Texas Cops Investigating Equity Skimming Allegations

WCEN-TV Channel 6 in Temple, Texas reports on a company called T.O.P.S. (Take Over Payment Services) which is in the business of acquiring homes from people who can't afford their existing payments, and once the homes are signed over to T.O.P.S., the company then reportedly sells the homes to others in arrangements where the new buyers make monthly payments to T.O.P.S., and it agrees to make payments to the mortgage lender holding the loan on the home.

The way the deals allegedly went down is that the owner-occupants of the homes bought from T.O.P.S. unwittingly made the monthly payments to T.O.P.S. while T.O.P.S. pocketed the cash, letting the mortgage loans go into default. The Better Business Bureau has reportedly received over 100 complaints against T.O.P.S. and the Killeen Police Department is also investigating T.O.P.S. for fraud. NBC 6 News tried to reach the owners, Shonda Fulcher and Bobby Fulcher, numerous times, but they refused an interview, and their building is now empty.

For more, watch the Channel 6 report. To read the online report, see Additional complaints filed against a Killeen business.

For update on this story, see Police still investigating TOPS theft claims (Killeen Daily Herald - 8-10-07).

For other stories on tenants unknowingly renting homes in foreclosure, go here, or here, or here. alpha