A mortgage meltdown of ill repute?

Couple allegedly turned home into brothel after taking a hit in the housing market, police tell paper.

September 11 2007: 10:18 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A New York couple was accused of turning their home into a brothel, according to a report published Tuesday, in what could be one of the strangest outcomes of the troubled housing market.

Police charged Heather A. Mazzenga and her husband, Robert L. Werner of New Rochelle, N.Y. with promoting prostitution, a felony offense, at their home, saying it was possibly a result of the couple taking a hit in the real estate market, the Journal News reported.

While details of their housing woes were limited, the paper reported that the couple were both listed as mortgage brokers for a company called Myles Mortgage Services, according to a loan industry Web site.

The couple had also been facing foreclosure on another home in Pleasantville, N.Y., but that the auction had been canceled on Sept. 6, an attorney handling the foreclosure action told the Journal News, declining to detail why.

Police told the paper they did not know how long the couple allegedly had used the house as a brothel.

Four other women were also charged with prostitution, the paper reported.