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Jessica Mador
St. Paul, Minn.

Coon Rapids woman wins back house after mortgage scam

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A Coon Rapids woman who nearly fell victim to a foreclosure scam has won her house back. After two years of litigation and a trial, an Anoka County judge ruled this week that the homeowner now owns her home free and clear.

Sandra Gustafson made a deal with now-defunct Midwest Equity Consultants to rescue her home from foreclosure. The contract could have cost her $125,000 in equity and required her to pay another $50,000 to keep her home.

But Foreclosure Relief Law Project attorney Jane Bowman said the deal violated Minnesota's equity stripping laws.

"You go through foreclosure and your credit is shot and no one will give you a loan and there is no reason to believe that at the end of the contract for deed, which was about 15 months in Ms. Gustafson's case, that anybody would finance her for $50,000 more than what she lost her home for," Bowman said.

The woman's attorney says this case is groundbreaking in Minnesota because these types of cases rarely go all the way to trial.

Representatives from Midwest Equity could not be reached for comment.