Three former loan officers and a former title agent have been debarred indefinitely by the Department of Housing and Urban Development following their criminal convictions in reverse mortgage fraud charges. The three Florida loan officers and title agent from Pittsburgh have been banned from conducting business with the federal government in the future, HUD announced today in a press release.

The loan officers, Marcos Echevarria, Louis Gendason, John Incandela and title agent Kimberly Mackey were convicted in 2011 year for their involvement in a scheme that defrauded seniors in a total amount of $2.5 million. There were ordered in addition to their sentences to pay restitution and are currently serving prison terms.

“HUD will not tolerate those who abuse the mortgage system and target elderly borrowers for their personal gain,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan in announcing the debarring. “Reverse mortgages can help senior citizens on fixed incomes plan for the future, but it is shameful to bilk the elderly out of their life savings.”

The former loan officers worked for 1st Continental Mortgage based in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida and Mackey was proprietor of Real Estate One Land Services, Inc., based in Pittsburgh. The scheme involved pressuring senior borrowers into reverse mortgages, fraudulently closing the loans, falsifying HUD-1 documents and changing real estate appraisals to fraudulently represent equity in the properties.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker