SAN DIEGO--California Attorney General Brown today shut down a team of
scam artists that acquired deeds to hundreds of homes in foreclosure by
convincing desperate consumers to place their property in a
“land grant,” a phony and worthless real estate
document.“There
hasn’t been a legitimate use of the land grant since the
conclusion of the Mexican-American war,” Attorney General
Brown said. “If some fast talking scam artist offers a quick
escape from foreclosure using archaic documents, be extremely
suspicious.”
Yesterday,
investigators from the San Diego District Attorney’s Office
and FBI agents served arrest warrants and three search warrants during
one of the land grant seminars in San Diego. Arrested were the
ringleader William Hutchings, 62, Xiaoke Li, 43, both of Scripps Ranch
in San Diego, Edgar Martinez, 30, and Diego Gil, 38, on charges of
conspiracy, grand theft, and deceitful practices as foreclosure
consultants. An arrest warrant for Shawna Landis, 29, of Sorrento
Valley, has been issued. The San Diego District Attorney will prosecute
the criminal case.
“The
defendants preyed on mostly non-English speaking, Hispanic homeowners
who were in foreclosure, claiming to offer assistance in preventing the
victims from losing their home,” San Diego District Attorney
Dumanis said. “These transactions were illegal and left the
victims even worse off than they were before. Some of the victims have
been evicted from their own homes when this scheme failed.”
Investigators in the California Attorney General’s Office
have discovered more than 280 properties in San Diego and Riverside
counties that have been transferred to Federal Land Grant or one of its
affiliated companies. An additional 65 properties have been transferred
in counties including Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino. At least
60 homeowners have had their homes sold through foreclosures.
The
district attorney and FBI are asking all victims who signed properties
over to defendants or the companies to report the incident by calling
the following hotline: (619) 531-4475
I've
never been a big fan of our former Governor 'Moonbeam' Brown, but as
Attorney General he has put the skids to several of these scam artists
and I applaud him for his diligence. Aside from preying on the public,
these perpetrators give all Realtors a bad name and make it harder for
legitimate practitioners to help people who truly are in need. Here are
another 400 +/- people who have been victimized and whose homes may
unnecessarily be contributing to our foreclosure epidemic and REO glut.
Remember - Realtors are part of the solution - not part of the problem.
Gene
Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including
Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes / Temecula & Murrieta
;)
;)
