KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A mortgage scam in the Northland has claimed dozens of victims, KMBC's Jim Flink reported Thursday.

It's happened in two Clay County subdivisions. People who thought they were leasing homes with an option to buy are instead being evicted, and the homes are being sold on the steps of the courthouse.

It turns out the homes had been bought by several "straw buyers," which means they buy up multiple mortgages all at once, pretending each is their home. However, the straw buyers eventually went broke.

Kurt and Kimber Hoeper bought a house last year in a new Northland subdivision. They entered a lease option to buy their home. They said they paid rent for several months and intended to buy the home within a year.

The couple said they didn't know anything was wrong until a notice came in the mail, but by then, it was too late.

"Not too long before that, a mortgage company (representative) had come knocking on the door looking for this lady, and we said we don't know who that is -- she doesn't live here," Kurt Hoeper said.

In this case, the straw buyer lives in Houston, Texas, and has several Kansas City homes in her name, all of which are listed as her primary residence, and that is illegal.

"On our block alone, there's five houses (involved) -- four of which are already empty," Kimber Hoeper said. "It's heart-wrenching. It really is."

The FBI is investigating the possible link between the affected homes.

Flink reported that Raymond Zwego is also being investigated in the case. Zwego is a co-defendant in the alleged mortgage fraud case involving former Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields.

Dozens of Northland homes have already been auctioned off. Later this month, more victims will lose their homes as well, Flink reported.

"To think about, oh God, of all the people that his man had no regard for," Kimber Hoeper said.

Federal authorities said they will continue to investigate the scam.