Suspected Memphis-Area Straw Buyer, Rent Skimming Scam Leaves Tenants Facing Eviction & Investors Holding The Bag

In Memphis, Tennessee, WREG-TV Channel 3 reports:

• You've seen homes across Memphis foreclosed and boarded up. But there's a deeper problem uncovered by News Channel 3; one that points to a housing hustle and one Memphis couple. Our investigation revealed a troubling pattern that has one attorney and the state promising a thorough investigation.

• Larry and Marilyn Conway, an elusive couple who by all accounts love cash and live large, won't return calls, but they can't run from their own past. One tenant, on the verge of being evicted, is so afraid she wants us to call her "Denise". Her attorney, Webb Brewer with Memphis Area Legal Services, says the Conways make their money off the poor and off uninformed investors.

• "All of these mortgages that these investors were left with were sub-prime loans with high interest-rates and bad terms," says Brewer. "I'm fortunate I found out when I did," says Denise who says the Conways tried to get her to buy her rental home, until she learned the Conways didn't own it.

• Brewer says the Conways find investors to buy rental homes. The Conways collect the rent and they pay the investor's mortgage. Then they stop paying, but keep collecting rent. The homes fall into foreclosure, the investors are left with the loan, and the renters have to move. Meantime, the Conways rake in thousands.

For the story, see Housing Hustle?

In a related story, see Investigation: Renters Victims Of Housing Hustle. RentSigmaSkimming