SAN DIEGO -- Ron Forsyth is weak from cancer treatments and heartsick over losing the La Mesa home he shared with his partner, Loretta McDonald, since 1995.

“I worked two jobs to keep this home for twelve years and bam! We’re homeless,” he said.

They’re homeless and broke. They’ve been moving from one budget motel to another after they said they gave their last $4500 dollars to a loan modification company.

“I don’t know actually what they did for me,” said McDonald.

The company was Apollo Funding & Realty, located in San Diego. Its customer base crossed state lines and included Ann Bond of Mesa, Arizona.

“He said 100 percent guarantee, they would help me or my money back, “ explained Bond.

She paid Apollo Funding & Realty $5000 for their services. She said they did nothing but take her money. She managed to keep her home. Forsyth and McDonald not only lost their home but nearly everything in it.

"I didn't have enough money to get a moving van,” Forsyth said.

The couple admits making mistakes. They refinanced into a loan they eventually could not afford and they paid Apollo Funding & Realty the fee upfront. The company is not authorized by the California Department of Real Estate to accept advanced fees.

“Downright fraud,” said Forsyth.

The 10 News I-Team worked to track down Apollo. It was not easy. The company used various addresses and phone numbers.

So the I-Team focused on Justin Sampas, Apollo’s broker. His records with the California D.R.E let to a business park in Rancho Bernardo.

But inside, the I-Team found something that it has not seen in all of the previous investigations of loan modification companies.

Inside the office there were people working the phones, and it is a loan modification company, but the employees claim it’s a different company.

I-Team reporter Lauren Reynolds asked for Justin Sampas and Apollo Funding & Realty.

She was told the company the I-Team entered is Alliance Law Center, so she asked for the supervising attorney, which is required by law.

Attorney Cameron Edwards said, “I am willing to answer some questions, but you need to turn the camera off.”

The I-Team complied. Edwards said Alliance Law Center subleased from Apollo Funding & Realty and took over some of their old files, but not the file for Forsyth and McDonald.

He did provide us with another phone number for Apollo, which led to an answering machine. No one returned the calls from the I-Team. Justin Sampas canceled his broker affiliation with the company.

Forsyth and McDonald want their $4500 back. They said they are stuck in budget motels because they don’t have enough money for a security deposit.

“I have nowhere to go from here, that’s what frightens me so much,” Forsyth said.

Complaints about loan modification companies are mounting. The California Department of Real Estate currently has 750 open investigations. The D.R.E. has ordered 185 companies to halt their business due to violations of real estate law. Last summer, the D.R.E reported only 2 open investigations of loan modification companies.

For more information read the I-Team Blog here.

Click here to read warnings before hiring a loan modification company.

Click here to read the list of companies told to desist and refrain by the D.R.E.

Click here to go to the part of the D.R.E website with an updated listing of the companies that have an approved advance fee agreement before they take upfront money from clients.