SmartHomeOwners

CALGARY: A man wanted by police in an alleged loan and mortgage scam has turned himself in to Calgary police.

Richard William Hoffman, 38, is accused of charging excessive interest rates on an $84,000 loan to an elderly couple.

It is also alleged that he tried to foreclose on the couple's home because they put it up as collateral for the loan.

Police say the 84-year-old man and a woman in her 60s agreed to what they thought was a reverse mortgage in 2006.

But the papers actually pledged the couple's $400,000 home to the man who cold-called them.

Hoffman is charged with unfair practices under the Fair Trading Act of Alberta and with demanding a criminal interest rate.

Since the foreclosure is now before the courts, the couple is allowed to stay in their home _ where they've lived since the 1960s _ until a decision is made.