Comments on Advance Indiana™: Star Is Right: There Were Red-Flags Of Home Fraud In Marion County

Still dealing with the consequences of these parti...

2010-11-20T16:06:58.009-05:00

Still dealing with the consequences of these parties actions. The other day a client walked in and asked for legal advice on what she should do to straighten her credit score and not owe $37,000 in back property taxes to the county. I'm curious to know if the realtors involved are still practicing real estate.

Having done some research into living conditions I...

2008-04-29T05:02:00.000-05:00

Having done some research into living conditions I have made the decision to move to the US! Apart from the medical care (which having just watched the film Sicko I am slightly concerned about) I have decided that there are more positives then negatives and am therefore very excited about the prospect of moving.
However I am concerned with purchasing a house, are mortgages over there the same as there are here? Do I need a large deposit and having spoke to a few people online I am concerned I wont be able to find a company to give me mortgage broker bonds.
and if I cant can I buy a house? Also I am familiar with the term surety bond so is a mortgage bond just a guarantee I will pay on time or is it more?

What do you think of Charter Homes? I am very cur...

2007-06-07T09:57:00.000-05:00

What do you think of Charter Homes? I am very curious as to what you may think. I have been approached by them to do loans.. and am not really sure if I should or not ? Advice Please....

Does anyone have any experience working with Chart...

2007-02-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

Does anyone have any experience working with Charter Homes, Carole Jaquess, Excel Realty Group or anyone related to them? I have suspicions...

What proportion of Indiana's "leading" status in f...

2006-10-02T12:26:00.000-05:00

What proportion of Indiana's "leading" status in foreclosure might be due to these scams?

Ms. Tandy has been working in the inner-city mortg...

2006-10-02T08:51:00.000-05:00

Ms. Tandy has been working in the inner-city mortgage business recently. It's curious she hasn't expressed any opinions about the topic of corrupt and shady financing ...

It's harader for builders to do it...the comps are...

2006-10-01T17:46:00.000-05:00

It's harader for builders to do it...the comps are too readily-available because they rarely vary the type of materials or plans, at least in a big way.

Existing homes are so easy to over-appraise. And it's a racket. It's happening in large and small price ranges, in every corner of the county.

This problem is definitely widespread. Before thi...

2006-10-01T17:22:00.000-05:00

This problem is definitely widespread. Before this story broke, I was looking at sales in my neighborhood on realtor.com (thank God, the information is now public), and noticed that the house behind my home sold for $53,000 in May, 2006 and 95,000 in July 2006. Besides the fact that something appears to be very fishy; a cluster of fradulent sales can impact how a neighborhood is assessed for tax purposes. If the assessors are supposed to rely on sales data, it is paramount that the sales data actually reflect home value. That is why I will be contacting the Warren Township Assessor to find out how they are dealing with these situations.

I really don't have time to do my own investigation, but I feel that I will have to. Of course, when I discover something, who is going to take action? But the real problem is that all of this is the result of cheap government. When you have regulations, you have to have investigators who ferret out fraud, enforce regulations and help maintain a level playing field. White collar crime and street crime result from the same issue; there is common knowledge that you can ignore most laws without getting caught. Because generally, no one really cares. The problem with the Star is that they should have someone assigned to real estate who actually reviews data and understands the real estate market. They should be bringing these issues to the light of day and not just reporting that a lawsuit was filed.

I also have heard of builders using similar tactics to inflate house prices so that they can artificially raise the prices of their newly built homes.

There are people in government who want to help but they are typically those who don't have investigative powers. But they can help in the front end if the public would seek them out. They are typically lower to mid level employees who actually care about the public and are not interested in promoting themselves or being mouthpieces for self promoters.

This disgusting practice is mostly instigated and ...

2006-10-01T15:11:00.000-05:00

This disgusting practice is mostly instigated and carried out by:

*Bad mortgage brokers. All that's required in this state is a general license.
*Slimey real estate brokers: more is required of RE brokers, and they can have their licenses jerked.
*Bad appraisers: here's the real cuplrit. They're everywhere.

Appraisers were not licensed in this state until 1991, when the federal government mandated all states set up strict appraser guidelines, qualifications and continuing education. This was a result of the Silverado S&L debacle and similar Texasa-based thirfts loaning out hundreds of millions on bad properties and bad appraisals.

The Indiana Real Estate Appraisers' Certification Board was appointed by Gov. Bayh in 1990. They set up those standards. They continue to enforce them.

As a professional practioncer who must use appraisals a great deal, I'm continually amazed at the sloppy and lackadaisacal manner many appraisers employ.

There are good ones. But there are far, far too many bad ones.

Without a state-certified appraiser's document (appraisal), the whole scheme described in the Star article is dead.

And do you know how many investigators the state has to oversee all the Professional Licensing Bureau's barbers, appraisers, real estate brokers/salespersons? Three.

Yep. That's what Indiana gets for cheap government.

And you're right, AI--this is the tip of the iceberg. There are many, many more out there.