Central Florida Media Probe Identifies At Least 37 Real Estate "Flipping Groups" In Sarasota/Manatee Area Involved In $450M+ In Mortgage Defaults

In Central Florida, an investigative report by the Sarasota Herald Tribune states that it examined more than 3,000 property flips that occurred since 2000 in Sarasota and Manatee counties, interviewed over 100 investors and real estate professionals, and reviewed thousands of pages of deeds, mortgages, foreclosure filings and other public records. Among its findings were:

• At least 37 groups of property flippers operated in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The groups bought hundreds of properties worth more than $350 million and sold them to associates for inflated prices. The flippers identified by the Herald-Tribune -- and the people who ultimately bought their properties -- have so far defaulted on more than $450 million in mortgage loans. Their defaults account for $1 in every $13 lost to foreclosure in Sarasota and Manatee counties from 2005 through 2008.

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• Most flipping circles were organized by a leader who either recruited investors on the promise of easy money or conspired with friends and associates to sell properties at inflated prices. Some of these investors did not realize they were buying properties at inflated prices; others willingly lied about sales prices to obtain mortgages that more than covered the actual purchase.

For more of its findings, see Flippers' toll: On Gulf Coast, half a billion in defaults.

To read the online profiles compiled by the Sarasota Herald Tribune of more than 100 of the local characters involved in suspicious property deals -- some of them organizers, some of them occasional participants and some of them innocent victims, see Investigation: 'Flipping' In Florida.

In related Herald Tribune stories, see:

• Bradenton area 'club' bought 158 properties,
• 'Flip that house' fraud cost billions,
• The king of the Sarasota flip,
• Title agent closed 100 Adams deals.