Novice Homebuyer Says She Trusted Wrong Person; Says Fake Real Estate Agent Bilked Her Family For $10K

In Phoenix, Arizona, KTVK-TV Channel 3 reports:

• Alba Hernandez recently gave birth to her baby boy, and says it's important to her to provide a home for her entire family.
  
  So, when her landlord indicated he was going to sell the house that Hernandez's family has rented for years, she and her family jumped at the chance to buy it.
  
  “That's kind of your dream, your dream you know? To buy your first home, at a young age especially," says Hernandez.
  
  The Hernandez family hired Gilberto Gordillo to oversee all of the real estate paperwork. He runs a company called Las Americas, which specializes in home sales and taxes.
  
  Hernandez says Gordillo reassured the family that buying the home would be a simple process. He just needed money to get started.
  
  “Me being young and my parents not knowing how this process works, he would just ask for money," says Hernandez.
  
  And according to the Hernandez family, Gordillo claimed that all that money was a normal part of the transaction.
  
  “He was asking for, like, earnest deposit and pretty much, like, fees, like application stuff," says Hernandez. "Then he said he needed $4,000-plus for the down payment of the house.”
  
  Hernandez says, not only did Gordillo ask for money, he also asked for cash, and it really added up.
  
  “I've given him $10,000, but I pretty much don't have anything anymore," Hernandez says.
  
  Then, the Hernandez family says after handing over all that money, Gordillo stopped calling them. It's now been months since they've heard from him.
  
  Hernandez and her family aren't the only ones who lost money to Gordillo.
  
  Angelica Duran says she and her family gave $2,000 to Gordillo who was operating under the company name GRG & Associates.
  
  Gordillo reportedly promised he could help Duran with a home modification and needed the $2,000 up front to get started.
  
  But after handing over all the money, Duran says Gordillo did absolutely nothing and she wound up losing her house to foreclosure.
  
  In Spanish Duran told us, "He hurt my family a lot; he took away so much from us, what we had, because we had a home. We were established. He took that; he took away our stability."
  
  3 On Your Side got involved and discovered Gordillo doesn't even have a real estate license.
  
  So, we went to a sparse little office that Gordillo rents in Phoenix.
  
  "Hi, I'm Gary Harper with Channel 3.”
  
  Analia Gordillo: “OK?”
  
  Gary Harper: “I was wanting to talk to Gilberto Gordillo?”
  
  Analia Gordillo: “Um, no why? Well he is not here but why? What is the reason?"
  
  She tells us she's related to Gordillo, but claims she doesn't know about the Hernandez family or their $10,000. She also says she'll have Gordillo call us, but he never did.
  
  So, 3 On Your Side went to his Glendale home.
  
  A Spanish-speaking woman who says she's married to Gordillo claimed her husband wasn't home but also indicated she would have Gordillo call 3 On Your Side. But like so many other empty promises, he never did, which just might explain why Gordillo is laughing all the way to the bank.
  
  Meantime, the Hernandez family is devastated.
  
  “It's like, where are we gonna go? $10,000 means to me and my family, like, all our life savings.”

Source: Family members say they were duped out of thousands by fake realtor.