A Scarborough woman says an unlicensed mortgage broker stole $85,000 from her
The woman’s home is at risk of foreclosure
After paying $85,000 to a person she believed was a licensed mortgage broker, a Scarborough woman says she is now at risk of losing her home.
In an interview with CTV, Randee Solomon explained that, after her cheque was cashed, she realized that it was not actually put toward her mortgage. “The money didn’t go where it was supposed to go, and that’s a lot of money,” she said.
According to CTV, Solomon provided a bank draft to Dianne Van Rossum, who had claimed to be a licensed mortgage broker. When she later contacted the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, she learned that the name was not in the agency’s system. “I felt angry. I felt like she didn’t do the job she was paid to do,” Solomon said.
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Earlier this week, the FSRA published a statement warning the public that they should not conduct business with Van Rossum. “Consumers have fewer protections under the law if obtaining mortgages from unlicensed individuals and/or entities. In addition, unlicensed individuals may not fully understand mortgage products and may recommend a product that doesn’t meet your needs,” it said.
The statement also said that Van Rossum reportedly has a pattern of encouraging clients to refinance or change ownership of their homes, then keeping their money. Her victims include senior citizens.
Solomon told CTV her home is at risk of foreclosure.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
