DC Files Enforcement Action Against Foreclosure Rescue Scam

WASHINGTON - A local D.C. businessman is under fire for allegedly duping a dozen elderly and poor D.C. residents out of their homes in a foreclosure rescue scam.

D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles has filed a Superior Court enforcement against Vincent L. Abell, charging he engaged in foreclosure rescue transactions that violated the District's consumer protection law. The complaint is asking that the Court to rescind the unlawful transactions.

The suit comes as welcome news to victims like Maria-Theresa Wilson. She is a former D.C. educator with a master's degree. She's been battling back from a head injury in 2003 that left her devastated both physically and financially. Unable to work, Wilson's Northwest DC home went in foreclosure.

"I didn't know where to go or what to do,’ said Wilson.

Wilson says that's when she was approached by a man promising to help.

"They knocked on the door and said, `Well, we realize you're in pre-foreclosure, and we can help you do this and help you with your arrearages. And I said, `oh my God, this is wonderful,’" said Wilson.

That man was Calvin Baltimore, who worked for Vincent Abell and his company Modern Management Company. Abell is a D.C. businessman who is involved in real estate and the mortgage business.

Wilson says she unwittingly signed over the title of her house to Abell and became a renter in her own home.

"A [refinancing] is what you think you’re doing and that’s the way he presented it, as a refinancing. And next thing you know, they’re saying, `No, it was a sale,’’ said Wilson.

Wilson says she still had to pay her mortgage, and when she couldn't keep up with her rent, Abell evicted her.

"How could you be educated and miss this,’ Wilson said. "And that's what I kept saying to myself. `What did you do?’"

Wilson isn't the only alleged victim. Abell, whose family lives in a million dollar Silver Spring home, is accused of doing the same thing to more than dozen other people in the District. Most of the alleged victims are elderly, financially unsophisticated and desperate to save their homes from foreclosure.

Wilson sued Abell and his company and won. A jury awarded her damages of $3.3 million. She says though the money helps, it can never compensate for the emotional pain she has suffered.

Nickles’ suit aims to put Abell out of business for good and help protect unsuspecting homeowners from devastating loss.