November 3rd, 2008 at 9:41am
Sacramento finally has a position dedicated to real estate fraud, something most policing agencies could only dream of.
Police Detective Mike Wood’s position is funded partially by a county grant with the purpose of dealing with an influx of financial crimes that came with the boom and crash in the California real estate market. So far, Detective Wood, one of only a handful of real estate fraud detectives in Sacramento County, has caught up with an unlicensed contractor (Keith McGowan) who is now charged with elder fraud of a Del Paso Heights couple, identity theft of a Kentucky woman whose Social Security number had been fraudulently used to buy Sacramento real estate, and professional squatters, who collect rental deposits from properties they pretend to own.
Read the Full Article in the Sacramento Bee about real estate crimes in Sacramento County.
September 8th, 2008 at 8:49pm
Tom Hastert, the attorney and owner of Loan Sense, the Grass Valley mortgage company being investigated for real estate fraud, has now been suspended from practicing law by the State Bar of California due to failure to pay child support.
Haster and Loan Sense are being sued by a number of individuals, including some who are elderly, who are alleging that their homes went into foreclosure due to the firm’s lending practices.
Read the Full Article in The Union.com by Laura Brown.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:20am
Russian composer Vladimir Shainskiy, who was honored with the USSR State Prize in 1981, is enbroiled in a swindle by an Armenian woman and her husband, who managed to take control of his finances and leave him liable for $1.2 million in mortgage debt in 2007. Shainskiy, 82, alleges he was taken advantage of because of his age and his limited English skills.
Shainskiy and his wife have settled their lawsuit against severl real estate and mortgage professionals and their affiliates, claiming fraud, elder abuse, and “unconscionable” lending and real estate practices.
Read the Full Article in The Voice of San Diego by Kelly Bennett.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:05am
Three unlicensed individuals holding themselves out as licensed real estate professionals have been charged with criminal conspiracy for perpetrating an alleged “foreclosure rescue” scam, whose victims were Salinas Valley homeowners.
Maria de Lourdes Ponce and Fabian Olivarez Casillas, and Melissa Garcia, have all been charged with criminal conspiracy. Ponce is also facing charges of residential burglary, elder abuse and grand theft. If it can be proven that they unlawfully took more than $150,000 from their victims, they could also face sentencing enhancements (additional incarceration time).
The local complaint alleges that the three suspects represented themselves as real estate loan professionals affiliated with a local lender, when in fact they were unlicensed and not affiliated with that lender. They targeted Spanish-speaking homeowners facing foreclosure and for an advance fee of $2,800, promised to help negotiate refinances of the borrowers’ homes or to lower their monthly mortgage payments.
County, though they were not licensed professionals nor affiliated with the company. The trio allegedly promised their victims, mostly Spanish-speakers in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure, that they could help negotiate lower monthly mortgage payments or refinance mortgage terms with lenders.
California Civil Code 2945.4 forbids so-called “foreclosure consultants” from taking money until their work is completed. Violations can result in 3 years incarceration for convicted offenders.
Read the Full Article in The San Jose Mercury News.
