Police in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, arrested Keith Alan Lawson, 48, Wheat Ridge, for allegedly cheating an 81 year-old man and his 80 year-old wife out of over $90,000. Lawson was a mortgage broker and owner of Erie Land Funding. Lawson was charged with Crimes Against an At Risk Adult, Theft and Forgery.
The elderly couple initially contacted Erie Land Funding and Lawson to refinance a $60,000 mortgage for a lower interest rate. Lawson is suspected of forging the couple’s signatures on at least two mortgage loans, leaving the couple over $200,000 in debt.
According to authorities, the investigation is ongoing and it is possible that more people may have been defrauded as a result of conducting business with Lawson.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors.