Two Bay Area men convicted of one felony count of foreclosure consultant fraud were sentenced to 90 days in jail Friday after paying more than $40,000 in restitution, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
Cary Jay Silberman, 53, of San Jose and Robert Francis Childs, 44, of Dublin paid restitution in the amounts of $16,745 and $23,345, respectively, to a total of 14 victims, according to the district attorney's office. As a condition of probation, the men were ordered not to provide loan modification services.
Silberman was also convicted of one misdemeanor count of unauthorized practice of law. Prosecutors say Silberman represented to people that he was a lawyer; Silberman resigned from the state bar in 1997.
Prosecutors say Childs gave seminars to real estate offices and groups of agents in the Bay Area, notably in Santa Clara County and Contra Costa County. Under the business name "Pro Family Financial Systems," Childs primarily marketed himself as a debt counselor and referred loan modifications to Silberman, who operated a business called "Loan Deal," which sold loan modification services.
Prosecutors say Silberman and Childs collected money up front from clients for loan modifications.
The district attorney's office advises homeowners to never pay an advance fee for loan modifications. The Foreclosure Consultants Act makes it a crime for anyone, even an attorney or real estate agent, to collect advance fees to perform loan modification services on a mortgage secured by the borrower's primary residence. Contact a HUD-certified foreclosure counselor by logging on at http://hud.gov or by calling the Foreclosure Help Hotline at 408-794-1242.
Contact Mark Gomez at 408-920-5869.
Cary Jay Silberman, 53, of San Jose and Robert Francis Childs, 44, of Dublin paid restitution in the amounts of $16,745 and $23,345, respectively, to a total of 14 victims, according to the district attorney's office. As a condition of probation, the men were ordered not to provide loan modification services.
Silberman was also convicted of one misdemeanor count of unauthorized practice of law. Prosecutors say Silberman represented to people that he was a lawyer; Silberman resigned from the state bar in 1997.
Prosecutors say Childs gave seminars to real estate offices and groups of agents in the Bay Area, notably in Santa Clara County and Contra Costa County. Under the business name "Pro Family Financial Systems," Childs primarily marketed himself as a debt counselor and referred loan modifications to Silberman, who operated a business called "Loan Deal," which sold loan modification services.
Prosecutors say Silberman and Childs collected money up front from clients for loan modifications.
The district attorney's office advises homeowners to never pay an advance fee for loan modifications. The Foreclosure Consultants Act makes it a crime for anyone, even an attorney or real estate agent, to collect advance fees to perform loan modification services on a mortgage secured by the borrower's primary residence. Contact a HUD-certified foreclosure counselor by logging on at http://hud.gov or by calling the Foreclosure Help Hotline at 408-794-1242.
Contact Mark Gomez at 408-920-5869.
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