Multi-Flipped St. Pete Home Raises Suspicion

In Florida, the St. Petersburg Times recently reported on the story of one home that sold three times in one year; the last two times for $50,000 more than the previous sale. According to the Times:

• "All three transactions involved Victor Clavizzao, a loan officer whose suspicious real estate deals and lengthy criminal record were the subject of a St. Petersburg Times story April 29."

For the details of the three sales, the relationship between Clavizzao and the subsequent home buyers, a reported FBI investigation, and comments from industry professionals, see One house, three quick sales, one familiar link (Questions multiply about a loan officer who is the key thread in a home's rise in hard times).

For story update, see Felon changes tune on mortgage fraud (8-23-08; In filings made public this week in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Clavizzao agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fraudulently obtain nearly $6-million in mortgage loans on the Venetian Isle house and 12 other homes and condos in Pinellas County).

For more on the reported real esate escapades of Victor Clavizzao, see:

• Felon drives dizzying web of house deals (Inflated prices, bogus buyers, swollen loans. It's a whole different housing market for some).

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