Real estate fraud is thriving in Stanislaus County, cleverly morphing as scammers find more ways to take advantage of vulnerable homeowners, a prosecutor told government leaders Tuesday.
"Believe it or not, they will put on seminars publicly, not just to entice the public but to recruit other crooks," Deputy District Attorney Brad Nix said.
The Internet is a favorite tool of shameless con artists who stop at nothing to wring money from homes in a depressed market, Nix continued. "They're even on the radio, here in Stanislaus County," he said.
Real estate crimes reported in the past year robbed victims of more than $44 million, according to an annual report on the district attorney's real estate fraud unit. Nix and two investigators also are working on older cases that cost homeowners more than $114 million, he said.
"It's absolutely unbelievable," said Supervisor Jim DeMartini.
The annual report is required of counties that charge special fees when property documents are filed with the county recorder's office to set up such teams. The fee should bring in $230,000 this year, requiring an extra $153,000 general fund contribution to pay unit salaries and other costs.
Clerks at the county recorder's office sometimes tip off investigators when they see irregularities in filings, Nix said.
His office filed five cases last year, joining 12 that are ongoing, and produced four convictions, the report says. One man received a five-year prison sentence; his accomplice got eight months in jail and both will be deported, Nix said.
The victim in another case regained property three years after crooks stole it — a rare outcome for crimes often rich in complexity.
Active cases involve 104 victims, while thousands more have fallen prey to common schemes, Nix said.
"Several extremely large cases of fraud have been uncovered and are still under joint local-federal investigation," the report says. The unit collaborates with the FBI and other federal and state forces.
The housing market in the Northern San Joaquin Valley has been suffering since the price bubble burst about six years ago. Median home prices collapsed, triggering some of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation.
Speculators conspire
The wave of foreclosures produced desperate homeowners who were looking for a way out and a huge inventory of available properties, making fertile ground for real estate fraud.
Earlier this month, a Tracy man pleaded guilty to conspiring with a group of real estate speculators who agreed not to bid against each other at public foreclosure auctions in San Joaquin County, the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento reported.
The conspiracy's primary purpose was to restrain competition and to obtain selected real estate at the foreclosure auctions at noncompetitive prices, according to court documents.
Bee staff writer Garth Stapley can be reached at gstapley@modbee.com or (209) 578-2390.
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