Investigative Report Reveals Blight-Inducing Tampa House Flipping Operation; 35 Homes Ended Up In Foreclosure (And Counting)

In Tampa, Florida, an investigative report by the St. Petersburg Times describes an apparent blight-causing, straw buyer, house flipping operation involving what it refers to as "a constellation of 90 homes stretching across Tampa, all bought and sold in the past four years by a 34-year-old tattoo parlor owner."

• Most of the homes Sang-Min Kim [aka Sonny Kim] sold are empty now. Many have code violations, and are clustered in impoverished neighborhoods such as Belmont Heights and Sulphur Springs.

• The trail of foreclosures and blight is lined with the bad mortgages approved or assigned by Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Bank of America, National City Bank, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo.

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• Dissect any of the 35 sales involving homes that ended up in foreclosure after they were sold by Sonny Kim, and it's hard to believe that lenders made any attempt to verify anything.

Reportedly, Sonny Kim politely declined any comment for this story.

For more, see A case study in housing collapse.