The Idaho Department of Finance is investigating a Washington state firefighter accused of trying to scheme a woman out of her home so he could sell it. Steve McMullen, of Spokane, Wash., owns Highland Financial LLC in northern Idaho.

The Finance Department is investigating the company because he does not have a license to act as a lender in financial dealings with area homeowners. McMullen says he doesn't need a lender's license because his company is a real estate investment business.

He also contends his company helps prevent people from losing their homes through foreclosure.

However, Amy Birge of Post Falls says she was duped by McMullen. Birge, who has three young children, says she feared losing her home when medical bills from brain surgery began to pile up. She turned to McMullen after her son's former preschool teacher said he could help save her house.

Birge now believes the scheme was designed to force her from her home within a year so that McMullen could sell it.