Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Cops Act On Information From Local Media Consumer Troubleshooter Report To Bag Phony Real Estate Agent For Allegedly Pocketing Prospective Tenants' Rental Deposits, Then Vanishing With The Cash
In Memphis, Tennessee, WMC-TV Channel 5 reports:
Shelby County Sheriff's deputies arrested a Midtown man with a three-year track record of posing as a leasing agent to steal rental deposits.
Sheriff fugitive squad officers arrested John Ferguson, 46, on two counts each of criminal simulation and theft of property $1,000-2,500. Ferguson is accused of misleading property management companies into believing he is a licensed leasing agent. In actuality, he has never held a real estate license. He deceived the companies into hiring him to recruit renters so that he could collect their deposits, then vanish with the money, according to investigators and to property management officials assisting an on-going WMC Action News 5 investigation.
"The fact that [WMC Action News 5] actually dug it up and followed up on it was enough for us to get warrants and go after him," Shelby County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Earle Farrell.
Deputies arrested Ferguson three weeks after Andy Wise's original investigation, in which Wise confronted Ferguson on camera with a state administrative judge's order. The order levied $5,000 in fines against Ferguson for five separate civil violations since 2014. Each violation accuses Ferguson of acting as a real estate leasing broker for property owners, collecting rental deposits, then disappearing with the money when he "...was not licensed to perform such actions."
"What he's doing is illegal," said Kevin Walters, communications director for the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance and the Tennessee Real Estate Commission.
"Yeah, I'm not interested. I'm not talking to you, OK?" Ferguson said to Wise before going back inside his apartment at 224 Hawthorne Street after a confrontation on May 1.
Chris Hogan, a prospective renter who paid Ferguson a nearly $1,300 rental deposit only to discover he was a fake, was happy to hear about his arrest.
"It's not right for someone to be out here manipulating and taking advantage of people, so that's a good thing, and I'm happy about that," Hogan said. The property management company who had hired Ferguson under false pretenses reimbursed Hogan.
CBC News: Betrayal of Trust (A CBC investigation reveals how lawyers across Canada have misappropriated and mishandled clients money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services)
Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets
The New York Times: The Housing Trap (In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap)
Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System
The NY Times: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice(Part 1 in series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court)
Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements
Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners
MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases
Justice Disserved: A Preliminary Analysis of the Exceptionally
Low Appearance Rate by Defendants in Lawsuits Filed in the Civil Court of the City of New York
Mortgage Mess Redux: Robo-Signers Return (A Reuters investigation finds that many banks are still employing the controversial foreclosure practices that sparked a major outcry last year)
CNN Video: As Foreclosures Mount, Florida Court Turns To 'Rocket Docket'
The Wall Street Journal: A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases (2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge)
"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions
ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
<< Home