In a recent opinion issued by the Court of Appeals of the State of California in the case of Lin v. Coronado it appears that a scam was revealed that arose out of a purchase of property at a trustee's sale. Ms. Lin put up $150,000 in a "partnership" with River Forest Financial LLC ("River Forest") and Elevation Investment LLC ("Elevation") that jointly put up $100,000. The
"partnership" was to buy a single family home at the foreclosure sale for $250,000.
The "partnership" was the successful bidder for the property at the targeted price of $250,000. Ms. Lin signed over her check for $250,000 to the trustee as did River Forest and Elevation. The trustee sent the Trustee's Deed of Sale to the general partner of Elevation. The deed recited that the grantees were "River Forest 75%, Elevation 25% and Helen Lin". By the time the deed was recorded the grantees on the deed appeared as only, "River Forest 75% and Elevation 25%". It appears that River Forest and / or Elevation altered the deed before recording and removed Lin's name completely.
Subsequently, River Forest conveyed its interest in the property to Elevation. Elevation then sold the property to Coronado, a third party purchaser in good faith for value.
Lin brought her suit against Coronado to reclaim her interest in the property, but the court found that since she never had a recorded interest in the property, she was out of luck and judgment was entered for Coronado. Lin was out her $150,000 and Coronado was declared to be the owner of the property. This suit did not involve any action by Lin against River Forest or Elevation.
The bottom line to the suit is that you need to be involved in the process of buying a property from start to finish. If you do not know and understand the world of real estate get a professional advisor to help you.
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