Bay Area F'closure Help, Rent Skimming Racket Pocketed $2K Both From Homeowners Signing Away Deeds & Tenants Leasing Homes Subsequently Auctioned Off

In Northern California, KGO-TV Channel 7 reports:

• Dozens of distressed Bay Area homeowners say they have been lured into signing away their homes to a company offering to help them. A seven-month 7 On Your Side investigation has uncovered what happens to many of these homeowners after they sign on the dotted line.

• This story shows just how vulnerable people can become when they are facing a foreclosure. Many of these people have not only signed away their homes, they paid a company to take it from them.

• Arnel Reyes remembers the day he signed over the deed to his house to United Investments of Hayward. His wife had just lost her job and the couple was facing the foreclosure of their home in Bay Point. "I couldn't afford a mortgage plus the other bills that we had, at that point I just wanted to save my credit," said Reyes.

• United Investments charged Reyes $2,000 to take possession of his home. He claims the company told him it had a potential buyer and could do a short sale. The contract made no guarantees a foreclosure could be prevented, but Reyes figured by signing up he could save his credit, if not his house. "They said if they couldn't save it, they would foreclose on it under their name and not our name," said Reyes.

• Hayward resident Lorenzo Lawson answered an ad on Craigslist from United Investment offering to rent out the Reyes home. Lawson said the company told him he might eventually be able to buy it. "If they want to have me stay there, maybe I could rent to own," said Lawson. He paid $2,000 to United Investments before moving in and before he knew it, he found a foreclosure notice on his door. Lawson was forced to leave the home and the lender foreclosed on the Reyes' property. Reyes says he felt deceived.(1)(2)

For the rest of the story, see People sign away their homes in foreclosure scam.

(1) Reportedly, four of the five transactions 7 On Your Side tracked ended in foreclosure. The fifth house belonged to a couple who, while avoiding foreclosure, were surprised when they found out United Investments wasn't paying off their mortgage, the story states. The company's president is Carl Renowitzsky, the man both Reyes and Lawson say they dealt with the story states. 7 On Your Side reportedly showed up at his office several times in an attempt to see Renowitzsky and was nowhere to be found, but 7 On Your Side did find a cease and desist order against Renowitzky in 1999 from the state Department of Real Estate. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office has reportedly launched an investigation of United Investments. An ABC affiliate in Fresno reported on Renowitzky's alleged scam in February when homeowners in Clovis tipped them off. See KFSN-TV Channel 30: One home, Two families, and a Company in the Middle.

(2) California case law has clearly addressed the notion that some scammers have that they can insulate themselves from criminal prosecution when conducting their ripoffs by using terms and conditions contained in legitimate-looking business contracts with consumers to screw them over, as was done in this story. For more on the California case law applicable when considering to criminally prosecute these types of scams, see this post - footnote 1.