A group of homeowner’s has filed a civil lawsuit in Washington D.C. against Calvin Baltimore, Vincent Abell and five other defendants, alleging they were victims of an equity stripping scheme. The lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs responded to advertisements appealing to homeowners that were facing foreclosure. The defendants paid off the past due amounts and required that the homeowner’s sign over their homes to the defendants but the defendants did not assume the mortgages or make the mortgage payments. The homeowners would then have to pay the defendants rent every month as well as making the original mortgage payment. The homeowners are given an opportunity to repurchase their homes after a year. In one case described in the article, the homeowner’s house was worth $255,000. The defendants are alleged to have paid him $17,000 - $7,000 for past due payments and $10,000 in cash. The homeowner then had to pay his original $700 per month mortgage plus $500 in rent. If he wants to buy his house back after a year, the purchase price will be $110,000.

According to the article, both Baltimore and Abell have previous criminal records for convictions related to mortgage fraud.