Man Who Swindled Homeowners Sentenced To Prison

MINEOLA, NY — Mark Savransky, 59, of Dix Hills, was sentenced on Thursday to three to six years in prison for his mortgage modification scheme, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced Monday.

Savransky scammed 32 homeowners out of more than $600,000 in a mortgage modification scheme. He must also pay $601,546.92 in restitution. Savransky pleaded guilty on Oct. 9, 2018 to two counts of second-degree grand larceny (a C felony) and second-degree scheme to defraud (an A misdemeanor).

"Today’s sentence sends a strong message to those who would prey on vulnerable homeowners during tough financial times in their lives," Singas said. "Victims were close to losing their homes because of this defendant’s scheme and lies. I am grateful to our partners in Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the Suffolk County Police Department and the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for their assistance on this case."

Singas said Savransky ran a mortgage modification business in Nassau County using the name Mark Savran. Between 2008 and 2014, he promised 32 homeowners in Nassau County and elsewhere that, after securing modifications, he would hold their mortgage payments in trust and forward them to the financial institutions servicing the homeowners’ mortgages.

Instead, Savransky used the money for personal use, stealing approximately $601,546.92 from the homeowners. He used the funds for ATM cash withdrawals, credit card payments, child support, car payments, gasoline, travel expenses, restaurants, grocery stores, department stores and Netflix.

In many cases, Savransky's clients were residential homeowners who had purchased their homes using a subprime adjustable rate mortgage between 2006 and 2009. When the payments became more than the homeowner could afford, they hired Savransky to help them get a mortgage modification.

Savransky requested that all paperwork from the bank be given to him, and if additional paperwork was sent by the bank to the victim, he demanded that it be given to him immediately, preferably unopened.

He then told his clients to give him the monthly mortgage payment that was due under the modified mortgage, assuring them he would make the payments on their behalf and, in doing so, create a record of payment that would prevent a lender from denying that payments were made or from reneging on any mortgage modification that was obtained. At Savransky's behest, the payments were mostly made in cash or by check that didn't include the payee. Savransky later completed the payee portion of the check, effectively enabling him to misappropriate the funds.

Because the mortgages weren't being paid, lenders started to foreclose on properties belonging to Savransky's clients. When some of the homeowners complained to him, some of them received a fraction of repayment.

Savransky’s victims include residents from Amityville, Baldwin, Bayside, Brentwood, the Bronx, Brooklyn, East Northport, Farmingdale, Hempstead, Hicksville, Huntington, Levittown, Lynbrook, Malverne, Merrick, Mount Vernon, New Hyde Park, Queens Village, Richmond Hill, Riverhead, Uniondale and Westbury.

Savransky was arrested in August 2015 by NCDA detective investigators and arraigned on grand jury indictment charges in Oct. 2017.