The Next Big Clip

Cited: Reuters/ABC news

In Los Angeles, two loan modification agents were tortured because they were suspected of fraud by a couple who had been hit by foreclosure.  This happened as Los Angeles housing advocates were warning of mortgage rescue scams.  On October 26, authorities arrested Daniel Weston and Marianne Parmalee as well as three additional people who are accused of luring their two victims and tying them up in an office where they were held for hours and beaten.

Police were called after one of the victims managed to escape, said the spokeswoman for the Los Angeles county district attorney, Shiara Davila-Morales. The incident occurred on Wednesday in the town of Glendale, just north of Los Angeles.

Weston, Parmelee and the three other defendants each were charged with two counts of torture, two counts of false imprisonment by violence and two counts of second-degree robbery, according to a criminal complaint filed against them.  Weston, 52, and Parmelee, 51, both arrested last week and jailed on $1 million bond, shared a house in the suburb of La Canada-Flintridge that is in foreclosure, authorities said.

“The two allegedly sought loan modification assistance from the victims but believed that nothing was being done and wanted their money back,” a statement from the district attorney’s office said.  Davila-Morales added that the couple, according to investigators, believed they had been swindled.

Weston and another man, who previously served time for assault, are accused of carrying out the beatings in front of their three co-defendants, who prosecutors say had prior business ties with the two victims by having funneled loan-modification referrals to them.

Each count of felony torture, defined as inflicting “great bodily injury” for the purpose of “revenge, extortion, persuasion and for a sadistic purpose,” carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Defense lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

One of the two men escaped their alleged captors and alerted police on Oct. 20. Both men were taken to the hospital and later released.

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Parmelee, 52, along with Mario Soloman Gonzales, 47, and Marissa Parker, 49, were arraigned at the end of October and face two counts each of torture, false imprisonment by violence and second-degree robbery.  According to authorities those three watched as Weston, 52, and Gustavo Canez, 36, allegedly beat and robbed them.

“Weston and Canez allegedly carried out the attack in the presence of the other defendants. The victims also were allegedly robbed of their loan paperwork and personal belongings,” said Davila-Morales in a statement.  Those men were arraigned October 26 and face the same charges plus additional weapons charges, according to the felony complaint filed in court.

Ironically, this case became public as Los Angeles officials and community groups began a national public awareness campaign to urge homeowners to be aware of bogus loan modification programs and report suspicious activity to authorities.  The campaign was started in Los Angeles because the region ranks among the highest in foreclosure rates nationwide, according to organizers.

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My Take: Desperate people do desperate things!  Some people just cannot handle the stress of losing their home and this is the result.  I feel sorry for those agents.  One thing is for sure, they will be more careful when going out to the people the next time.  Hopefully, agents that handle Houston TX real estate will not have the same problem.

A friend of mine who lives in Texas has told me the Houston foreclosure properties are available everywhere.  In fact, he said that the Houston foreclosures were actually slowing down and that he was actually looking at some of the Houston homes for sale.  This tells me that in some areas for closures may not be as bad as they want us to think.

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