Metro man pays $100K+ on mortgage for 15 years, possibly scammed leaving home foreclosed
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — David Ortega is the owner of Men's Wellness of Oklahoma. He also thought he was a homeowner, but fears he may be a victim of real estate fraud.
Ortega said he purchased his northwest Oklahoma City home from a private mortgage company, Home Masters LLC, based out of Edmond back in 2009.
"I put $7,000 down, purchased for $70,000. I've been paying $665 a month for the last 15 years. When I did the calculations, it's about $126,000 total that I've paid into this home," Ortega said.
On December 26, Ortega was served with court papers from the Oklahoma Court Clerk's Office. The documentation stated his home was in foreclosure.
Ortega said when the court representative for Oklahoma County mentioned the foreclosure, he instead named the owner of Home Masters LLC.
"I'm like, well this is my house, so they don't actually live here. They live in Edmond," Ortega said.
Ortega showed News 4 a document from 2009 when he agreed to purchase the home. For the past 15 years, he said he was paying his mortgage each month to the home address of the company's owner.
Home Masters LLC is owned by the same man who owns the home Ortega has been living in and paying for all these years.
When we looked at the ownership documents for Ortega's home, we can see the company owner's wife's name listed as the owner on a completely different mortgage.
Apparently, Ortega's mortgage hasn't been paid by Home Masters LLC since March 2024. The mortgage company, now wanting the entire balance to be paid in full.
"According to the paperwork, Home Masters LLC still owes them $44,000," Ortega said.
Court records show the exact amount as $43,217.59
This means someone appears to have been collecting Ortega's monthly payments, but not actually paying the mortgage. This now leaves the home in foreclosure.
Ortega said his monthly payments went to an address in a gated community in Edmond.
News 4 went to the location, no one answered the door.
We also tried calling the company owner's cell phone and got no response.
News 4 noticed a van in the company owner's driveway for another company named "Pipe Doctors." We called the number on the van, but the person who answered hung up as soon we mentioned the name of the man who lives at the home where the van was parked.
"I never thought I'd be a fraud victim myself," Ortega said.
He says he's just a father and family man trying to make it.
"I don't have that much money. I put everything into my business and I'm really not sure what to do," Ortega said.
In order to pursue legal action, Ortega must hire a real estate attorney, which he said he can't afford at the moment.
This afternoon, News 4 tried reaching the man who's been collecting Ortega's payments all these years. Although he didn't confirm his identity, he told us Ortega had "Nothing to worry about."
He said he is working with a bank to resolve the situation. However, when we asked which bank, he said "Don't worry about it."
We will keep following this story.