William Wayland Of Potomac Sentenced To 8 Years In Mortgage Theft Scheme
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (WJZ) – A Potomac man was sentenced to 11 years, with three suspended, after being convicted in a mortgage theft scheme during a bench trial in May, Prince George's County State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy said in a statement.
William Wayland, 51, was convicted of theft over $1,500, failure to provide a contract and taking money before providing services after pretending to be an attorney and promising a mortgage modification to a District Heights woman who lost her home as a result of the scheme, according to the statement.
After the woman met Wayland through her hairdresser, he told her he was a lawyer with a Clinton law firm and promised to obtain a mortgage modification to lower her monthly payments, she testified during the trial.
As part of the process, Wayland told the woman to stop paying her mortgage to put the loan in default so the bank would negotiate with him to prevent the loan foreclosure and provide her with a new mortgage with a favorable rate and lower monthly payments, according to the statement. He told her he would file two bankruptcies for her and obtain a loan modification of her home mortgage. The woman eventually lost the home when it went into foreclosure, and other witnesses also testified they paid Wayland for similar loan modification services.
The sentence is above the state's guidelines of two to five years, which Braveboy said was justified.
"It sends a message to Mr. Wayland and puts other individuals on notice that they cannot commit this or any type of crime and get away with it," she said in the statement.
Wayland will also be on five years of probation after he is released and will be required to pay $6,000 in restitution.
