State Regulators Probe Alleged North Texas Rent Skimming Racket That Left Dozens Of Unwitting Would-Be Home Sellers In Foreclosure

In Farmers Branch, Texas, cbs11tv.com reports:

• State regulators are investigating a North Texas property management business after more of the owner's previous clients came forward with fraud complaints. Rob and Pennie Higdon said they hired Matt Misczak after they ran into trouble selling their home in 2005. Rob Higdon believed "everything looked good," so they signed the contract, which allowed Misczak to rent out their house and use the tenant's money to pay off the mortgage on it.

• In exchange, they deeded their house to Misczak. But they said he didn't pay them for four months, which equated to about $9,000 in missed mortgage payments. "By the time we discovered what was happening, the house was about to go into foreclosure," Pennie Higdon said.

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• Adria Allen said she brought two of her friends to Misczak as clients because they needed to sell their homes before being foreclosed on. Allen said Misczak didn't pay her friend's mortgages either. [...] Rudy and Missy Schmerber said they were also victimized. The couple said they hired Misczak to sell their old home in Fort Worth.

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• Misczak did not return CBS 11's phone calls to discuss the loans in question. He is also accused of failing to pay back dozens of other clients.

For the story, see More Complaints Vocalized About Businessman.

In a related story, see CBS 11 Investigates Possible Real Estate Scam:

• The Texas Real Estate Commission said it's investigating complaints that an unlicensed real estate brokerage company cheated dozens of customers out of thousands of dollars. The CBS 11 Investigators caught up with the owner of the company. Dozens of people in North Texas and across the country want to talk with Matthew Misczak[, ...] who blame him and his company, Texas Lease Houses, for losing their homes and thousands of dollars in cash.