Fraudster gets 10 Years in nationwide foreclosure rescue scheme

Lorin Kal Buckner got 10 years behind bars for his role in a scam that victimized more than 780 financially distressed homeowners across the United States.

Buckner, 67, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court in Ohio last week after he was convicted in a fraudulent foreclosure rescue scheme. 

A jury found him guilty last November of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud, according to a Department of Justice press release.

Buckner was among 11 suspects implicated in the scheme.

From 2013 through 2018, Buckner and his co-conspirators exploited homeowners facing foreclosure, manipulating their desperation to enrich themselves. Their modus operandi involved luring victims into fraudulent programs, promising to rescue their homes in exchange for payments.

Affiliates recruited homeowners aggressively, identifying vulnerable individuals, from online databases and court records, who had recently received foreclosure notices. Buckner and his associates mailed more than 56,000 postcards falsely claiming they could “stop foreclosure” or “stop the sheriff sale” for a fixed fee. They also used Craigslist ads, websites, email and social media to target homeowners.

Recruiters like Buckner collected payments from homeowners and directed them to the co-conspirator companies, where they were promised various services, including negotiating with mortgage lenders for the purchase of mortgage notes at a discount, facilitating short sales, and supposedly removing mortgage liens via tender offers.

The defendants even claimed to possess “proprietary” methods and “legal tactics” to stall or completely avert foreclosure. In reality, they were inducing homeowners to file chapter 13 bankruptcies. 

The bankruptcy petitions, filed as “pump fakes” or “missiles,” intentionally concealed the conspirators’ involvement, misleading the courts into thinking the homeowners had filed the petitions themselves. Relief from foreclosure was short-lived, as bankruptcy courts dismissed their petitions. Many victims lost not only thousands of dollars but also their homes.

It’s not the only real estate-related fraud alleged in Ohio.

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged podcast host Matthew Motil with running an $11 million Ponzi scheme. The Ohio man allegedly defrauded more than 50 investors in a real estate scheme.

Motil promised low-risk, high-return promissory notes supposedly collateralized by first mortgages on homes in Ohio, according to the complaint. He allegedly promoted the investments on his website and podcast, where he said any potential investor could become a “real estate investing badass.”

Motil said he would pay investor returns from profits that came from flipping and renting the involved properties, according to the complaint. But Motil didn’t secure first lien positions as promised, the SEC alleged, and instead proceeded to sell multiple promissory notes he said were secured by the properties to multiple investors.

Among his alleged misdeeds, Motil once sold more than $1 million in promissory notes to 20 investors, each note purportedly collateralized by a property he acquired for $47,000. The complaint alleges Motil eschewed renovations to instead make payments to previous investors and fund his own lavish lifestyle, renting a lakeside mansion, buying courtside NBA season tickets and making $400,000 in credit card payments for his wife, a relief defendant in the case.