April 27th, 2012 at 9:51am
A complaint filed by a Notary Public stating that her signature and seal had been forged on a grant deed (notary fraud) has resulted in the arrest of an Upland man
Eric Lamonte Smith, 38, has been charged with real estate fraud, identity theft, forgery, and preparing fraudulent credit applications and arraigned in San Bernardino Superior Court.
Smith has pleaded notguilty to the charges.
Prosecutors are alleging that Smith was part of a real estate fraud ring since 2006. The ring and its members allegedly delayed the foreclosure of properties by filing falsified grant deeds; then they would rent out the properties to tenants unaware of the scam (rent skimming). In some instances, the suspects would also obtain fraudulent home equity lines of credit by falsifying credit applications.
Read the original article in the San Bernardino Sun.
February 29th, 2012 at 9:36am
A man has been arrested for rent skimming (rental fraud, real estate fraud) for allegedly renting out foreclosed homes in Walnut Creek, Antioch, Brentwood and Hercules.
Alfonso Salazar, 62, faces charges of burglary, grand theft and perjury for renting out the vacant homes under the guise of his employer National Alliance of Homeowners for Justice. Investigators have not yet determined whether the employer was aware of or participated in the alleged scheme.
Banks often take months to list a property once it has foreclosed, creating the opportunity for fraudsters to change the locks and collect deposits from unsuspecting renters on forums such as Craig’s List (Craigslist fraud), as Salazar is alleged to have done.
Read the original article in the Martinez Patch.
January 12th, 2012 at 10:33am
Realtors® in the community of Chula Vista are speaking up about a firm that they allege is illegally renting out listed homes and making a lot of money doing so.
The firm, called “Prudent Constituents Association,” is allegedly filing fradulent quitclaims in San Diego County, then taking possession of homes that legitimately belong to others. Realtor® Steve Lemack says “They’ll take off the lockboxes that are on [the homes], take all the signs down, they change the locks and they put up their own signs.” He says further that PCA is charging renters $2,000 per month and that they control 30 properties or more.
The Prudent Constituents Association is purportedly a non-profit formed by Derrick and Diane Brown after their own home was foreclosed. Diane Brown, who also goes by the name Harmony stated “All these homes where people are being evicted by the lenders are wrongful evictions.”
Neither the Chula Vista Police Department nor the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, both of which were contacted by real estate agents, would acknowledge they are investigating PCA.
A note to prospective renters: I could not find any registration of the PCA as a non-profit, nor do they have a prominent (if any) website. This should be a hint that you might be dealing with an organization that is not legitimate and that you should investigate them further.
Read the original article in San Diego’s 10News.
