A real estate agent accused of swindling a man trying to buy a home testified Tuesday that she made several attempts to help him make the purchase before his bad credit collapsed the deal and she talked her husband into buying the house as an investment.
Erica Burdg of Modesto has been charged with grand theft, forgery and perjury, accused of swindling the money Carlos Gonzales believed was going into the purchase of the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Newman.
"I told him my husband was going to buy the house, and we were probably going to need a renter," Burdg said about her conversation with Gonzales after she learned that he had no job and the banks would not guarantee him a home loan.
Deputy District Attorney W.R. Mc-Kenzie told the jury in his opening statement that Burdg persuaded Gonzales, who didn't qualify for the loan, to bring in her husband, David Burdg, as a co-signer for the home loan.
The prosecutor said Burdg persuaded Gonzales to give her husband a check for the $22,000 down payment and the $1,200 monthly mortgage payments. Gonzales and his family then moved into the home.
Burdg testified that she accepted the $22,000 check from Gonzales because he wanted to help her speed up the escrow process. She said Gonzales wanted to move into the home as a renter, and the money was never intended to be his down payment.
'I shouldn't have taken the money'
She said she purchased the house in 2002, using the money from Gonzales for the home's down payment. But she said she never intended to defraud Gonzales.
"Never; in my heart I just wanted to help him," Burdg said on the witness stand. "I shouldn't have taken the money (from Gonzales)."
She testified that Gonzales was still interested in buying the house at a later time. She said the monthly rent payments could establish a pattern for the banks, showing he could pay back a loan in the future.
"I was still willing to help him," Burdg testified.
McKenzie has told the jury Gonzales and his family believed they owned the house on Orchard Creek Drive in Newman. He said Gonzales later learned Burdg and her husband owned the home and the Burdgs were only paying $900 on the mortgage.
When Gonzales asked Burdg why he was giving her $1,200 monthly payments, McKenzie told the jury, Burdg told Gonzales he was only a renter, and she was going to evict his family.
Burdg then sold the house to her son for $328,000, receiving $1,000 from the bank as a real estate agent for selling it for a higher interest rate, she said while being cross-examined by the prosecutor.
Burdg testified that she made several attempts to give Gonzales back the $22,000.
Four witnesses Tuesday testified for the defense that they purchased homes with Burdg's help and they considered her an honest real estate agent. During cross-examination, they said they had no involvement in Burdg's dealings with Gonzales.
Gonzales is in the process of seeking damages and retaining ownership of the home in bankruptcy and civil court.
Testimony in the trial ended Tuesday afternoon. The prosecutor and Kirk McAllister, Burdg's defense attorney, are expected to give their closing arguments today.
Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at rahumada@modbee.com or (209) 578-2394.
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