Do you see that guy at the left? Yeah, the one with the bags of money in his hands. Well, he's just renewed a scam that had gone underground for a handful of years.
Here's what he did. He drove through neighborhoods of Highland Park homes and found a few with sold riders on the Realtor's sign. He then called each of the agents and asked them when they expected the home to close and at what title company.
While all didn't tell him, he kept trying until he found one or two who spilled the beans. Next he went to the office supply store and bought a hand full of M&M Lien forms, and with the public information that's available to any and everyone, prepared an M&M lien for each of those properties, with himself as the lien-holder.
By making discreet calls, he was able to learn when each of those houses would actually close. So, the day before, after all of the closing documents had been prepared, he filed his M&M Lien at the courthouse. The following morning just before the closing, the title company checked the records to see if there were any new liens. His lien popped up. What to do? Not closing on time could cost the sale, and it could cause major inconveniences.
So the lawyer for the Seller called him and, after a few minutes of sparing, "convinced" him to take 50 cents on the dollar for a release.
See those bags of money? That's his profit for a form that cost him two bucks a piece and a recording fee of fourteen each. I heard there's about $1,500 in one of the bags and nearly $2,000 in the other. Nice profit...an easy extortion with little chance of being filed on or prosecuted.
This past week, a fellow who said his name was Emile tried to scam my client. Fortunately he called me first, and I remembered the scenario from days gone by. He got no information from me, but it wasn't long until he had called everyone involved. Fortunately I had gotten to them first, told them what I suspected, and told them to reveal nothing.
Be on the lookout. And let me remind you that your clients' personal business and your involvement in it is confidential, and we take a big chance when we don't honor that confidentiality.
Bill Cherry, Realtors, Web Site
Thanks, Roberta and Ibi. Nice to hear from you, too.
Bill
Bill, I recall reading something about this scam years ago....I didn't realize it was still being perpetuated.
Shocking and beyond despicable....
I'm glad you've posted this reminder for everyone...
Jo
Great information and will certainly pass this along for our agents & customers to be made aware. It's amazing what people will do for a quick buck.
Wow, can't they go after the person for filing a false lien? Although I realize that could cause a lot of headaches and trouble, but it would seem filing a false lien would be illegal.
Thanks to Ronald, David, Cris and Jo --
I honestly think these people just want to get on with their lives, and deciding to buy the guy off isn't worth the trouble of trying to prove he's a thief. Although he clearly is. How easy it is for him to claim that he was a subcontractor or supplied some of the materials when work was done on that house, for an example.
In order to resolve the issue without paying him and getting a release, everyone has to refocus. They have to 1) figure out if he's for real and 2) how they are going to get him to sign a release without paying him. That means bonding around his lien. That cost money, and you've got to find someone who will underwrite the bond. That just isn't practical.
While you're warning people, do your favorite title company a favor and warn them. And again, agents, lawyers, title company people, and the clients need to keep the business of the transaction to themselves.
It amazes me how much of this scuttlebutt trades hands over and over, when the only time it is supposed to become available to the public is when the instruments documenting the transaction are filed of record.
Bill
Thanks, Perrin and Simon...and a special extra thanks to Simon for talking about it on his radio show.
Bill
Bill, Why can't the title company "escrow" the funds and go ahead and close. The seller can then provide proff of the bogus lien and file a complaint with the D.A.
If these scams are rewarded they will just keep popping up.
Bill Roberts
Bill, of course you're right. The title companies can escrow the funds and often do when there is a disagreement, but I've personally found that if one can be settled within the financial "comfort zone" of the seller, they prefer to pay up.
Bill
This happened to a friend of mine. Thing is.... he is a known thief for doing this but noone knows what to do about him.
In the mean time, the friend has to spend some money on lawyers.
Miss Kimberly, Miss Vicki and Miss Joan--
Maybe it's just Texas, but there are about ten scheme scenarios, and they seem to evolve every time we have a new bunch of first time home buyers. I haven't seen this one in about fifteen years. In fact it had been so long, I had almost forgotten about it.
I'm very protective of my clients and the privacy of their business. It's the only way I know to successfully ward off the latest scheme.
Bill
Bill,
Good reminder for everyone in this business. It's vital for us to understand that we handle a lot of confidential information and it should never be released to anyone who isn't authorized to receive it. This scam is pretty clever.