Texas AG Files Civil Suit Against Real Estate Broker Accused Of Creating Rent To Own Deals For Customers Falsely Promised Legal Title To Homes

From the Office of the Texas Attorney General:

• Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott [...] charged Fern Hernandez Realty, Inc., with defrauding Hispanic home buyers. The state’s enforcement action names the corporation; its owner, real estate broker Jose Fernando “Fern” Hernandez and his wife, Odessa S. Hernandez. According to court documents filed [...] in Travis County, the defendants falsely promised their customers home ownership when, in fact, the customers’ homes were actually owned by the defendants.(1)

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• When Spanish-speaking clients did not qualify for traditional financing, Mr. Hernandez would offer them financing through a group of “investors.” He promised them if they made monthly payments to this group for a year, the house would be transferred to the home buyer. Investigators discovered there were no outside “investors.” Mr. Hernandez would close on the houses, with either he or his wife acting as the official buyer and taking title to what the home buyers thought was their property.

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• According to state investigators, at least six properties in the defendants’ names were leased to individuals who thought they owned the home in which they resided.

For the entire Texas AG press release, see Attorney General Abbott Takes Legal Action Against Housing Scam That Targeted Austin-Area Hispanic Home Buyers (Fraudulent real estate scheme promised customers homeownership but never gave purchasers title to their homes).

For the Texas AG lawsuit, see State of Texas v. Hernandez, et al.

(1) The Office of the Attorney General is seeking restitution for affected home buyers and a civil penalty of up to $20,000 for each of the defendants’ violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. rent to own lease purchase option scams yellowstone