SALEM, Ore. -- Oregon’s Attorney General John Kroger won a federal grant to help prosecute mortgage fraud as part of his effort to help Oregonians stay in their homes, his office said Wednesday.

Kroger said the grant will fund one new prosecutor and one new investigator to coordinate Oregon Department of Justice prosecution of mortgage fraud cases.

The attorney general’s plans to clamp down on mortgage fraud schemes are aimed to help people like Anthony Dixon of Gresham.

Dixon, a foster parent of four boys, is close to losing his home after a California mortgage company American Mitigation Group promised him a loan modification to lower his monthly mortgage from $2,800 to $1,400.

“They said, ‘Well, don’t pay your mortgage payment next month. Send half of your money to us and then give us the other half of the amount later on,’” Dixon said.

So he sent AMG two payments totaling $3,000 and then he said the company ignored him for months.

“They kept putting me on hold time and time again,” he said. “They wouldn’t return my phone calls.”

Eventually Dixon got a loan modification agreement from the company but it gave him no relief from his mortgage payment.

“I hope they’re prosecuted,” Dixon said. “I hope they’re held accountable for how they treated me.”

With the grant, Oregon’s attorney general said he will be able to go “after mortgage fraud, which is a huge problem in our state.”

Dixon said he will get some of his money back thanks to the assistance from Kroger’s office, but he said it won’t be enough to save his family’s home.

The attorney general’s office has opened nearly a dozen mortgage fraud and foreclosure scam investigations in the past year, including several criminal cases.

The attorney general also launched a new education program to help people avoid fraud and stay in their homes. He said his consumer unit will help Oregonians find legitimate mortgage rescue companies approved by the federal government.

For more information and help getting in touch with mortgage counselors follow the below links:

Oregon DOJ Mortgage and Foreclosure Fraud Page

Home loan modification/foreclosure advice for Oregon

The Associated Press contributed to this report