V.V.A.R. members learn about RE Fraud

The monthly general membership meeting of the Victor Valley Association of Realtors was called to order by President Cecil Volsch. The group welcomed new Associate Janet Vanderpool of Keller Williams and new Affiliate member Rick Cruz of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

The meeting was hosted by Century 21 Rose Realty.

The featured speaker was Vance Welch, Deputy District Attorney of San Bernardino County and member of the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Unit. Having started his career in the management training program of Security Pacific Bank, Mr. Welch worked for 18 years at various banks handling loans for agriculture, international and Real Estate.

He attended law school at night with the goal of becoming a District Attorney and serving as a DA, prosecuting defendants in crimes such as sexual assault, robbery and murder. Because of his banking background, he was asked to join the Real Estate Fraud Unit three years ago. During that time, he has filed felony charges against 119 defendants, sending 94 criminals to prison or jail for Real Estate Fraud.

Mr. Welch’s advice is that these turbulent times, Real Estate professionals need to return to “the old ways,” where signatures are done face to face and every line of every document is checked and verified. Too often all business is handled over the phone or Internet, and when Real Estate fraud is suspected, there are few witnesses.

He cited recent cases of criminals who list properties they claim to own on CraigsList or in publications like PennySaver. They sell “title” to multiple buyers and because there has been no face-to-face meeting, there is very little chance these criminals will be caught.

Mr. Welch said when people subscribe to a certain culture — involvement in a gang, for instance — they expect to pay for crimes associated with that culture. An upstanding citizen who plays by the rules often get blindsided. He gave the example of a couple that waited years to buy a particular piece of property. When the property finally became available, they went to the bank to apply for a loan but were turned down because there were five foreclosures on their credit report. Further investigation showed that the properties were in states this couple had never visited. Someone had stolen their identity years before, purchased the properties and then defaulted on the loans. The couple had not been diligent about checking their credit.

The Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Unit is charged with holding people accountable for their actions. Criminals have their freedom taken away, and the Unit takes away their “stuff.”

Mr. Welch said that when a case comes across his desk, he will often receive bank boxes full of paperwork. Much of that paperwork has never been checked or cross checked, nothing has been verified, and signatures have been recorded with no one watching the actual signing take place.

His advice? “If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.” If Real Estate professionals insist that parties come to their office to sign documents in front of their own notary, many of these fraud problems can be avoided. He commended the San Bernardino County Sheriffs for providing support to the work his office does. He also said that criminals are getting the message not to come to this county.

V.V.A.R. meets the fourth Wednesday of each month January through November at 7 a.m. at the Association office, 11890 Hesperia Road, Hesperia. The telephone number is 760-244-8841. Visit their website