Million Dollar Dallas-Area Homes Renting For Less Than $1,000/Month?

In Cedar Hill, Texas, The Dallas Morning News reports on a foreclosure-related scam that has gotten the attention of local police - scammers hijacking vacant homes and renting them out, pocketing cash in the process and leaving the unwitting renters out of luck.

• [T]he neighborhood had become a victim of the latest housing foreclosure scam. It wasn't the only one. The Lake Ridge development in Cedar Hill had renters living in million-dollar homes for less than $1,000 per month. A subdivision near Singing Hills in southeast Oak Cliff also became a prime target. And there could be more.

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• Here's how the scheme works: When a home enters foreclosure, someone files an appeal bond, which delays the court's foreclosure process for 30 to 60 days or longer. With the case tied up, the scammers change the door locks and find people to move in. The scammer collects rent until the homeowner, real estate agent or authorities disrupt the ruse.

• "It's so novel. It's ingenious, really," said Dallas County prosecutor Stephanie Martin, who won a conviction this week in a groundbreaking case. The scammers typically have a keen knowledge of the foreclosure process and the brazenness to bilk the system, authorities say.

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• Despite the recent arrests, [an investigator with the Dallas County district attorney's office] said he doesn't expect the scheme to subside because it's too easy.

For more, see Scammers finding open door at foreclosed homes.

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