Illinois Regulators Uncover Flipping Operation; Case Forwarded To Feds

In Illinois, the Daily Herald reports:

• A real estate fraud ring at a high-rise condo building in Palatine has been shut down, a state agency announced Friday. Officials from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation say One Renaissance Place was the target of a real estate "flipping" scheme involving 13 condos in the building. Of the units under investigation, nine are in foreclosure, officials said. State officials say a Chicago woman, Radostina Todorova, a real estate broker and loan officer, was at the center of the scheme. Officials said the scheme was uncovered when the building's property manager, Phyllis Peters, filed a complaint with the Mortgage Fraud Task Force in May.

Reportedly, the purported new owners never moved into some of the units nor were they ever even seen, no assessments were paid, and in some cases, the newly purchased units were already in foreclosure after a few months. Todorova's real estate and loan agent's licenses have reportedly been revoked. Brian Angarone, a loan officer who worked with Todorova, has been suspended for 60 days and fined $5,000 for filing the loan documents prepared by Todorova without verifying that the information was accurate, according to state officials. For more, see State busts scheme to inflate condo prices.