(DNAINFO) Amy Zimmer — Retired nurse Hortense Stephenson was duped many times over to an unfortunate end: she lost her South Bronx home of 12 years to foreclosure.

When she bought the hundred-year old row house from a company notorious for flipping homes, she took out a mortgage that she probably couldn’t afford. Later, a shady contractor convinced her to renovate her basement into an apartment so she could earn extra income — but he didn’t tell her it was an illegal conversion and that fines were accruing because of that.

Meanwhile, she was falling behind in mortgage payments and hired a lawyer who promised to get her a loan modification. Instead, he convinced Stephenson to make her monthly mortgage payments to him for a full year. She never saw that money again.

Source: Why NYC’s Senior Homeowners Are Vulnerable and How to Save Them – Concourse – DNAinfo.com New York