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Representatives from the Prince George's County state's attorney's office have pledged stronger efforts to curb mortgage fraud to help protect residents in Prince George's, which leads the state in this type of fraud.

The county has become the nexus for fraud activity in the state, said Doyle Niemann, assistant state's attorney for the county and a state delegate for District 47.

"Prince George's County is sort of ground zero [for mortgage fraud in Maryland]," he said.

The county has the highest number of fraud investigations and prosecutions in the state, with 18 prosecutions for mortgage and foreclosure-related cases with the last year. In addition to that, 34 cases are actively being investigated, Niemann said.

During a symposium Nov. 18 at the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commission in Sykesville, county representatives, including State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) and his staff, spoke about the most recent laws aimed at protecting homeowners from mortgage fraud and prosecute scammers.

The county's state's attorney's office formed a special mortgage fraud unit, the first of its kind in the state, in September 2008. The unit is currently applying for grants to fund it for another year.

Officials pointed to recent sentencings in a wide-reaching Lanham- and Greenbelt-based mortgage scheme — the largest mortgage fraud case ever prosecuted in the county and statewide — as an indicator of the severity of the problem in Prince George's and the success of state prosecutors.

County Assistant State's Attorney April Richardson said the Metropolitan Money Store scheme was so significant because it affected hundreds of people.

"It gave a face to mortgage and financial fraud," she said.

A U.S. District Court judge sentenced the president of the Metropolitan Money Store, Joy Jackson, 41, of Fort Washington on Nov. 16 to more than 12 years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with a $16 million mortgage fraud scheme that falsely promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes and repair their damaged credit.

Jackson was the latest to be sentenced in connection with the scheme. Ten others, including a lawyer, mortgage broker, real estate agent, loan processor and company officers, have pleaded guilty in this scheme.

Niemann said the prevalence of mortgage fraud in the county is linked to Prince George's high rate of foreclosures. The county makes up more than 30 percent of the foreclosures in the state, according to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

Niemann said that during the housing boom of 2005 and 2006, many county residents took advantage of subprime adjustable interest rate home loans. When interest rates skyrocketed after the housing bubble burst in 2008, many homeowners' mortgage payments ballooned, becoming unaffordable.

Many homeowners became prey to scammers promising them a way out of foreclosures, Niemann said.

Richardson said Maryland has some of the more extensive laws in the nation in helping homeowners caught in mortgage scams.

"If you understand the nature of the cases, then you can put [claims of bad business practice] to the side and go to the fraud," she said.

In addition to the county's special mortgage fraud unit, Richardson points to 2008 amendments to the state's Protection of Homeowners and Foreclosure Act.

The amendments created stricter language regarding what is considered a scam and assess criminal penalties to those who give misleading information to gain access to loans and credit.

"We need to get in our mindset that many of the things happening today are criminal," said Robert Strupp, director of research and policy at the Community Law Center based in Baltimore, who spoke at the symposium.

E-mail Joshua Garner at jgarner@gazette.net.