Mortgage Fraud Can Have a negative Ripple Effect
by John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR
Hemet CA Real Estate
As you may know, I have this sort of "Law & Order" fascination with the topic of Mortgage Fraud, and have shared a couple of articles in the past that have gotten some great response from the on line real estate community.
Today, I received an email from a friend in Temecula - 30 miles south of where I am and the market I concentrated on until last July. Apparently, one of the largest Mortgage Fraud cases ever uncovered is starting to unravel fight now. He sent me a published article in the Californian, the local print newspaper and website.
It has my stomach in knots.
Long story short is a family conspired to milk what very well be thousands of investors in a classic ponzy or pyramid scam. This is where they take an investors money and pay the investors who came before them, keeping them happy and keeping them referring more unsuspecting victims to the evil villains.
The article does a great job of describing what they did and how they did it, read it if you like.
The problem is what do you do when this happens in your own back yard? They did not mention Hemet CA specifically, but I am positive they have done business here - how much, I don't know.
The scam looks like it will involve thousands of homes and investors before it all unravels. Many of these homes are already in the foreclosure process and many of the investors are ready to lose their own personal residences.
What really bites is that the investors are not seasoned savvy real estate investors - they are hard working middle class people who were in Riverside County at the right time - as prices were escalating by 20 to 25% per year and they were offered an opportunity to take advantage of this great windfall. One of the scammers, the mother of evil, is actually a nurse at the local hospital and she steered many other nurses and hospital employees into the clutches of her son and other family members who set up a whole network of companies to perpetrate their fraud.
So now imagine what type of medical care you will get there if just 10% of the staff is stressed out over personal financial disasters. I know my own mother-in-law was hospitalized there after a stroke last April - I sure would not want her going there today! Would you want to got her for an emergency? This is awful how it affects a community.
So what else can this do to the region - a region that already has the highest numbers in the State of California for Notice of Defaults?
Well, imagine a development of 100 new homes built and occupied 20 months ago. If you lived there and wanted to cash out your equity after the 24 month window necessary to avoid capital gains, you would have to wait 4 more months. Well, we already know several of your neighbors have the same "2-year itch". So, there will already be stiff competition for your home, as there is in any tract when the 2-year itch hits.
Now imagine instead of competing with the 10 to 20% of the homes that are coming on the market anyway, you have another 10 to 20% of homes sitting vacant and neglected. The appeal of your neighborhood just went down. Then prices are going to plummet because the lenders are going to have fire sales to dump the REO excess properties, as quick as they can unload them.
With thousands of homes, I can tell you that the Temecula-Murrieta area is not so large that there will be any neighborhoods left unharmed by this atrocity.
This is a stone that has been cast into the Real Estate Pond that will have a ripple effect for years.
It is nothing but greed and evil and I hope the whole family pays dearly. Catch them all.
If possible, have a Blessed Day,
John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR
http://www.johnocchi.com/
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The market has changed and so have I. I am now in my second year of successfully working with banks and Asset Managers in the preservation and sale of REO Properties throughout the Inland Empire, CA
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HEY! !
Look on the bright side.
They got caught.
Lenn
lenn,
Thanks for that ray of sunshine.
don't they always get caought though - the arrogance of these people to think they can pull something like this off. His only mistake was not leaving the country befroe he did get caught.
stick around and you are going down.
Now Have a Blessed Day,
John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR
www.JohnOcchi.Com
John - Great Article. On behalf of the victims you speak of, thank you! We are all over the place, me Arizona. These creeps must go to jail and justice served!
Cindy D. - Tucson, AZ
FOOLISH ONE - I feel your pain and the pain of the other victims. I checked out your website and in total awe. When bad people take advantage of good people so many lives are ruined and so many dreams are crushed. I may sound a little over the top here but I have recently decided that the world and everything in it is either light or dark - og God or of Satan and these guys are definately on the Dark Side.
CINDY - It is my honor to act as a sounding board if it helps either prevent more victims and/or in bringing down these evil doers.
Now Have a Blessed Day,
John Occhi, Hemet REALTOR
Foolish One - Thank you, I thank God every day for the blessings he has bestowed on me. I wish there was more that I could do. Perhaps by keeping this thread alive this is Gods way of using me to help spread the word. So please, keep the comments coming from as many in your group as possible.
TYME to Fly - I guess you should count your blessings that it was ONLY $3,000. I was planning on going by the office, I thought it might be a "Professional Suite" tht they would be hiding from. I'll definately do my part to spread the word here in town.
God Bless you both,
John Occhi, Hemet CA RELTOR
Hopeful One - It is always an honor to do HIS will, if indeed that is what I am doing. Perhaps you or someone form the group woujld like to be intervied for an article - I would protect your identity - but perhaps the details might stir some more emotions and activity. Either way, please keep in touch. If you do not want to enter your email address here in public, I understand, but you can send it to me and I will keep it to myslef - just a way to keep in touch.
Now Have a Blessed Day,
John Occhi
Josh, Vicky and everyone who has been victimized,
Thank you so much for posting here. My heart continues to go out for you, even though the criminal courts have caught up with the bad guys, it does nothing for your losses.
Now Have a Blessed Day,
John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR®
Mission Grove Realty
Gee....lemme guess....
STONEWOOD!
We heard all about this guy for forever. It was really sad. Our broker wouldn't let us touch a deal if this guys name was anywhere close to being on it. And there have been several other very similar companies that do the same thing, but this guy was really good.
We Realtors have a joke - Morgan Hill? We call it Mortgage Hill!! Not in small part because of the pipe dreams he was selling up there. Its definitely sad to think that there were that many greedy people. Not to mention the fact that this guy has got Millions in offshore accounts somewhere...what a shame. But also, the sellers, the escrow, the appraisers, the title, the agents, and the lenders all were involved. At some point shouldn't someone have said, hey, this isn't right? C'mon people!
update - i am a private investigator working on this case. i have obtained there new location, but they moved out of the house a few months prior. we are on there tail and should have them in court before the police actually find them. if i can help any one please fax me your front page of the court order so i can be sure you are involved in the case and i will contact you to help.
Fax # 909-494-4077