The characters of the story are; one narcissistic psychopathic mortgage loan officer posing as a mortgage broker; his equally despicable partner in crime also posing as a mortgage broker; a former lover of the psychopath who was additionally a licensed mortgage broker and then an underwriter for a major mortgage lender; the psychopath's ex-wife who enabled the criminal activity; three corrupt appraisers; and a title agent - just to name a few of the players in this all too common scenario of a small time mortgage fraud ring.

The victims include ironically, a certified financial planner and his son who together had lost over a quarter million dollars of their family's life savings by placing their trust in to the hands of these con artist. Additionally, nearly fifty victims of one Southwest Washington county where this case of mortgage fraud ran rampant for fifteen years.

And lastly, the most recent and unfortunate victim of this malicious Monopoly game; a totally unsuspecting young woman stalked as the perfect prey from of all places, a Christian dating site on the Internet.

I may have been mortgage illiterate but fortunately I do possess a heart of a humanitarian and an unstoppable sense of "civic duty" in refusing to accept my role as a "victim" in this case. Therefore I am trying my damnedest to seek justice for all of the victims of this mortgage fraud ring.

I may be without a dime - but I am rich with relentless determination to take down this heartless criminal, along with his partner in crime and stop them from financially raping more undeserving American citizens; if I possibly can.

The greatest obstacle I have faced is the continuing struggle to keep the authorities engaged in proper action towards putting these criminals where they belong.

This story began when I joined a "Christian" singles dating site. I was serious about wanting the next relationship to be "thee" one that would last - having had my share of "learning experiences," regarding love that is. I had only one brave man willing to step up and take my personal twenty-five essay question compatibility test and "John" passed with flying colors!

I should have known right then and there he was just "too good to be true." But John was so very convincing. Besides, I never dreamed on a Christian dating site I would actually meet "the Devil" himself!

What I also would have never dreamed is my "dream man" would in the end turn out to be a predatory mortgage loan broker, a corporate narcissistic psychopath, a professional liar, and a con man - let alone turn out to be a "Sweetheart Swindler."

The months following our first meeting John swept me off my feet with his genuine concern for my well being, his sweet little surprises, his kind generosity, and soon thereafter his passionate love. John had convinced me he was "the man of my dreams" by showering me constantly with love letters, poetry, flowers, gifts, and only presenting himself to me as being "Mr. Wonderful." Never in my life had I been treated so fine.

All this was part of John's "master plan" to use my name and good credit scores while conning me in to signing $400,000 worth of mortgage loans on behalf of the "loving, long-term, commitment goal" we had made together.

John made promises to marry me the following year once he retired from the mortgage/rental business - promising further he would then build our "dream home" in the country. He knew this was the one thing I desired more than anything; a "Home, Sweet Home."

Until then, "there were sacrifices to be made" in order to reach this goal. John set me up in the first little house I had ever owned, a fixer-upper in the city of Longview, Washington.

Within the next few months John also purchased two adjoining properties - again using my name and credit to attain financing. John promised to make all the mortgage payments and he did.

In return I, along with a small crew John had promised would assist, could easily restore these properties to their former glory. The properties would then be sold for a huge profit, along with John's numerous other rental properties, the following year when he would retire.

I had no problem with this challenge, since I was a hard worker with years of experience upgrading numerous rental homes in which I had previously resided. Plus this was something I could provide as my contribution to this new lifetime commitment goal we had made to each other. If by chance the relationship would end, this work I had done would have repaid John for his generosity.

During the ten months we were seriously dating John resided at a cabin on Mt. Hood, ninety miles from Longview, Washington. John owned and operated a mortgage business from his office in Portland, Oregon. Yet oddly, most of John's property transactions occurred in Cowlitz County, Washington. In hindsight, this was John's plan; to make it all the more difficult for the I.R.S. to track his business transactions and all the more easier to evade paying his share of income and property taxes.

Ten months after we had met on-line John finally revealed his true character, "Mr. Hyde," the day I became very angry at him for his coercing me into a fourth property against my will and better judgment. Because of his deceptions, I ended the relationship on Thanksgiving Day, 2004.

Three months later John stopped making his mortgage payments on the properties he had purchased by using my name and credit. The properties I had worked so hard on during 2004 are now sold due to foreclosure. My once good credit, now destroyed.

Though we had met on a Christian dating site, John is no Christian. In fact, this man is more like the "Devil in disguise" who finds narcissistic pleasure in playing an evil game with innocent people's lives. I soon discovered, in this malicious "Monopoly" game John plays, he always gets to play the role of the banker and he cheats to win every time. The last fifteen years John has played his game well, leaving a long trail of victims.

John "the Con" was banking on the fact I was a trusting, naive, inexperienced, financially uneducated, mortgage illiterate, Christian woman, who had previously raised two children on welfare, and I didn't have a real paying job. Therefore, John knew I was without a dime to ever fight against him in court.

What John never imagined was, in spite of the above facts, I am also a passionately determined, fiery red-head, with a humanitarian spirit who would devote countless hours, days, months, and now four years to this "Mission from God" I had been given (not once but twice). I have additionally forsaken complete humility and embarrassment to expose this criminal by telling my story repeatedly in order to bring this con artist to justice. Hopefully, one day I will be the one responsible for ending John's reign as slum lord, serial criminal, professional con man, and head of a mortgage fraud ring.

(I also have a strong desire to share the hard lessons I have learned with others whose ignorance may bring them the same fate that ignorance has brought to me, possibly by writing a book about my misadventure.)

Unfortunately, these crooks are still in business and I can't seem to find one person in authority who will assure me justice will be served on these criminals! Don't worry, I'm not giving up. I still have Hope and Faith - two things John could NEVER take from me.

Once I came to realize something was very wrong with this situation I found myself in - one search on the Internet using the words "mortgage fraud" and I soon discovered I had landed myself right in the middle of a very classic case.

I then began my own investigative research at the local courthouse and discovered John had actually owned these first three properties currently in my name for the past fifteen years; only they were never in John's name but in the name of numerous other "investors" or "straw buyers" John had conned.

I soon discovered John had over the years "flipped" these properties, "skimming" all available equity and then some; ultimately leaving me holding property worth half of the mortgaged values.

The term "straw buyer" I learned is the term for the role I unknowingly played in this criminal's devious Monopoly game, where he robs from the lenders and pillages from the poor to fill his own pockets. Hence the title chosen for this book: "The Last Straw."

I then discovered John's greatest winnings in the recent past involved a major investor in John and his partner's abilities to create profits and gains through the investments in real estate. This investor ironically is a Certified Financial Planner from Seattle and a silent partner unaware of the fraud John was committing down south in Longview with the assistance of John's partner in crime who happened to be renting an office space from this wealthy investor in Seattle.

The C.F.P. and his son have lost over a quarter million dollars of their family's life savings to these criminals. I was the C.F.P. and his son's "best friend" in their case against the predatory lenders who passed through twelve fraudulent loans of theirs and fifty other loans originated by this same con man John with his partner's help. That one chapter alone would make a great story.

Now the best and most bizarre part of this story happened when I suddenly remembered what John had hidden away in the very back of one of the garages on these properties that were then in my name only. In one of three garages is where John kept stored all of his rental equipment and something else very important of his hidden away. And what could it be, you ask?

It was eighteen boxes of his business files containing every fraudulent transaction John had made between 1992 and 2002! The criminal evidence to convict John was hidden away in the back of one of the garages where he thought no one would ever find them!

The minute I realized what I had, I changed all the locks, remained inside my residence, and began searching for the proper authorities who would take and investigate this evidence. I soon found out this would not be a very easy task. It took three long months calling every agency I could think of and lastly the I.R.S. Fraud Hot-line every day for a week straight before an I.R.S. agent finally responded and came to pick up the files.

This was after I had already contacted all appropriate local, state and federal authorities to no avail - who only "gaffed" me off as a "scorned woman" out for revenge. Though I did manage to locate several attorneys who were overjoyed to meet me since they too were fighting the same battles against these criminals.

The last few chapters are yet to be played out. These criminals are still out there creating more victims due to the authorities moving slower than a glacier in their investigation; first it was the I.R.S. in Portland whom I had given the evidence.

Not to mention the I.R.S. refused to give me the documentation of my official status as a victim and informant in this case until after they bring this criminal to trial which could have been another year or more. This document was all I would have needed to prove to the lenders my story is true, which would have cleared my credit record.

(UPDATE: It will never happen, the I.R.S. gave up on the case! Since the I.R.S. decided they had bigger and easier fish to catch - the I.R.S. Special C.I. Agent drove one hundred fifty miles round trip to deliver John's files, untouched BTW, to my door on January 5, 2006.)

While these files were in the I.R.S.'s care, I was allowed visitation with the files and to take copies of any documents I wanted. With this information and long hours at spent at the courthouse I had documented over a hundred property flips and fraudulent transactions perpetrated by John and his partners in crime.

I am now very close friends with the major victims in this story. I have a list of all John's past victims and have contacted most of them. They all fully support and cheer me on in my attempts for justice in this case.

Since the return of these files I have had time to examine the contents and have identified over 1,400 forgeries. Why doesn't the F.B.I. arrest this man? This is what I can not understand!!! With this much evidence, how can this case be ignored?? I realize people are busy, but gee whiz, come on now!

The reason, I am told, is...the Statute of Limitations have run out. So this guy gets off scott-free because three years have passed!!!

I say bullsh-t!

I have since made so much ruckus in writing hundreds of letters in protest of this injustice and to remind the officials constantly to stay on task so this case never gets lost under a stack of files. Furthermore, I have provided my findings regularly on any current activities and shady business deals - saving the state hundreds of man-hours it would have taken to investigate the complexities of these criminal acts in this up-side-down case in which the perpetrators deliberately orchestrated to thwart the most dogged of investigators.

Now, the latest depressing news I have just been informed is...the Washington State Attorney General's investigator on the case has retired!!! Worse yet, I am told...there is no investigator hired to replace him because of budget issues! WTF!!!!

Still, the new Assistant Attorney General assured me this case is a priority for him to get resolved. Meanwhile, the County Prosecutor, where these criminals are currently doing their underhanded dealings, has been waiting patiently (since September of last year) for the investigation to be finalized so that the Prosecutor can file charges.

My goal, if these criminals are ever charged and convicted, is that this case would be used as an example to expose the exploding epidemic of mortgage fraud currently facing our nation - leaving in its path countless, vacant, foreclosed homes and yet, ironically, an unimaginable percentage of American citizens will have been forced into homelessness in the near future.

The dream and the vision I tightly hold on to is the "Victory Party" which will be held in the courtroom beginning the moment the conviction is announced. All of the former victims of this mortgage fraud ring are awaiting to attend this glorious day in which my appointed "Mission from God" will have been fulfilled.

And that is the short version. I left out the part where I had to face this crook in court who had filed a harrasment order against me by stating outright lies and then I had to defend my right to conduct my civil investigation as I had a legitimate and lawful reason to do so in which I reported all my findings to the authorities.

I also left out the long battle to overturn the bankruptcy this crook was unworthily granted based on perjured statements he made under oath.

And I left out the fact this criminal has committed forgeries, identity theft, credit card fraud, and mortgage fraud within the Statute of Limitations in one victims case in which we, the victims, would be equally as overjoyed to see justice served in just this one case alone.

I left out a lot of things.

Thanks for reading. I think it might sell. Lord knows I could use the money.

Junior in the High School of Hard Knocks.

I admit, a novel would be a huge undertaking but I have done most of the work. It just needs to be creatively written. If you are just looking for a great article to write, please...this is the one.