Elderly Couple May Be Victim Of Mortgage Fraud, Investigators Say

She thought her house would solve some of her problems, such as getting around. Instead, she said, her home has become her problem.

"I'm old; I'm sick. My husband's old," Blinten said. "And I can't take it anymore."

Here's how she explains it.

Rufus Johnson owned RSJ Realty, which is now called Carriage Crossing.

Johnson sold the Blintens a house, she said, and they paid in full.

But now four mortgage companies claim they own the Blintens' house, and the companies want the couple out of it, Blinten said.

She said she believes that a mortgage company was going to lock her and her husband out of their house next Monday. They have a lawyer now, she said, and feel they have more time to sort out the dispute.

So what's the whole story? It's hard to say.

In August, Johnson was killed in a single-car accident. His daughter runs the business now, and she was not available for comment.

Meanwhile, the N.C. Attorney General's Office is suing Carriage Crossing. The office said the company sold property it didn't have a right to sell.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service also are working on criminal investigations, and they suspect that the Blintens were victims of mortgage fraud.

As for Jcquilynne Blinten, she said she's losing weight and losing sleep over the siutation. She said she doesn't want to lose her house too.