Governor Bill Ritter
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203
Mortgage Fraud
via snail mail
cc: distribution list /with attachments
I am providing extensive details and documentation about real estate transactions at 4 properties, with an estimated mortgage fraud of $678,000. At the center of each of these transactions is Justin M Juarez. Mr. Juarez is the employing broker at Liberty Home Group, LLC. The Denver Post published an article by Margaret Jackson in April of 2006 which included a nice puff piece about Justin Juarez.
Juarez, 27, got into the real estate business when he was 22 and now is the youngest broker/owner franchise owner in Metro Brokers history. Other brokers in his office also are young, giving the business a leg up in the Gen-Y market.
This is a complaint filed against the real estate license of: Justin M Juarez (ER40029889). Derek Camunez (ER987805) for his role in the sale at 11734 Elkhart Sept 2006. Phil Martinez (MB100012227). Cedrick Lipsey (FA40017008). Brad Brooks who holds an appraiser’s license and also real estate agent (CR1316777 and EA40007731). Mr. Brooks has twice been disciplined by the Appraisal Board. Russell Harrist (CR40022648 and IR1004275) for his part in a review appraisal done by Metro Appraisers on the Brad Brooks appraisal of 10415 Carriage Club – mortgage dated 05/04/04.
In addition, I would like to file a complaint against Joe Ma for practicing real estate without a license. Joe Ma was the listing agent on the sale of 10376 Weeden – transaction dated July 15th, 2004. As near as I can tell, Joe Ma has never had any kind of real estate license in the State of Colorado.
By copy of this letter I am urging Attorney General Suthers (a/k/a Black Hole) to pursue civil and criminal charges against the following business entities: MB Harvest Realty, Liberty Home Group, 02030 = Landmark Brokers SW Inc., Mazatlan International Properties bda Re/Max Avenues, Elite Mortgage Group, Wilkins Realty (now defunct), Fieldstone, CIT Group, National City, First Franklin, GMAC Mortgage.
Mortgage Fraud 1 of 4
June 16th, 2004. 10415 Carriage Club Dr, Littleton (Lone Tree), CO 80124.
Comments: This property went on the market in January 2004 with an initial asking price of $569,000 – exactly the same as the next door neighbor. It sold in May 2004 with a mortgage loan of $592,500. The listing agent reported a seller concession of $15,000. This transaction involved a mortgage fraud of about $30,000 – which was just a warm up.
The mortgage loan was provided by National City (NYSE symbol=NCC) and/or First Franklin a/k/a Merrill Lynch, brokered by Phil Martinez. Appraisal was done by Brad Brooks (also a real estate agent)- who has twice been disciplined by the Appraisal Board – strike 1 and strike 2. I have been told there was a review appraisal done by Metro Appraisers, Russell Harrist who is an appraiser and a licensed real estate agent bda Highlander Realty.
Nine days later the same property went back on the market with an asking price of $773,000. That’s an increase of $200,000 in 9 days. The property sold right away with a $760,000 mortgage loan provided by the good people at First Horizon Home Loan Corp. I consider it likely that the “lender” (First Horizon Home Loan Corp) promptly sold this loan to a sucker. Justin M Juarez was the listing agent on the $773,000 transaction.
It looks like Jon Hooley (the buyer/borrower) made some payments, but the property was in foreclosure in December of 2005. In February, 2006 the property went back on the market with an asking price of $818,000. 10 months later the property sold for $595,000. That’s $165,000 less than the mortgage. When you include legal fees, carry cost, real estate commissions, etc, it means the sucker got screwed to the tune of $200,000 on this mortgage loan gone bad.
The current owner did some fix up and remodel work. Effective 01/17/07 the property is back on the market with an asking price of $820,000.
Mortgage Fraud 2 of 4
June 16th, 2004. 10421 Carriage Club Dr, Littleton (Lone Tree), CO 80124.
Comments: This property went on the market in January 2004 with an asking price of $569,000 – exactly the same as the next door neighbor. It sold 4 months later for $505,000. One month later it went back on the market with an asking price of $763,000. That’s an increase of $258,000 in one month. The property “sold” right away with a $732,000 mortgage provided by the good people at Elite Mortgage Group.
I consider it likely that the “lender” (Elite Mortgage Group, LLC ) promptly sold this loan to a sucker. Justin M Juarez was the listing agent on this $730,000 transaction.
It looks like the “buyer” (Charles & Kelly Grimes) made some payments, but the property was in foreclosure in December of 2005. It went back on the market in early 2006. I saw the inside of this property when it was on the market in 2006. This property was not trashed out. After 240 days on market, the property sold for $580,000 in November of 2006. That’s $152,000 less than the mortgage. When you include legal fees, carry cost, real estate commissions, etc, it means the sucker got screwed to the tune of $200,000 on this mortgage loan gone bad.
Mortgage Fraud 3 of 4
September 24th, 2004. 10376 Weeden Pl, Littleton (Lone Tree), CO 80124.
Comments: This property sold for $465,000 in July of 2004. The sale is reported with a $10,000 seller concession. MLS shows Joe Ma was the listing agent. As near as I can tell, Joe Ma has never had a real estate license. The listing office is shown as Wilkins Realty, which has been defunct since at least 2000 – four years before this sale. Wilkins may be located at 410 Snowmass Cir, Louisville, CO 80027.
Two weeks later the property was back on the market with an asking price of $730,000 – that’s an increase of $275,000 in 2 weeks. MLS reports the property sold in 14 days at $12,000 above asking price. Public records shows a mortgage loan of $692,000 made by the good people at GMAC Mortgage.
I consider it likely that the “lender” (GMAC Mortgage Corp ) promptly sold this loan to a sucker. Justin M Juarez was the listing agent on this $742,000 transaction.
I have photos that demonstrate the property was vacant on 01/09/07. It looked to me like it had been vacant for several weeks at least. I formed an opinion that this mortgage loan is headed for foreclosure.
Mortgage Fraud 4 of 4
September 13th, 2006. 11734 Elkhart St, Brighton, CO 80603.
Comments: The MLS listing shows that Justin M Juarez was the listing agent. The listing history shows the property went on the market with an initial asking price of $207,800. After 33 days on market (DOM) the property sold for $222,000 – that means the contract price was $14,200 more than the asking price. The listing agent (Justin M Juarez) reported a seller concession of $6,600.
You might think that someone willing to bid up the price and buy a house for $14,000 more than asking price would be in a position to make a down payment. In this case you would be wrong. The deeds report shows that Olivia Troncoso bought the house with a mortgage loan in the amount of $222,000 provided by Fieldstone, the same outfit that helped Shawn Tieskotter get started.
It’s my opinion that Olivia Troncoso got significant guidance and help from her real estate agent (Re/Max Avenues) in buying the house and obtaining the $222,000 mortgage. Furthermore, there was Fieldstone, a mortgage broker, appraiser, seller (Brent D Southerland), listing agent (Justin M Juarez), and title company that played along. Everyone knew what needed to be done, each did their part, and everyone got a piece of the $222,000.
As it turns out, this transaction was such a good deal for Olivia Troncoso, she bought another house about a week later (09/22/06), with a $238,000 mortgage loan provided by the CIT Group. The address is 15102 E 116th Pl, Brighton, CO 80603.
Olivia Troncoso bought 2 houses in a week with zero cash, maybe (likely?) cash back at closing.
The loan that Fieldstone made for Shawn Tieskotter in April of 2005 is now in foreclosure. It’s my opinion that both of the above Troncoso loans (Fieldstone and CIT Group) are high risk to follow the Tieskotter pattern – make payments for a few months, and then go into foreclosure.
Call to Action
As you may know, I wrote a series of letters in late 2005 which called attention to mortgage fraud in the Denver metro area. Since that time, the problem has grown more pervasive and the dollar amounts have gotten bigger.
The sad reality is that mortgage fraud has become “generally accepted” in the Denver/Aurora real estate community. For example – consider the case of Brent D Southerland (homeowner). He hired Justin Juarez (real estate agent) to sell 11734 Elkhart, and paid more than $12,000 for this valuable service. Brent D Southerland sold his house for $20,000 more than he could have got if he hired a real estate agent that refused to play along with mortgage fraud. Until that changes, we are just spinning our wheels. And no amount of lip service and tough talk is going to make any difference.
I am not politically active, and I don’t want to be. Having said that, by copy of this letter, I urge the “authorities” to get past the lip service. Get serious, step up, work together and get something done. Justin Juarez needs to have his real estate license permanently revoked. Sooner rather than later.
Erin Toll — if you need more budget, ask for it. Please subpoena as necessary to obtain the appraisal reports that supported the mortgage fraud identified in this letter. If you need help with the subpoena, ask for help. If you don’t get what you need, send me a letter and explain – I may be able to help. When you obtain the appraisals, hire a competent review appraiser and take a careful look at those appraisals. At some point, the State of Colorado needs to demonstrate the resolve and the resources to revoke the licenses of those who played along. The longer it takes, the worse the problem is going to be.
The Attorney General of Colorado, John (Black Hole) Suthers recently asked for an increase of 1 staff lawyer. By copy of this letter, I urge those in a position to make a difference to proactively work toward approving triple what he asked for.
Let’s hire 3 new staff lawyers – maybe on a temporary or subcontract basis. Pay a fair wage and give them the tools and support they need. How many Shawn Tieskotters is it gonna take before Colorado gets serious?
Sincerely,
Philip G Rice
11268 E Linvale Dr
Aurora, CO 80014
720-282-3376
phil.rice@mkgappraisal.com
ps – To all who have read this far, please take a minute and think creatively about something you can do. Make a positive difference. If you need help, call me at 720-282-3376 or send an email.
