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srcar: Long awaited Riverside County Mortgage Fraud Trial gets Underway. - 11/10/10 03:22 PM
At long last the trial has begun for the perpetrators of the so-called Stonewood Scam in Southwest Riverside County. Long time readers are acquainted with the basics of this story from my years-long chronicle of events. Our local association tried to bring this to the attention of law enforcement beginning in late 2004 but were unsuccessful in catching anybodys ear until the scam had nearly run its course and started to collapse under its own weight. 
The real estate part of it consisted of representatives from Stonewood Financial buying homes at significant premiums over asking price. As this was at a time … (2 comments)

srcar: HALLELUJAH! Mortgage Fraud Scamsters Finally Arrested (just 5 years too late). - 11/19/09 09:37 PM
Here's today's update "Seven Accused of Defrauding Investors of Millions"
HALLELUJAH!!!! 
If I sound ecstatic it's because the biggest fraudsters in our area have finally been charged! These three, Montecastro, Duncan and McLeod started their mortgage fraud scheme in Murrieta in 2004. Our association and our chief counsel started documenting the problem late that year. We took it to the District Attorney, the FBI, the Dept. of Real Estate, the Attorney General, local law enforcement, lenders, etc. - and nobody NOBODY would give us the time of day. 
This scam was the incentive for our Association (SRCAR) to join our neighboring … (61 comments)

srcar: C.A.R. 2010 Legislative Agenda Shapes Up. - 10/12/09 05:58 PM


On October 10, The California Association of Realtors in it's 526th session, brought forward a number of 'Action Items' that will result in forward progress and, in some cases,  calls on C.A.R. to sponsor and/or support legislative action. 
C.A.R.'s legislative agenda contains several ways to address issues. The call to 'SPONSOR' legislation is our highest level of action requiring a significant commitment of time and resources to accomplishing our goal. This generally means drafting a bill, finding a legislator to carry it on our behalf, and involves significant efforts by our lobbyists and members to ensure the success of … (0 comments)

srcar: NAR Updates Field Guide To Mortgage Fraud - 09/08/09 02:29 PM

Real estate fraud is alive and well! I don't know how many of you saw last weeks article in The Wall Street Journal on the new twist in real estate fraud. Well, in California it's far from a new twist - we've been warning about 'reverse mortgage fraud' for some time - in fact nearly two years ago I included 'Elder Abuse Mortgage Fraud' in the title of one of my ActiveRain real estate fraud groups.
Because the fact is, regardless of the economy, real estate fraud is always with us - it just morphs to accommodate the trends. For … (1 comments)

srcar: A Conversation with Lake Elsinore Mayor Bob Magee - 03/19/09 08:24 PM
The Lake Elsinore Valley Chamber of Commerce presented 'A Conversation with Mayor Bob Magee' on March 19 in the Diamond Club at Storm Stadium.
The Mayor detailed a positive and optimistic summary of Lake Elsinore today. He stressed the job growth and new businesses in the area, new restaurants, auto dealers and retail stores. There is fresh development in and around the city as they look to capitalize on their unique aquatic attraction. They've also just opened the first golf course in 80 years - The Links at Summerly. The Mayor said that while the city coffers are off by some … (0 comments)

srcar: Breakfast with our New Senate Minority Leader - 02/27/09 03:55 PM
Ernie Cowan, my Government Affairs counterpart from North San Diego County, and I had an opportunity to join Senator Dennis Hollingsworth for breakfast this morning. It was a small gathering - the Senator spoke for about  20 minutes or so, answered as many questions as we had and then hung out as long as we wanted. 

(Camera phones suck)
Dennis Hollingsworth has always been a pretty down-home kind of guy and he has always been a friend to Realtors. Some of you may remember when Dennis was running for his Assembly seat several years ago he attended our casino night … (6 comments)