.43% 2.72% YEAR AGO 4.04% 3.89% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 9.7% -30.1% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the January 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary January 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Vermont RANK: 10 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate JANUARY 2014 1.87% 2.99% 2.99% YEAR AGO 1.78% 3.84% 3.84% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 5.4% -22.2% -22.2% Top County GRAND ISLE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JANUARY 2014 2.88% 4.88% YEAR AGO 1.96% 5.25% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 46.8% -7.2% Top Core-Based Statistical Area BENNINGTON, VT 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JANUARY 2014 2.62% 4.38% YEAR AGO 2.54% 5.15% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 3.2% -15.1% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the January 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary January 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Vantage Point Bank in Horsham, Pennsylvania was closed by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, making it the fifth bank to fail this year, according to the FDIC. KNOW THIS