There are many pitfalls for real estate investors who purchase d
istressed property.
In today’s market, good deals are getting harder to come by. With distressed property becoming a scarce resource and competition ever increasing, some real estate investors have resorted to illegal acts to boost their profit.
Investors should know that the Department of Justice as well as State Agencies are cracking down on fraudulent real estate practices.
Today, the Department of Justice announced that a federal jury convicted three real estate investors for their roles in a conspiracy to rig bids at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in Northern California.
This after a 3-week trial.
You can see the press release here.
Based upon the DOJ’s investigation – this was a large conspiracy “to rig bids to obtain hundreds of properties sold at foreclosure auctions. The conspirators designated the winning bidders to obtain selected properties at the public auctions, and negotiated payoffs among themselves in return for not competing. They then held second, private auctions at or near the courthouse steps where the public auctions were held, awarding the properties to conspirators who submitted the highest bids.”
What is particularly striking to me is that including today’s convictions the DOJ report that:
68 individuals have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trial as a result of the department’s ongoing antitrust investigations into bid rigging at public foreclosure auctions in Northern California.
Question for Real Estate Investors:
What type of unfair practices, including bid rigging, do you believe is going on in your state? What are you seeing foreclosure sales?
In Michigan the record numbers of foreclosed properties since 2008 has provided a market (albeit one that is slowing down) for flipping and rehabbing residential real estate.
This has also created opportunities for abuse and fraud. The real estate legal landscape is complex enough, do yourselves a favor – follow the rules.
You don’t want to expose yourself to undue liability.
Questions? Comments?
E-mail: Jeshua@dwlawpc.com
Twitter: @JeshuaTLauka
Purpose Driven General Counsel 