North Carolina AG Shuts Down Alleged Real Estate Investment Scam

From the Office of the North Carolina Attorney General:

• A Fayetteville real estate investment scheme has been shut down after leaving dozens of unsuspecting consumers with loans they cannot afford and rental properties that are worth far less than what they paid for them, Attorney General Roy Cooper announced [this week].

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• Cooper contends that Jenkins and the other defendants told consumers they could help them make a profit by purchasing houses and renting them out without having to pay any money down. Jenkins funded his scheme by misrepresenting the value of the properties he sold to consumers and by causing consumers to take out mortgages and lines of credit for more than the properties are worth.

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• According to Cooper’s complaint, the defendants promised to manage the rental properties and cover consumers’ monthly mortgage payments, taxes, and insurance on the homes as well as to pay them $500 profit a month per house. However, the defendants did not charge enough rent to cover all of the promised payments. In some cases, houses were not rented at all or were too damaged to be inhabitable.

For more, see Cooper unravels Fayetteville property investment scheme (Scheme left consumers deep in debt on overvalued properties) (Press release date: Sept.10, 2008).