Archive for July, 2008

Urban Legend

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

July 30th, 2008

OCC – Customer Assistance Group
1301 McKinney Street
Suite 3450
Houston, TX 77010

via snail mail
to:  distribution list /with attachments
Dear OCC Customer Assistance Group,

Please treat this as a formal complaint against Kerry Killinger personally, and against Washington Mutual – specifically including (but not limited to) a pattern of mortgage fraud.

For your convenience, a complete copy of this document is published on the Internet at:

http://www.mkgappraisal.com/letter2008_12.htm

8,000 Per Day

It’s been in the national news recently — across the country 8,000 homes go into foreclosure every day.  Think about that for a minute.

Read this quote from a 07/22/08 article in the Miami Herald.

No possible excuse can justify the failure of state regulators who not only failed to protect homeowners and mortgage borrowers from fast-buck artists out to prey on the public, but actually gave the thieves a license to plunder.

I encourage you to read the article(s) – here and here.  The article gives details of how 4,000 criminals applied for a mortgage broker license in the state of Florida.  They cleared the background check and got their license.  The state of Florida has a big problem with foreclosure.  Do you see the connection?

It’s a good thing that kind of stuff isn’t going on in Colorado.  Right?

Disclaimer

Everything in this document is my interpretation of information found in the public records.  It’s my opinion, take it for what it’s worth.

Lorenzo Moody

144 S Emerson St, Denver, CO  80209.  I urge you to take a close look at the listing history.  This one page document makes it very clear there was some serious mortgage fraud involved in this property in August 2006.

This property went on the market in May 2006 with an asking price of $349,950.  About a month later on June 28th, 2006 the asking price was $379,000.  The next day the property went under contract.  After the contract was signed, the asking price was changed – increased to $599,000.  That’s an increase of $220,000 – literally overnight.

The listing agent was Charles Denver Parks (EI40025138) of Help-U-Sell LoDo.  He is also a licensed mortgage broker (LMB100014425) of Aspen Lending.

Charles Denver Parks handled both sides of this transaction – he was both the listing agent and the selling agent.  It looks like he got a really good deal for the seller.  Turns out he was the seller too.

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Charles Denver Parks sold this property to Lorenzo Moody.  Under the circumstances – I wonder if (during the pertinent time period) Lorenzo Moody was a genuine live human being with a pulse?  Or an urban legend?

The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds, a/k/a cash back at closing, a/k/a mortgage fraud.  The deeds report shows a $599,000 mortgage loan made by (now defunct) New Century Mortgage.

Fast Buck Artist

The management at New Century are accurately described as “fast-buck artists out to prey on the public”.

Even if Lorenzo Moody is/was a real live person – the mastermind of this quarter million dollar scam was Charles Denver Parks – a smooth talking son of a gun.  On or about August 4th, 2006, Charles Denver Parks walked away from the closing table with about $400,000 cash – in exchange for his equity in a $250,000 house.

The MLS sold listing shows a seller concession of $10,000.  Which would be funny except it’s really very sad.

15 months later (Nov 2007) this property went back on the market asking $294,000.  It sold for $241,000 after 117 days on market.  That’s $358,000 less than the loan amount – in about 15 months time.

Charles Denver Parks is still licensed in good standing with the Colorado Board of Real Estate.

Secresha Cooper

photo

5741 S Nucla Ct, Centennial, CO  80015 (Piney Creek).  Secresha Cooper bought this property in April, 2006.  The contract price is recorded as $356,500 which is $1,600 above the asking price – after 268 days on market.  The listing agent (Kimberly Pitaniello) reported a seller concession of $10,500 on the sold listing.  Secresha got a $356,500 mortgage loan from the bank formerly known as Fremont Investment and Loan.

The real estate agent who helped Secresha Cooper buy this house (the selling agent) in April 2006 is named John Bivins.  In 1997, John Bivins pled guilty to one count of theft of government monies in Federal Court – case number 95-CR-330-2.  He was put on probation by the Colorado Board of Real Estate, and told he could only continue working as a real estate agent if he did what the Court had already ordered – make restitution.

Lorenzo meet Secresha

This $356,500 purchase by Secresha Cooper turned out really well.  Secresha was able to sell this property for $445,000 in July of 2006.  That’s an increase of $88,500 in about 3 months time.  This favorable sale was accomplished without the benefit of an MLS listing.

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Secresha sold this property to Lorenzo Moody a/k/a the urban legend.  In July of 2006 Washington Mutual made a mortgage loan of $445,000 to Lorenzo Moody, with 5741 S Nucla Ct as collateral.

Any idiot could see this house was not worth $445,000.

The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds, a/k/a cash back at closing, a/k/a mortgage fraud.  Nobody moved in, and Lorenzo Moody never made a payment.  This house promptly went into foreclosure.

I wrote about this property in March, 2006, again in July 2006, and again in November 2006.  I sent this letter to WaMu CEO Kerry Killinger (and others) in October, 2005.

The current owner of this property is the 5741 S Nucla Ct LLC (a/k/a Washington Mutual & Deutsche).  Which is to say the Cracker Jack REO team at WaMu is still trying to sell this property.  They recently listed it for sale asking $362,000.

More Secresha Cooper

Secresha Cooper bought (at least) 3 other houses in 2006.  Refer to this handy summary.

3394 Magnolia St, Denver, CO  80207.  She bought this property on 04/28/06 with the help of a $155,000 mortgage loan from Washington Mutual.  It’s not clear why she bought this property, but it was not a happy ending.  5 months later (Sept 2006) this property went back on the market asking $214,900.  It eventually sold 4/28/08 for 139,000 after 400 days on market.  That’s (only?) $16,000 less than the loan amount.

LaMarcus

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3090 Fairfax St, Denver, CO  80207.  John Bivins helped LaMarcus Jenkins buy this house from Paddy Q Cox (licensed real estate agent) on 01/31/06.  The contract price was $219,900 with a $6,300 seller concession.  Days on market (DOM) = 226.  Mortgage fraud on this transaction is estimated to be (only?) $40,000.

But wait – it gets better.

Secresha meet LaMarcus

About 8 months later, in August 2006, LaMarcus Jenkins sold the property to Secresha Cooper for $340,000.  That’s $120,000 appreciation in 8 months time.  This favorable sale was accomplished without the benefit of an MLS listing.  I think John Bivins was knee deep in this transaction.  Do you agree?

Secresha somehow got a $340,000 loan to buy a $170,000 house.  The loan was provided by First NLC Financial Services.  The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds, a/k/a cash back at closing, a/k/a mortgage fraud.  Nobody ever moved in, and Secresha never made a payment.  This property promptly went into foreclosure.  First NLC Financial Services went kaput.

John Bivins collected a real estate commission and also shared in the proceeds of the $170,000 mortgage fraud.  Wouldn’t it be ironic if John Bivins used the money he made on this transaction(s) to pay restitution for the Government money he stole so he could get his real estate license off probation with the Colorado Board of Real Estate?

The REO sale started out asking $269,000 in April 2007.  By May of 2008 (a year later) the asking price had been reduced to $195,500 and still no sale.  They gave up and sold by auction.  The public records shows that Martin Chernoff bought the property from EMC Mortgage Corp (JP Morgan Chase) for $165,375 on July 3rd, 2008.  That’s $174,000 less than the loan amount.

It’s sad.

4 Potato

5173 Fraser St, Denver, CO  80239.  John Bivins helped Secresha Cooper buy this property (her 4th) in May, 2006.  Secresha got a $218,000 mortgage from the good people at Ownit Mortgage Solutions.  Ownit went kaput.  This property promptly went into foreclosure.  It sold for $173,000 10/31/07 – (only?) $45,000 less than the loan amount.

Dear Erin Toll

By copy of this letter to D. Rico Munn and Erin Toll, please treat this as a complaint against the real estate license of Charles Denver Parks (EI40025138) of Help-U-Sell LoDo, and his mortgage broker license (LMB100014425) of Aspen Lending.  Also please treat this letter as a complaint against the real estate license of John Bivins (ER201231) of Premier Property Brokers.

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.

– End of Letter –

Golden Design Group

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

July 23rd, 2008

FBI
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20535
Attn:  Robert S Mueller, Director

via snail mail
to:  distribution list /with attachments

Dear Bob Mueller

Please treat this as a formal complaint with regard to mortgage fraud – against Derek David Malig, Pete Capra, Richard Fuld, Alan Faigin, and Jim Wells.

By copy of this letter to D. Rico Munn and Erin Toll, please treat this as a complaint against the mortgage broker license of Peter Vincent Capra (LMB100009013).

By copy of this letter to various federal, state, and local agencies, please treat this as a complaint against each of the individuals and business entities named below.

From the Trenchs

I received an email dated 7/16/08:

Take a look at Vistancia Drive in Pradera, Douglas County 98% of the 41+/- homes were sold w/$400,000+/- cash back at closing and are all now in some sort of foreclosure at this point. The straws all paid $1,200,000 not in MLS and then gets resold as a short sale for $500,000 to $800,000 in MLS. The exact same sinerio [sic] is going on up north at Huntington Trails.

I read the email and thought about it for a few minutes.  Then I did a 15 minute investigation.  I formed an opinion that the email is (substantially) correct.

Derek David Malig

16733 E Lake Dr, Aurora, CO  80016 (Piney Creek Village) – Approximately 10/25/06 Derek David Malig bought the property for $999,000.  He bought the property from Golden Design Group (Peter Capra) and obtained a $999,000 mortgage loan from Jumpin’ Jim Wells and the good people at SunTrust Mortgage.

The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds, a/k/a cash back at closing, a/k/a mortgage fraud.  Nobody ever moved in and Derek David Malig never made a payment.  The REO listing says “Incredible!  Never Been Lived In”.

This property went into foreclosure.

16733 E Lake Dr has been on the market since 5/1/08 asking $674,900.  That’s $324,000 less than the loan amount in less than 2 years.  And of course it remains to be seen what this house will sell for.  It could get worse.

14275 Santa Fe St, Westminster, CO  80023 (Huntington Trails) – About a month later, approximately 11/21/06 Derek David Malig bough himself another house.  He paid exactly the same price – $999,000.  Looks to me like he got a $999,000 mortgage loan from the good people at Fremont Investment & Loan.

Derek David Malig bought this property from Golden Design Group (Peter Capra).  The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds, a/k/a cash back at closing, a/k/a mortgage fraud.  Nobody ever moved in and Derek David Malig never made a payment.

This property went into foreclosure.  It was listed for sale in February 2008 asking $749,900 – the price has been reduced to $649,500.  That’s $350,000 less than the loan, and it ain’t over yet.  It could get worse.

A Few Property Things

The Live Oak, CA high school web site has this entry dated 8/5/05 under the heading David-Malig, Derek:

Let me see, after High School graduation I went to Gav for 2 years.  Then I made the greatest mistake of my life.  I went to Chico State.  I graduated from Chico with BS in Construction Management.  Worked in the industry for awhile and desided to try something else.  So I became a building inspector.  Then desided I didn’t like that, so I became a stripper.  Yes, people will actually pay money to see a short brown guy.  I haven’t grown any taller since high school by the way.  Well eventually you have to retire from that industry since this damn thing called age catches up to you.  So then I became a stripper by night and went to Law School by day.  Graduated from Law School and desided that the legal industry wasn’t for me either.  So I got married finally, well that wasn’t for me either.  So now I’m one year remove from my divorce (no kids). Well I met up with a college friend, and we went into business together.  So now I own a health-club and am planning to open another club.  I presently do a little real estate developing and have a few property things going.  Still in Chico, and wishing I could afford to move back to Morgan Hill.

Somehow, the author of this statement was able to borrow $2 million dollars in late 2006 – and walk away with $500,000 (estimated) cash.

My conclusion = Derek David Malig is not smart enough to perpetrate this scam on his own.  He had help.

Cahoots

The obvious “mastermind” is Pete Capra at Golden Design Group - in cahoots with the likes of Dick Fuld, Alan Faigin, and Jim Wells.

Mr. Fuld publicly said, “This is my responsibility”.  I agree.  While it certainly is true he’s not the only one – Richard Fuld is personally responsible for the fraudulent mortgage loans at Lehman.  And it’s a big number.

Jim Wells made the fraudulent mortgage loan at 16733 Lake precisely because he knew that if he didn’t – Alan Faigin at Fremont Investment and Loan would.

Alan Faigin and the bank formerly known as Fremont Investment and Loan consented to a Cease and Desist Order issued by the FDIC.  The new name is Capital Source (CSE).  I did not see any estimate of how much this will cost the American taxpayer.  My best guess is $3 billion.  This is not small potatoes.

Henry Paulson says (7/22/08) “the nation’s banking system is fundamentally sound”.  I say the system is badly broken.  One of us is right.

Robert C Zwinck, III

Robert C Zwinck, III is/was the chief technology officer at FHS Corp.  It’s just my opinion, but I think Robert Zwinck is right now trying to do to the health care industry what he did to the mortgage lending industry in 2006.  Or, maybe it’s 2 different people with the same name.  Or maybe it’s (another?) case of identity theft.

12542 S Robinson Ranch Dr, Parker, CO  80134 (Douglas Co) – February 2002 Robert C Zwinck, III bought himself a house.  The sale price is recorded as $549,800.  This was a builder sale, he bought the house brand new from Beazer Homes.  Presumably Mr & Mrs Zwinck moved in and lived there.  This house went on the market 8/12/05 and stayed on the market (more or less continuously) until sold 01/08/08 for $545,000 – approximately 740 days on market.  The property is now owned by “Done Deal Investments, LLC” (I’m not making this up) and Lisa M Coe – thanks to a 14% mortgage loan by Jim Wells and the good people at SunTrust.

What could possibly go wrong here?

5550 Vistancia Dr, Parker, CO  80134 (Pradera) – Approximately March 31st, 2006 Robert C Zwinck, III bought this property for $992,700.  The seller was Golden Design Group – Pete Capra.  The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds, a/k/a cash back at closing, a/k/a mortgage fraud.  Nobody ever moved in and Bob Zwinck never made a payment.

My best guess is that Mr. Zwinck got a mortgage loan of $992,700.  The public records shows that Aurora Loan Services (a/k/a Lehman Brothers a/k/a Dick Fuld & the Bros) was involved in the mortgage.

The MLS listing history shows the property back on the market two weeks later with an asking price of $1,042,000.  About a year later the price had been increased to $1,192,000 – but no sale.  After 675 days on market, the property sold (short sale) for $665,000 on 3/10/08.  That’s $327,700 short of the loan – in about 2 years time.

16754 E Lake Dr, Centennial, CO  80016 (Piney Creek Village).  About 2 months after he bought 5550 Vistancia, and while 12542 Robinson Ranch was still on the market – Robert C Zwinck, III bought himself a 3rd house.  Does anyone see a problem here?

On 5/19/06 Robert Zwinck bought this property for $890,700 from Golden Design Group a/k/a Pete Capra.  The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds, a/k/a cash back at closing, a/k/a mortgage fraud.  Nobody ever moved in, and Robert Zwinck never made a payment.  This property went into foreclosure.  The REO listing says, “never been lived in”.

It sold 4/8/08.  The new owners are Aleksander Shleyfer and Margarita Feldshteyn (I’m not making this up).  The property sold for $499,000 after 325 days on market.  That’s $391,700 short of the loan amount in about 1 year’s time.

9559 Sunset Hill Dr, Lone Tree, CO  80124 (Douglas Co).  On 5/25/06, Robert C Zwinck, III bought yet another property. He bought this property from Thomas Turner for a smooth $999,000.

This property sold as a short sale on 5/7/08 for $667,000 after 104 days on market.  That’s $332,000 short of the loan amount.

Michael Stone

5540 Vistancia Dr, Parker, CO  80134 (Pradera) – Approximately August 14th, 2006 Michael Stone bought this property from Golden Design Group for $999,000.  Dick Fuld and the Bros were mixed up in the mortgage.

The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds, a/k/a cash back at closing, a/k/a mortgage fraud.  Nobody ever moved in, and Michael Stone never made a payment.  The REO listing says:  “Looks like it has never been lived in” – a/k/a barely lived in.  Indeed.

This property went into foreclosure, then sold 3/20/08 for $630,000.  This property lost $369,000 value in about 18 months time – about $20,000 per month.

Dick Fuld & the Bros

In my letter dated 06/04/08 I said Dick Fuld made a $33M bonus precisely because of all the bad loans at Lehman.  I believe the above 2 examples (5540 and 5550 Vistancia) showed up as a profit on the 2006 Lehman financial statements.

This NY Times article dated 6/18/08 says

Lehman said it would raise $6 billion to shore up what the firm had previously suggested was a strong balance sheet.

I take it to mean that Lehman (Dick Fuld) told some whoppers about what went on in 2006.  When the NY Times says “previously suggested” it’s a polite way to say Dick Fuld lied.  And in June of 2008, he’s still at it.

This article dated 06/18/08 quotes Dick Fuld:

“I’m comfortable with our valuations at the end of the second quarter,” Fuld said on a conference call with analysts and investors.

Referring to the Sarbanes-Oxley law that holds executives responsible for their firm’s accounting, he added, “I am the one who ultimately signs off.”

Fuld demoted (fired?) Erin Callan and Joe Gregory – and then Mr. Fuld said, “This is my responsibility”.

The Lehman Bros 2006 financial statements were audited by the “independent” CPA firm Ernst + Young, LLP.  Does the audit by Ernst and Young mean anything?

Does the Dick Fuld signature on the Sarbanes-Oxley statement mean anything?  Or not?

How bad does it have to get?

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.

– End of Letter –

Richard L Hanna

Monday, July 21st, 2008

July 21st, 2008

FBI
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20535
Attn:  Robert S Mueller, Director

via snail mail
to:  distribution list /with attachments

Dear Bob Mueller

Please treat this as a formal complaint with regard to mortgage fraud – against Richard L Hanna, Jason Stephens, Ray Sherman, Steven Gage, Kerry K Killinger, Victor Ciardelli, Pete Capra, and all of the executives at Golden Design Group, Indymac, New Century Mortgage, Biltmore Bank of Arizona, Silver State Mortgage, DR Horton, Keller Williams, Vision Development Group, and the board of directors at Washington Mutual.

By copy of this letter to D. Rico Munn and Erin Toll, please treat this as a complaint against the mortgage broker license of Peter Vincent Capra (LMB100009013).  In addition, please treat this as a complaint against the real estate license of Jason Stephens (FA40021244) and his employing broker at Keller Williams – presumably Ray Sherman (EL93630).

By copy of this letter to various federal, state, and local agencies, please treat this as a complaint against each of the individuals and business entities named below.

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time there was a hot shot golfer with a smart ass caddy.  The golfer hit the ball into the deep rough.  When they found the ball, the golfer said to the caddy – if you’re so smart, how should I play this next shot?  The caddy said – under an assumed name.

Assumed Name

There is a politician in upstate New York who goes by the name Richard L Hanna.  As near as I can tell, he is a Republican.  I don’t know if the NY politician is the same Richard L Hanna who has been buying up properties in Colorado.  It seems far fetched to me.  I’m thinking it must be 2 different people who share the same name – or maybe it’s a case of identity theft.

Now that I think of it, there is a very strange (far fetched) question about Michael R McCormick.  Is the mass murder the same person who worked at the AG’s office?  Or is it 2 different people with the same name?  Or is it identity theft?

Disclaimer

All of the information in this letter is my interpretation of information in the public records.  It’s my opinion – take it for what it’s worth.

Hi Ho Silver

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261 Lead Queen Dr, Castle Rock, CO  80108 (Douglas Co) – On June 30th, 2006 Richard L Hanna bought himself a house.  He paid $1.2M and got a mortgage loan to match from the good people at New Century Mortgage.  Since then – New Century has gone bankrupt and this property went into foreclosure.  The MLS listing history shows the property has been on the market since February 2008 and the current asking price is $675,000.  That’s $525,000 less than the loan.

The listing history makes it clear that there was some serious mortgage fraud in the June 2006 transaction.  The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds – a/k/a cash back at closing – a/k/a mortgage fraud.  The (roughly $550,000) excess funds were divvied up amongst the buyer, seller, 2 real estate agents, appraiser, mortgage broker, and lender.  Did I leave anyone out?

Everyone has been well trained by HUD in the process of manipulating the paperwork to make the deal work.  Everyone knows what needs to get done, and everyone does their part.  And everyone gets paid.

Jason Stephens (FA40021244) of Keller Williams was the listing agent and also the selling agent.  He increased the asking price by $300,000 and reported a seller concession of $17,568.  I think Jason Stephens and his supervisor should both have their real estate license revoked.

Dear Erin Toll

Question for Erin Toll:  Is this a good example of when the listing agent should ask themselves the questions outlined in the Summer 2008 Newsletter (page 7)?  Are you thinking (hoping?) that Jason Stephens and Ray Sherman should have decided this was mortgage fraud?  Or not?  And if they somehow decided it was mortgage fraud – then what?

What exactly should they have done?  Should they have quietly walked away from the $66,000 commission?

Two Potato

2282 Dogwood Dr, Erie, CO  80516 (Weld Co) – About a month later (7/31/06) Richard L Hanna bought himself another house.  The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds – cash back at closing – mortgage fraud.

He paid $387,500 and got a mortgage loan from Axis Mortgage & Investments (a/k/a Biltmore Bank of Arizona).  This was a builder (DR Horton) sale, not listed or recorded on MLS.  This property went into foreclosure.  It went on the market in February 2008 – asking $350,000 as an REO property.  It’s still on the market – now asking $259,950.  About $127,000 less than the loan amount.  Small potatoes – who cares?

Three Potato

16402 E 107th Ave, Commerce City, CO  80022 (Adams Co) – About a week later (8/7/06) Richard L Hanna bought himself another house.  The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds – cash back at closing – mortgage fraud.

The sale price is recorded as $302,500 with a loan to match by Axis Mortgage & Investments (a/k/a Biltmore Bank of Arizona).  This was a builder sale, not listed or recorded on MLS.  This property went into foreclosure.  It recently (7/9/08) sold for $209,000 – about $92,000 less than the loan amount.  Small potatoes – who cares?

Four Potato

11336 Jersey Dr, Thornton, CO  80233 (Adams Co) – About a month later (9/1/06) Richard L Hanna bought himself another house.  The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds – cash back at closing – mortgage fraud.

The sale is recorded at $329,000 with a mortgage loan to match by Victor Ciardelli and the good people at Guaranteed Rate, Inc.  This property went into foreclosure.  It sold 7/9/08 for $230,000.  About $100,000 less than the loan amount.  Small potatoes – who cares?

More

528 Nesting Crane Ln, Longmont, CO  80504 (Weld Co) – About a year later (8/29/07), Richard L Hanna bought himself some land.  It’s not clear if he intended to start a potato farm.

The sale is recorded at $475,000 with a mortgage loan provided by bank formerly known as Indymac Bank FSB.  If anyone reading this has any money on deposit at Indymac – my advice is to run to the bank and withdraw your money.

The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds – cash back at closing – mortgage fraud.  This property went into foreclosure.  It’s now listed for sale at $195,000.  About $280,000 less than the loan amount.

Indymac.  FDIC.  Does anyone see a problem here?  FBI.

The FBI investigation is focused on the company [Indymac] – which was taken over last Friday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – and not individuals who ran it

CNN Money article dated 7/11/08:

The FDIC says the failure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund between $4 billion and $8 billion

Don’t Worry Be Happy

“It’s possible this will be the most costly bank failure in history, but it’s too soon to say,” said FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair.  She went on to say “People should not worry”.

Q – At $280,000 a pop, how many potatoes does it take to get to $4 to $8 billion?  And as a follow up – at $4 to $8 billion a pop, how many Indymacs does it take before “people” should worry?

A- Hello?  Is anybody home?

Big Potato

16733 E Lake Dr, Centennial, CO  80016 (Arapahoe Co) – about 2 months later (11/3/06), Richard L Hanna bought himself yet another house.  The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds – cash back at closing – mortgage fraud.

This was a builder sale – he bought the house from Pete Capra and the Golden Design Group.  The sale price is recorded at $1,150,000 (that’s over a million dollars) with a $1,150,000 mortgage loan provided by Silver State Mortgage.

About 2 months later Silver State Mortgage went kaput.  Connect the dots.  I think the CEO at Silver State Mortgage should spend some time in the Martha Stewart jail cell.

This property went into foreclosure.  It’s now on the market – asking $605,000.  That’s a smooth $600,000 less than the loan amount – and that’s before expenses.  Somebody is getting screwed on this one.  And it ain’t over yet.

More Big Potato

5045 McClure Ln, Castle Rock, CO  80108 (Douglas Co).  About a year later (12/19/07) Richard L Hanna bought himself another house – brand spanking new from Steven Gage and the good people at Vision Development Group.  The sole purpose of this transaction was to generate excess mortgage funds – cash back at closing – mortgage fraud.  Nobody ever moved into the house – a/k/a barely lived in.  Richard L Hanna never made a payment.

The sale price is recorded at $1,585,000.  The good people at Washington Mutual made a mortgage loan of at least $1,188,750.  I’m of the opinion there was an unrecorded 2nd mortgage and the total loan was $1,585,000.

This property is now on the market with an asking price of $899,000.  That’s $686,000 less than the sold price.

Let me say that again – this property lost $686,000 value in 8 months – darn near $100,000 per month.  And of course it ain’t over yet.  It could get worse.

Richard L Hanna has some big potatoes.

photo

Does anyone see a problem here?

How many more potatoes will it take to push Washington Mutual into bankruptcy?  If you have any money on deposit at WaMu – my advice is to run to the bank and get your money out before Chuck Shumer writes another letter.  Don’t count on Ben and Tonto to decide that WaMu is too big to fail.

Untenable

This is how hispanicbusiness.com reported (7/8/08) what Henry Paulson (a/k/a Tonto) had to say:

But the Treasury chief made no apologies for those who either have or are about to lose their homes either because they were speculators or because they overextended themselves by purchasing homes they couldn’t really afford.

“There is little public policymakers can, or should, do to compensate for untenable financial decisions,” he said.

My question – What about WaMu?  Are they tenable?

For those who live in upstate New York – my advice is to carefully consider your vote in the upcoming election.
How bad does it have to get?

Sincerely,

Philip G Rice
11268 E Linvale Dr
Aurora, CO  80014
720-282-3376
phil.rice@mkgappraisal.com

Elizabeth Butler / Steffen A Brown

Sunday, July 13th, 2008

I filed 2 complaints against the appraiser’s license of Elizabeth Butler. Complaints dated 9/19/05: 476 Kenton and 1657 Sedalia. At the time I filed these complaints, Stewart Leach was running the show at the Colorado Board of Real Estate Appraisers. By the time the complaints were acted on, Stewart had been fired and replaced by Erin Toll.

The Rest of the Story

Butler response – document dated February 13, 2006. 4 pages:

Discipline document – stipulation and final agency order – case number 80356872 dated 5/7/07. $1,000 fine and 55 hours course work.

Open Records request – document dated 5/15/08. Billed at $15.75

Investigator (Steffen A Brown) Findings for Kenton. Document is not dated and not signed. 4 pages:

Investigator (Steffen A Brown) Findings for Sedalia. Document is not dated and not signed. 4 pages:

Payment and course completion confirmation – document dated 1/14/08 signed by Martha Torres-Recinos. 5 pages of backup.

My Comments

This is a comedy of errors – except it’s not funny.

Elizabeth Butler could have completely avoided the fine and the course work if she had just threatened to show up and defend herself at a hearing. Erin Toll would have backed down and settled for a fine of $zero and no course work.

The Investigator Steffan A Brown is a good example how the status quo is defended and why substantive change is like pulling teeth.

To be clear – I have no problem with the end result. If anything I consider a $1,000 fine and 55 hrs course work to be excessive. It is not clear to me how the process went from Mr Brown’s findings to the end result.

I do have a problem with the comments and conclusions expressed by Steffan A Brown. I don’t have time to go thru each of Steffan A Brown’s comments point by point. I offer a summary and a few representative examples with my comments and analysis.

In the Salida “findings” document – Steffan A Brown does find a violation of Standards Rule 1-1(a)(c) with comments on page 2.

In the Kenton “findings” document – Steffan A Brown could find no evidence or support of any violation by Elizabeth Butler. He does say that Phil Rice “does not fully understand the appraisal process or the meaning of opinion of value”.

My comment – if you wanted to actively discourage the public from submitting complaints – what better way to accomplish that objective than to make (unsupported) insulting and disparaging comments about the person who submitted the complaint? I don’t agree with his conclusion – but even if he is correct – what does the comment say about the person who wrote it? And what does it say about the complaint process?

Steffen A Brown says that USPAP “Advisory Opinions are not mandatory” because they are provided as “guidance only”. Therefore (if I’m reading it right) Steffen A Brown is of the opinion that it is not mandatory for the appraiser to take into account (consider) the listing, agreed price, and pending sale of the subject property. My comment = I disagree.

Under the heading Findings VI (Kenton pg3) Steffen A Brown says:

Elizabeth Butler admits the oversight by not changing the “N/A” on page 1 to reflect [the subject property] seller concessions but did reference the $10,000 concessions in the Multi-Purpose Supplemental Addendum on page 2 under “Current Sales Contract”. This is an error due to lack of reviewing ones own work but it was reported and there is no substantial error of omission.

Steffen A Brown says says he found no evidence or support for my allegation that Elizabeth Butler is unethical.

Elizabeth Butler says (response pg1):

I always pull comps and submit them. If the value is not there I am not given the assignment. This is much better than having companies spend their money needlessly and me facing a law suit.

I wonder if Steffen A Brown read this statement. If Steffen A Brown can’t find anything unethical in that statement, I have to wonder what it would take.

How bad does it have to get?

Michael McCormick

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

July 1st, 2008FBI
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20535
Attn: Robert S Mueller, Director

via snail mail
to: distribution list /with attachments

A complete copy of this letter (including all attachments) is published on the Internet at:

http://www.mkgappraisal.com/letter2008_mc.htm

Dear Bob Mueller

Please treat this as a formal complaint with regard to mortgage fraud – against Demetrius Gianopoulos, Michael R McCormick, Andy Mitchell, Angelo Mozilo, and Pete Capra. In addition, please treat this as a complaint against the CEO and each of the following business entities: New Century Mortgage (now kaput), WMC Mortgage and the parent General Electric, South Star Funding (now kaput), Countrywide, Golden Design Group, and First Guaranty Financial Corp.

By copy of this letter to Mary Mullarkey, please treat this as a complaint against the attorney license of Michael R McCormick.

By copy of this letter to D. Rico Munn and Erin Toll, please treat this as a complaint against the real estate license of Andy Mitchell and the inactive real estate license of Demetrius Gianopoulos (FA100004301).

By copy of this letter to various federal, state, and local agencies, please treat this as a complaint against each of the individuals and business entities named below.

Ruby Begonia

Question for Ken Salazar and John Suthers: Do the name Michael R McCormick mean anything to you? He claims to have worked at the Colorado Attorney General’s Office for 3.5 years.

photoA Google search suggests that Michael R McCormick is an attorney at Montgomery Little Soran etc. His cv page says: Michael R. McCormick entered private practice after spending three and a half years as an Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office representing the Colorado Department of Transportation.

The name Michael McCormick shows up as the current owner on 7 Arapahoe county properties in some stage of foreclosure.

  1. 1104 S Richfield Ct
  2. 21582 Portland Pl
  3. 242374 E Glasgow Cir
  4. 16731 E Lake Ave
  5. 14120 Temple Dr Y-1
  6. 6019 S Olathe St
  7. 22382 E Mercer Pl (Countrywide)

The name Jenell B McCormick also shows up on several foreclosure properties. I don’t know if Jenell is related to Michael. My best guess is they are not related.

Michael McCormick is somehow involved with Equity Architects, LLC , an outfit located in California. Equity Architects is headed up by M. Cassandra Hoag, who is also a director at Sunwest Bank.

The Greek

Demetrius G Gianopoulos. Is that a good name? It’s Greek to me.

photo 21582 Portland: Approximately November 22, 2004, Demetrius purchased the house at 21582 E Portland Pl, Aurora, CO 80016. The sale was not reported in MLS. The Arapahoe county deeds report shows the sold price at $699,000 with a mortgage loan of $699,000 provided by the Bozos at (now kaput) New Century Mortgage. Six months later in May 2005 the house was back on the market asking $791,000. A month later in June, 2005 the asking price was increased to $899,000. MLS shows the property “under contract” in June of 2005 but there is no sale reported. About this time the property went into foreclosure. Two years later on 9/27/07 via quit claim, Michael R McCormick was listed as the owner. In December of 2007 (3 months after Michael McCormick was the owner) the property was listed for sale asking $575,000. This property sold 6/18/08 for $446,250. That’s $252,000 short of the loan amount – in 3.5 years.

Does anyone see a problem here?

Imagination at Work

6019 Olathe: Three weeks later – on December 22, 2004 Demetrius bought himself another house. 6019 S Olathe St, Centennial, CO 80016. Sold price = $896,000 with a mortgage loan to match – provided by WMC Mortgage (a/k/a GE). The sale was not reported in MLS. This property went into foreclosure. Equity Architects recorded a $60,500 loan on October 29th, 2007. I suspect this house was barely lived in. This property recently (5/28/08) sold for $570,000 which is $326,000 less than the loan amount. Imagine that.

16731 Lake: Three weeks later on January 11th, 2005, Demetrius bought himself another house. Just around the corner at 16731 E Lake St, Aurora, CO 80016. Sold price = $865,000 with a mortgage loan to match provided by the rascals at Southstar Funding (now kaput). Presumably this was a builder sale – it was not listed or reported in MLS. Demetrius bought the house from Pete Capra a/k/a Golden Design Group for the sole purpose of walking away with the excess mortgage funds – cash back at closing – a/k/a mortgage fraud. I estimate the mortgage fraud at $150,000 for this one transaction. Much the same as Young Kim just around the corner at 6062 Kalispell. Yep – this property went into foreclosure. Somehow Countrywide is mixed up in this mess. Equity Architects recorded a $60,500 loan on October 29th, 2007. This property is currently for sale asking $589,900. That’s $275,000 less than the mortgage, and it ain’t over yet.

In a span of about 6 weeks, Demetrius was able to borrow $2.46M – presumably on the strength of his good name. Is that a good name? Or not?

You might be thinking Demetrius put up $zero of his own money – but that’s not what I’m thinking. I think Demetrius (or someone) walked away from these 3 transactions with the better part of $500,000 cash. Not bad for 6 weeks work.

But wait. It gets better.

23957 Hinsdale: Three weeks later – January 31, 2005, Demetrius bought a 4th property. 23957 Hinsdale Pl, Aurora, CO 80016. Sold price = $780,000 with a $741,000 loan provided by the good people at First Guaranty Financial Corp. Demetrius bought the house from Pete Capra a/k/a Golden Design Group for the sole purpose of walking away with the excess mortgage funds – cash back at closing – a/k/a mortgage fraud. I estimate the mortgage fraud at $205,000 for this one transaction. The sale was not reported in MLS. This property went into foreclosure. In October of 2007 it was on the market with an asking price of $800,000. It’s still on the market – the asking price has been reduced to $519,000 and still no takers. That’s $261,000 less than the mortgage loan, and it ain’t over yet. Somebody is getting screwed on this one.

photo 5745 Amber Ridge: About 7 months later – August 29th, 2005. Demetrius bought his 5th property. 5745 Amber Ridge Pl, Castle Rock, CO 80108. Sold price is $1.5M. The Bozos at Countrywide made a mortgage loan of $1,350,000 (maybe more) to Demetrius Gianopoulos on August 29th, 2005. This property had been on the market 263 days with an asking price of $1,249,000. Any idiot could see this property was not worth $1.35M. Andy Mitchell was the real estate agent for both sides of this transaction. Andy raised the price $251,000 and reported a seller concession of $362,000 in MLS. The concession type is listed as “cash” – as in $362,000 cash back at closing. Think about that for a minute.

And just when you think it can’t get any more ridiculous – it does.

Visions of Sugar Plums

One week later this property went back on the market with an asking price of $1.6M. By November of 2006 (447 days later) the asking price had been increased to $1.85M. Then the property went into foreclosure and the Cracker Jack REO team at Countrywide went into action. They listed the property December 13th, 2007 with a significant price reduction – the asking price started at $1.263M. This same property is still on the market – the asking price is now $949,000. Somebody is getting screwed on this one.

Fruit Cake

24237 Glasgow Cir, Aurora, CO 80016. It’s hard to tell exactly what happened – but Demetrius Gianopoulos, Michael R McCormick, Lehman Bros, and Fifth Third are knee deep and it smells bad. I see a $725,000 loan approximately April 2004. Then the property was on the market in November of 2007 asking $540,000. No sale is recorded in MLS, but somehow a $636,000 mortgage is recorded a month later on December 12th, 2007 with the sale price listed as $795,000. The names Lehman Brothers structured asset investment loan trust, Fifth Third Mortgage Co, Gloria Kindelson, Justin Foos, Patrick Shanley, and Demetrius Gianopoulos all show up on the paperwork. Arapahoe county shows the current owner is Michael R. McCormick. I’ve formed an opinion that some of these people told lies for the purpose of getting their hands on some cash. Yep – this property is in foreclosure.

So Now What?

Ken Salazar is pushing a bill that would have the Federal Government pay $8,000 to a home buyer. The idea being it’s easier to sell houses if “we” could just pay people to buy a house. If enough people start buying houses the real estate market will recover and then we can get back to normal. Of course “we” would not give any money to speculators. Speculators are the bad people who are making gas prices go up. Only genuine real people will be eligible for the $8,000 government incentive program.

Hello? $8,000 cash back from the government is not the solution. Paying people to buy houses is what got us into this mess. “Cash back at closing” is the problem, it’s not the solution.

I have been speaking out publicly since September of 2005. I sent a letter to Governor Ritter 1/26/07 with extensive details about Justin Juarez and his involvement with several big ticket mortgage fraud transactions. Justin still has his real estate license. If anyone did anything about Justin and the mortgage fraud it’s a well kept secret.

How bad does it have to get?

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.

– End of Letter –