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Michigan Pair Join 10 Charged with Foreclosure-Rescue Scam
A Livingston County businesswoman and her employee are two of the 10 people charged Thursday for defrauding Michigan families out of thousands of dollars in a foreclosure-rescue scam.
Michelle Rene Garbuschewski, who also uses the name Michelle Justice and owns Howell’s Elite Mortgage Relief, is facing two counts of obtaining at least $1,000 but less than $20,000 under false pretenses while employee Lisa Marie Joboulian of Northville is charged with one count of the same offense, according to Livingston County District Court records.
In all, Attorney General Mike Cox’s office authorized 19 criminal complaints — a total of 69 charges — against 10 people and nine Michigan mortgage companies for allegedly illegally charging homeowners facing foreclosure upfront fees for mortgage-modification assistance, or “foreclosure-rescue” promises, which is a violation of the Credit Services Protection Act.
Joy Yearout, a spokeswoman with the attorney general’s office, said none of the companies were coordinated, but were each separately operating similar scams.
The investigation against Elite Mortgage Relief began in May 2009, when the attorney general’s office received two complaints against the company and the women.
Yearout said the defendants claimed they would help two homeowners by working with their lenders in an attempt to modify the borrower’s mortgage. However, Garbuschewski and Joboulian are accused of pocketing the $8,000 fee they charged but not following through on their promises, Yearout said.
While many of the victims lost their homes to foreclosure, the two victims in the Livingston County cases did not, Yearout noted.
“These companies took advantage of struggling Michigan families trying to hold onto the American dream,” Cox said.
Cox urged any consumers who paid fees to the companies and individuals charged by his office, or any other mortgage-modification company, for services that were not provided to file a consumer complaint online with the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division at www.michigan.gov/ag or call (877) 765-8388.
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