Some families affected by mortgage fraud scheme struggle to find homes

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The past week has been a big shuffle for Kristi Orman and her three children.

Orman lived in one of the homes that was part of the mortgage fraud scheme that hit Sikeston. She's known that she would eventually have to vacate her home, and had made arrangements to move into an apartment by Monday.

But the mortgage company that foreclosed on her home, EMC Mortgage, said she had to move out by Nov. 30.

So this week, she and her three children are living in a motel room.

Others who live in homes that were also foreclosed on are facing similar dilemmas.

According to Scott County Recorder Tom Dirnberger, there have been at least 300 fraudulent loans in the county, most of which resulted in foreclosures.

The process began when representatives of the Century Mortgage, which is now defunct, located rental properties that were free of debt. The owners were offered a price a few thousand dollars more than they were worth, Dirnberger said.

Then, an appraiser from the St. Louis area inflated the values of the homes, he continued.

Representatives from the mortgage company then recruited buyers, making deals to manage the properties and make up the difference when rental income fell short of the loan payment, according to a statement by one of the St. Louis buyers.

In several cases, the owners weren't even aware the properties were being foreclosed on, Dirnberger said.

Meanwhile, the people who rented the homes have been looking for a new place to stay.

The DAEOC Homeless Shelter in town isn't able to meet demand.

"We have several on the list now that their house is being foreclosed on," said Gina Crowley, homeless project case manager. "We just don't have the room to put them up."

The shelter only has six units, making it difficult to fill the need. "They come in all the time," she said.

Crowley said those who stay often just need to catch up on their finances.

"A lot of times if the house is foreclosed on, they don't get their deposit back," she said.

Orman said she met with representatives from the mortgage company Nov. 20 and told them she was set to move Tuesday. "They said, 'No problem,'" she said.

But Nov. 28, representatives said she needed to move out by Dec. 1 -- and because that fell on a Saturday, Orman had to vacate the home by Nov. 30.

Orman hopes she can move into her new home today.

The manager "said she would try to push it," Orman said.