Psychiatric Patient Dodges Prosecution In Alleged Contract For Deed Scam; Court Officials Say Man Lacks Mental Capacity To Commit Crime

In Cloquet, Minnesota, KQDS-TV Channel 21 reports:

• By midnight Tuesday, a Cloquet man must be out of his home, which he thought he partially owned. Mike Bond made monthly payments on the house since May 2008, then found out through an eviction notice he had been paying an alleged con artist. [...] "We just lost $30,000," said Bond. "I have over $15,000 in labor and material in this property and now I just have to walk away from it."

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• Bond says he was making cash payments to Ron Sampson, from whom he thought he was buying the home. "He had an ad posted on Craigslist contract for deed house. It was a quick easy deal." [...] That was until he learned the house was sold in a sheriff's mortgage foreclosure auction on January 6th to Lasalle Bank.(1)

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• Record–keepers [at the Carlton County Court Administrators Office] confirm in 1999, Ron Sampson was civilly committed as mentally ill and dangerous in Carlton county. [...] Cloquet Police say Sampson was also deemed mentally ill and dangerous in Washington County in 1994 and has been in and out of the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, MN, for treatment. [...] Because Sampson has been committed, court officials say he's treated as not having the capacity to commit a crime. If he gets in trouble, he's sent back to the Security Hospital.

For the story, see Cloquet family loses home in alleged scam by mental patient.

(1) Reportedly, Bond says Sampson got the house from the original owner by having her move out and pay Sampson to take care of her pending foreclosure. rent to own lease purchase option scams yellowstone hijack KappaPhonyLandlordScam