MYEVERETTNEWS.com

A reminder from the City of Everett on another opportunity to weigh in on the future of housing in Everett, Washington. Here’s the invite.

The meeting Thursday night will be virtual.

Thanks to a watchful neighbor Everett Police successfully nabbed a porch pirate yesterday. Here’s the information out today from Aaron Snell with Everett Police.

A search warrant led to the discovery of packages belonging to 8 victims.

The car appeared to be filled with stolen packages.

Officers located the silver Kia and detained a woman matching the suspect in the video. Inside the Kia, officers saw the package that was stolen in the video and a victim positively identified the woman as the thief. The 28 year-old Arlington woman was arrested and booked into jail on probable cause for theft. As she refused to allow officers to search the Kia, the vehicle was impounded pending a search warrant to enter it.

Today a search warrant was granted and officers located the property of seven additional victims in the Kia. An officer returned the stolen items and obtained written statements from willing victims. Three additional counts of theft and four counts of possession of stolen property will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office for charging.
Great work by neighbors for being alert and reporting the thefts!

Word in today from the U. S. Attorney’s Office in Western Washington that a manager of a Call Center that operated using the names “Sound Solutions Group” and “Community Assistance Center” in Everett, Washington has entered a guilty plea to a conspiracy to defraud approximately 1,000 distressed homeowners facing foreclosure. You can see the charging documents here and here’s the press release.

The manager of an Everett, Washington, call center pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a conspiracy to defraud approximately 1,000 distressed homeowners facing foreclosure, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. EDWIN JOSUE HERRERA ROSALES aka “Josh Herrera,” 34 , pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with his operation of call centers that operated under the names “Sound Solutions Group,” “Community Assistance Center,” and California-based “Sienna Support Network.”

HERRERA ROSALES and his co-conspirators sent solicitation mailers to distressed homeowners nationwide. The mailers promised that HERRERA ROSALES’ organization could reduce homeowners’ mortgage debts and lower their monthly payments. When homeowners called the call center, operators put the callers through a phony “underwriting” process and then told the callers that the company’s legal and underwriting staff had determined it could negotiate a favorable mortgage modification in exchange for an upfront fee of $3,000. In fact, the call center had no legal or underwriting staff, and many of the homeowners did not receive the promised modifications.

HERRERA ROSALES is scheduled for sentencing by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour on May 4, 2021.

According to records filed in the case, HERRERA ROSALES conspired with others based in Southern California to operate the scheme. Each week the operation sent approximately 4,000 mailers to distressed homeowners across the country. The mailers stated that that the homeowner had been “pre-approved” for a new government program, under which HERRERA ROSALES’s organization could negotiate a mortgage modification. For example, one mailer said that HERRERA ROSALES’s organization could reduce a borrower’s loan balance by over $140,000 and could reduce the interest rate to 2%. The mailers urged the homeowners to call the Everett call center for assistance.

HERRERA ROSALES oversaw a staff of call center operators. When homeowners contacted the call center, HERRERA ROSALES directed the operators to follow a script designed to make it appear as if each caller’s mortgage was being reviewed by the company’s “underwriting” and “legal department” to make sure the homeowner qualified for the supposed federal program. In fact, the call center had no legal staff or underwriting department. Instead, operators were instructed simply to put each caller on hold for a pre-determined amount of time, to make it appear a review was underway. The operator then would return to the line and tell each victim that he or she was one of the “very select few” who qualified for the program—but only if the homeowner paid the call center a $3,000 fee. If the homeowner balked at the fee, the call center staff had another script with certain “hot button” statements to persuade them to sign the documents. It is impermissible under federal regulations to charge upfront fees for mortgage modification services.

Once the contracts were signed, the call center submitted the homeowner’s paperwork to a California-based loan processing group, which made some minimal efforts to restructure the debt. While a limited number of customers obtained a lower monthly payment, the vast majority had no change or, in some cases, a higher monthly payment. The call center used a phony address, and operators used aliases to disguise their identities.

Between March 2016 and May 2018, about 1,000 customers paid over $2.5 million to the various entities operated by HERRERA ROSALES. After HERRERA ROSALES paid the expenses of the call centers and paid a share to his co-conspirators, he kept approximately $360,000.

Conspiracy to commit wire fraud is punishable by up to five years in prison.

The case is being investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Seth Wilkinson.

Another press release in for a candidate for Everett City Council under the new districts. Today’s announcement if from Don Schwab who is running for position 3 which covers west Everett. Here’s the release.

Don Schwab. Candidate supplied photo.

“We have so many challenges in Everett – affordable housing, homelessness and COVID-related economic recovery,” said Schwab. “I’ll bring my 30 years of experience as a firefighter, union leader, educator and community volunteer to help get Everett moving again.”

After serving our communities as a firefighter for 30 years, Schwab retired in 2019 and now works for Snohomish County Treasurer Brian Sullivan. He is also an associate faculty member at Everett Community College.  He has advocated for resident safety as a former board member of the Everett Fire Fighters Local 46 and the Washington State Council of Firefighters.

In the community, he’s coached our kids with Mukilteo Little League, was president of the Mukilteo Girls Basketball Association, served at Volunteers of America and was a board member at Snohomish County Red Cross.

Schwab has been endorsed by the Everett Police Officers Association, Everett Firefighters Local 46, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, former Mayor Frank Anderson, Snohomish County Treasurer Brian Sullivan, Snohomish County Councilmember Megan Dunn, Sen. Steve Hobbs, Reps. Mike Sells and John Lovick.

“I take the coronavirus seriously and I will make sure our city relies on facts and research, not political ideologies to manage our response,” Schwab said. “I will turn to respected scientists, the Department of Health and the Department of Emergency Management to get us out of this pandemic safely, while helping aid our small businesses that have been impacted so much by this crisis.”

Don has been married to Kerri Schwab for 27 years, and together they have two young adult children, Kenzie and Dalton.