Did the Crime... gonna do some Time!

"Law enforcement Wednesday night arrested William J. Hutchings, his wife Xiaoke Li, Edgar Martinez and Diego Gil Gil", reported Kelly Bennet at VoiceofSanDiego.org.


An arrest warrant was issued and is still outstanding for another defendant, Shawna Landis, Hutchings ex-wife. (Ding dong lady does not remember why she divorced him in the first place?)


So folks, basically, this was the scam:

Hutchings program would put the property in a land grant, and as such, the land would be given back to the government. That would keep the bank from being able to take the property. Hutchings company would keep the property in a protected state for 4 years while the homeowers lived in it, paying a monthly rent to Hutchings company. After four years the bank would have to release the mortgage debt and the homeowner could buy out Hutchings share and own the house free and clear.


Sounds great, eh?

Ok, well the foreclosure process wasn't thwarted and some of the homeowners from that night have already lost their homes and whatever rent they paid in the meantime.

The defendants are thought to have pocketeded "hundreds of thousands of dollars", and fortunately have had their assets frozen for restitution to the victims of this scam.

Two of these jerks were arrested in the middle on one of these seminars, while 50 potential victims sat in shock and amazement, this last Wednesday.

178 properties in San Diego County had been deeded over to just one of the LLCs -- Federal Land Grant Company LLC -- just since March 7, according to the County Recorder's Office. The defendants face more than 100 felony charges so far.

For the full story go to:
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/05/23/news/01foreclosure052308.txt


ON A MORE LOCAL NOTE:

Recently, on one of my bank-owned listings, I negotiated a Cash for Keys with a really nice family, and helped them get into a nearby rental.

Apparently, this family had been "helped" by a different company who told them that filing bankruptcy would save their home. They had the family pay their mortgage payments to them stating they would in turn pay the bankruptcy Trustee, which would keep the bank from taking their home.

Well, it did not work, and after paying over $4,500 to this company, the bank took the house anyway. I have not been able to determine if this company pocketed the money or if they did pay the money to the bankrutpcy Trustee, and just didn't really know what they were doing.

This is the problem: when reaffirming a debt in the bankruptcy process, you need to PROVE to the Trustee and the Bank that you can afford the payment. The Bank can file a Motion to Lift the Automatic Stay (on the bankruptcy) and take the property anyway stating the debtors could not show proof of ability to reconfirm and pay the debt.


My point of this whole article is to BE CAREFUL! There are ways to try to save your home, but using a third party to help you do this is very, very scary.

Work directly with your lender in trying to get a loan modification, where in some cases they will reduce your interest rate and add your current deficiencies onto the end of your loan, and you get a fresh start.

If you cannot work out a loan modification, list your house with a Real Estate Agent experienced in Short Sales and try to sell your home. This can help save your credit score and enable you to buy a home again a lot sooner than having a foreclosure on your record.



Cynthia Aina
NEW VISTA REALTY
REO & Rental Specialist
http://www.menifee4rent.com/