Two Phoenix Cops Face Internal Police Probe After Financially Strapped Homeowners' Complaints About Off-Duty Business Peddling Sale-Leaseback Programs

In Phoenix, Arizona, The Arizona Republic reports:

• Two Phoenix police lieutenants are under investigation after residents complained that some of the 120 real-estate purchases conducted by their off-duty business were unethical or illegal. Lts. Mark Tallman and Lee Brent Shaw have been involved in several lawsuits, each of which were dismissed or settled for small amounts, court records show.

• The lieutenants' Better Choice LLC focused between 2002 and 2006 on buying distressed homes where owners were on the brink of foreclosure. In many cases, they developed lease-buyback options where residents could remain in the homes with the option to buy. Another company, Taken Care of Investments, identified the at-risk homeowners and worked with the lieutenants - who are accused of charging exorbitant fees to manage the properties in various trusts.

• The Phoenix Police Professional Standards Bureau is looking into allegations against Tallman and Shaw, though police on Thursday could not confirm the full nature of the allegations.(1)

For the story, see Phoenix lieutenants face probe over real-estate business.

(1) The story is silent as to how, if at all, these sale leaseback transactions differed from those involved in the foreclosure rescue, equity stripping racket that the Arizona Attorney General's Office prosecuted in a civil lawsuit last year. See:

• 400 Sale Leasebacks Are Disguised Equitable Mortgages, Says AZ AG In Invoking State Consumer Fraud Act, TILA In Suit Against Foreclosure Rescue Firm,
• Foreclosure Rescue Operator To Cough Up $690K+ To Resolve Arizona AG Civil Charges In Alleged Sale Leaseback Equity Stripping Scam.