FBI Investigates Michigan Man With "Habit Of Overpaying For Houses" As Three Dozen Homes End Up In Foreclosure

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, a Kalamazoo Gazette published an investigative report on Rodney Hixon, a local man who, according to the Gazette, "has a habit of overpaying for houses." According to the story:

• [Hixon r]outinely overpaid for the homes -- on average 68 percent more than tax assessments would suggest the properties were worth, based on Gazette calculations and review of tax records from the cities of Kalamazoo and Portage and Kalamazoo Township.

***

• [Hixon h]ad 36 foreclosures in 2007 in Kalamazoo County, 15 more than [two others], who had the next highest total. All 38 of Hixon's homes were repossessed by the lending institutions that held the unpaid mortgages.

Reportedly, the FBI is investigating Hixon for possible mortgage fraud, according to a May 21 e-mail from Kalamazoo's Community Planning & Development Department that was obtained by the Gazette under the Freedom of Information Act.

For more, see FBI investigating Kalamazoo man for possible mortgage fraud.

In a related story, see Officials starting to look for foreclosure irregularities (State can't probe mortgages from out-of-state lenders) (story no longer available online).