Mom-Daughter Duo Dodge Major Prison Time For Running Rent-To-Own Racket After Agreeing To Take Over Payments From Distressed Home Sellers

In Bakersfield, California, The Bakersfield Californian reports:

• A mother and daughter were sent to prison Monday for their part in a real estate scam that cheated dozens of people out of at least 24 homes, leaving a loss of at least $4.4 million. Two of the victims said the two years imposed on Alice Kantin, also known as Meyer, 69, and the five years for her daughter, Dawn Kantin, 38, were "a slap on the wrist" considering how much devastation they caused in people's lives. The daughter will be referred to the California Rehabilitation Center for drug treatment.

***

• The probation report in the case listed 59 victims including 32 with losses ranging from $20,000 to $900,000 each and 26 whose loses have not been calculated. The known losses totaled $4.4 million. [...] Each had been charged with 44 felonies stemming from transactions between 2007 and 2009.

• Both women reportedly agreed to take over payments for distressed homeowners by using rents from people who had an option to buy the homes, investigation reports say.

• But in most cases, the homes went into foreclosure during a time the mother poured at least $290,000 into her bank account, the reports say. Alice Kantin operated a firm called Desert Air Real Estate Investments Inc. in Bakersfield, according to court reports. The Secretary of State's office has no record of the corporation.

For the story, see Mother, daughter sentenced in real estate scam.