Real Estate Agents Lose licences Due To Property Scam

Three real estate agents have had their licence certificates suspended after being found to have inflated house sale prices, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) said today.

Phillip Julian Cavanagh, Phillip John Niall and Faizel Jassat were working for real estate company Barfoot and Thompson at the time the scam was uncovered.

Also involved was Margot Jassat, who was an assistant to Faizel Jassat, and Raghu Srinivas Aryasomayajula, who was a former real estate agent for Barfoot and Thompson.

REINZ national president Murray Cleland said the case was complex and understood it involved the five buying development properties and inflating sale prices in order to borrow from banks via mortgages.

REINZ had wasted no time in initiating proceedings and having the salespeople's certificates suspended, he said .

"We take our statutory obligations very seriously and in cases of this nature we do not hesitate in seeking orders such as interim suspension.

"We need to protect the public, the borrowers and the industry."

Mr Cleland said the problem was uncovered by Barfoot and Thompson, which detected discrepancies in property transactions involving three of its sales men.

Their contracts were immediately terminated following the discovery and the institute was alerted.

They were served with orders by the Real Estate Agents Licencing Board and were prohibited from selling real estate until the board determined the substantive case issued by REINZ.

Barfoot and Thomson director Peter Thompson told Radio NZ that as it was the salespeople themselves buying the properties no private vendor had been affected by any of the transactions.

Mr Thompson said they had uncovered 20 transactions at this stage, which had been processed between last November and May.

The discrepancies had been discovered by accident after a company policy had been broken, Mr Thompson said.

"Once we started uncovering it, it made it a wider transgression they were doing and involved a lot of people."

Between 20 and 25 people were involved in the scam, including developers and valuers, he said.

Several banks had been involved in the plot and it was up to them to press criminal charges, he said.

"We had heard the Serious Fraud Office was investigating."

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Dont Get Caught Up In This Home Loan Foreclosure Scams

They're preying on Toledoans who face foreclosure. One woman shared her story on how one company tried to swindle her mother out of a thousand dollars!

The woman did not want to be on TV but she says her eldely mother is in foreclosure and she almost got scammed by a foreclosure rescue company.

They promise to get you out of foreclosure, but in order to do it, you have to pay a large fee. One company is called Global Home Associates and according to the Better Business Bureau, it's one of several foreclosure rescue scams.

The Toledo Fair Housing Center offers the same services free of charge. Keith Foster is the TFHC director of enforcement and compliance. He told us, "What happens when the foreclosure process starts, it's a public document so everyone in the world knows this foreclosure complaint was filed, including people who are trying to take advantage of persons. So they get that information and send out cards saying 'This is what we can do and give us some money we can help you out'."

Foster says these foreclosure rescue companies ask for outrageous fees and in the end, they don't help you get out of foreclosure. Foster says if you need help, call 1888-995-HOPE.

In August, the Ohio attorney general filed six lawsuits against companies for foreclosure rescue scams. Attorney general Marc Dann says the businesses would promise homeowners they'd stop the foreclosure process for a fee. Instead, they'd only pocket the money and the homes were still foreclosed upon.

The companies are in Lucas, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Franklin, Hamilton, and Mahoning counties The attorney general now wants the courts to order the companies to pay restitution to the consumers, pay civil penalties of $25,000 per violation and be barred from business until they've paid up.
Meanwhile, if you face foreclosure, here are tips to avoid similar scams:

* If you're getting letters threatening foreclosure but aren't yet in a lawsuit, contact a certified HUD counselor for assistance.
* If you have a pending lawsuit against you for your home, get an attorney.
* Never sign a contract under pressure.
* Never make mortgage payments to anyone other than your lender.
* If you can't pay, contact your lender immediately to work out payment arrangements.
* Don't sign anything with blank lines or spaces.
* Call the Better Business Bureau and the attorney general's office to see if there are any complaints against a company before you use them.

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