Buyers as Investor Frauds

Buyers as Pretend Investors!

Just when you thought you've seen everything, heard everything, something comes along to make you shake your head with disbelief. The reason for this post is to warn other sellers & agents out there on what people are doing.

In fact, this is so odd, I don't know what the buyers mental state is or the purpose of what she is doing. The background story:  an investor purchased a few properties in the area cash & wanted to close fairly quickly.  That's not odd as most cash transactions are a little faster.

It was during Thanksgiving & the earnest money was due 3 days after acceptance & never showed up. (Clue #1)  I was assured that it's just lost in the mail with all the other holiday packages.  Well finally after 3 weeks I started to demand a check be dropped off (no mail) at my office immediately.  Well, I guess the time line on the contract was of no import to them & they mailed it regular mail.  (Clue #2)  The check literally looks like a kid printed it on scrap paper with 'someone's' name on the check not that of the investment company (Clue #3).  

Now we are only 7 days from closing and the sellers attorney is setting times for the closing itself.  The buyer will not return phone calls to their attorney (Clue #4).  Seems odd as buyers always think that the attorney is on their side - I can see why they might ignore their agent.  Agent on the buyers side is not so bright & never seems to have a handle on dates, etc.  (Not even calling that a 'clue').

Days go by and no one can contact the buyer for the closing.  Buyers attorney fires herself from the transaction (Clue #5).  We continue to schedule the closing so that we can sue for specific performance when, or if, she doesn't show up.

Now, this buyer has purchased another property that I know of so I decide to pull up the MLS sheet & contact the listing agent to see if her closing went through.  She tells me the story of my life here!

The buyer shows up to the closing but the funds never appear at the title company.  They wait 2 hours & decide that's it for the day until the buyers funds show.  Then the other agent gets a whiff of something & decides to call the hard money lender (totally legit) that said where the funds were at.  Sure enough, the buyer called them, asked all the right questions but NEVER did any of the paperwork. Lender is obviously confused as to WHY this buyer would sit at a closing table KNOWING that the funds aren't coming?

Well I'd have to say that too so let's call this Clue #6.  No funds, buyer sitting there for ????

So another part of the conversation surrounds the earnest money check ($5000) which bounced for the property & I have a $5000 check from the same account number.  You think the check is going to bounce - you bet (Clue #7).

I decide it's time for some super sleuthing & get on the internet & pull up this womens name.  She has a legit LinkedIn account showing she is employed & owns another real estate investment company but with a different name than she purchased my listing under.  Kept going with the Google results and here comes up an arrest record for this person showing writing bad checks, trying to obtain control of a property, resisting arrest. (Yikes it's Clue #8)

So again more Google results reveal that she has just been arrested in August 2015 in an adjoining county for probably the same thing but the reason for arrest is a little more obscure.

I take the link with the mugshot & send it over to the other listing agent so she can identify her.  Email comes back as 'yep' that's her so we now have a positive ID.  

My point of this post is that we have to start being so careful out there.  I guess from now on I will start doing my own background search on every buyer or seller that comes my way.  We could have saved both sellers a lot of heartache & time.  The other seller is in such financial straits they might go into foreclosure.

Have any of you had this happen?

I'm confused as to what this lady's end game is?  The sellers attorney said that people like this try to gain control of a property they don't own, rent it & run off with the security deposits & rents.  Then the sellers are forced to evict the people that they put in the place.

Any stories like this?