Financially Strapped Title Agency Owner Charged With Illegally Dipping Into Escrow Accounts To Pay Off Gambling Debts

In Brevard County, Florida, Florida Today reports:

• Mark Brady seemed to have it all during the real estate boom -- two title companies, BMWs, a Hummer, powerboats, a $2 million home on Merritt Island, an oceanside condominium in Cape Canaveral and three other riverfront properties. Then, two days before Christmas, Brady was arrested -- charged with illegally using $80,000 of his clients' money from escrow accounts to pay off gambling debts in the Bahamas. Brady pleaded not guilty and was released on $8,500 bail. Hearings and sworn testimony are scheduled to begin in November. [...] Although it's unclear whether any real estate transactions were disrupted because money was removed the from escrow account, the money belonged to other people -- deposits toward purchases of homes, or mortgage money released to pay home sellers.(1)

• And the state takes laws regulating escrow accounts seriously, Deputy State Attorney Wayne Holmes said. "These are essential components and aspects of commerce," Holmes said. "You have to have faith and trust in those entities or certain things just don't function."

For the rest of the story, see Fraud case tied to escrow checks.

(1) Reportedly, since his arrest, Brady has fallen into a financial spiral. He defaulted on several mortgages and is in foreclosure proceedings on his homes and condo, cars were repossessed, banks have sued him, and his two companies, Adams Title Co. and American Heritage Title Co., are defunct, according to the story. In September, he filed for bankruptcy, listing about $8 million in debt, including $500,000 in casino markers, the story states. EscrowRipOffKappa