Straw Buyer, Help!
Maybe you guys can give me a little advice on this situation. I have just found out I am being used as a straw buyer and do not know how to get out of this nasty situation. It started in July 2002. A loan officer, whom I worked for, overheard me talking about paying off some bills. She told me that she could get me the money, but I would have to put my name on a property for 6mos to 1yr. The previous owner would then buy it back. Well, I ended up quitting that job after I assumed some things were fishy.
Since then I have been trying to get the previous owner to get this out of my name. He is dragging his feet. He pays the note, but it is almost 30 days late every month. He wants to sell it to his wife and pull more money out. I have consulted lawyers, friends, I have done research on the property, and I have attempted to get it appraised so I could sell it myself. After tlhat, he threatened to kill me. He told me that he used me as a straw buyer and his intentions were to not make the payments. He also told me that the deal was done illegal in the beginning and will stay that way. If I would have known what I know now, I would have Never done this deal. How do I get out of this mess!
Just come clean. Notify all the proper employers, agencies, offiers, etc. It will be nasty in the short term but then better in the long term. The alternative is to be better in the short term but then nasty in the long term.
Watched an interesting documentary on postponing gratification. People who are able to sacrifice in the short term for a better long term are much happier in life. They asked children if they would rather 5 M&Ms now or 8 M&Ms in 15 minutes. It was concluded that the kids who choose to wait would end up having a much better chance at a happy and fulfilling life. So teach yourself and your kids to bite the bullet and sacrifice your current time, money, personal comfort, etc for a better future.
Brenda
Thanks. But now this serious - he has threatened me. What if he is not a bluff?
Get will & trust up to date.
missjohnson,
Glad to meet you.
What documentation was used when the person in the property moved in?
John $Cash$ Locke
Notify every single agency you possibly can. Call the police, the lender, the state regulating board, anybody that will listen. Or do nothing and watch your life be ruined.
Get a restraining order on him.
Check the courts to find out if he has a previous criminal record.
You may want to consult an attorney and see if you can press charges (for either assault or fraud). If he's in jail he can't hurt you.
Evict immediatly (Most leases have a clause in them for verbal or physical assault)
IT'S YOUR HOUSE. Don't let him push you around any more than he has. Get a some Mace or a concealed weapons permt if your worried (...and a gun to go with it).
Heck...maybe when all is said and done you can make some money. Consider it your first "sub. to" deal!
You need to consult with your attorney. The loan officer and the previous homeowner probably commited fraud by placing the house in your name. I would report what you have said here to the state attorney generals office and the Cook county district attorney's office and let them investigate. Report the death threat to the police. Also report the loan officer to their employer.
I believe there is more here than meets the eye...
JohnCl
Here is the short of it. You are in trouble, period. This may get uglier than it has been.
A restraining orde ris of marginal real value though theoretically sound. The problem being, "there are no physical barriers placed between you and him(only his decision to abide by it or not), it only restrains the law abiding anyway". My experience with them has been that if they are going to come over to your house and hurt you or your house a piece of paper served on them won't stop them.
Second, follow Hibby's advice about the gun permit and the gun but in reverse order. Get the gun first and then go through the 2 weeks to 45 days needed to get the license. In most states carrying a weapon without a permit is not a felony only a misdemeaner. I have never heard of a case of someone protecting their life with a gun that was prosecuted for not having a permit
Having done that.
I would go to the police and report the threat so there is a record of it. I would contact the other agencies afterwards.
First protect yourself, and then be proactive. talk to an attorney, contact state licensing agencies involved, the lender etc. Be prepared to face some accountability, it was after all a fraudulent conveyance.
If you have any loan or lease information on him you could do a background check on the net for $20-$40 and find out if he has any prior convictions etc. {ast behavior is the best indication of future activity.
here is the post missjohnson placed awhile ago. THis may help flesh out the situation.
Maybe you guys can help me out on this one. I participated in a previous investment last year involving putting my name on a house and getting cash out at the closing. The agreement was to have the house in my name for 12 months at the max. The person who organized this deal was the seller's girlfriend and my now ex-boss (manager of a broker). I found out she was trying to deed the property in her name. When the seller found out he was furious and violent. I then found out that my ex-boss put all the blame on me. I wanted out of the deal at that time, but it was too late. Nothing was ever put in writing. I never received any rental money from the person who previously "owned" the house. I no longer speak with my ex-boss. Since then, I haven't done any more investments like that.
Now a year and a half later, the previous owner is selling the house to his wife using the same broker. I signed a contract in which I gave him rights to sell the property. No payments have been made to the Lender this month, because the deal is supposed to be closing. The last time I spoke with him, he received the payoff from the lender and said they were closing that week. I have been trying to get in contact with the seller since then and he won't return my calls. Should I be alarmed? Was that a subject-to contract that I signed? How do I approach this situation to avoid getting a late payment on my very good credit and how do I get a piece of that $60,000 equity that he is getting out the house. He never told me that I was entitled to any of that money. Is it too late to do anything, now that I have signed that contract? If something goes wrong, can I do anything legally now that I have signed over my rights to sell.
Advice Please. Help!
THis is probably outside of the main scope of creative realestate and TCI forum advice IMO...
This is not a deal to be reconed with. You are scared and confused. There is no clean way out without taking a risk. Did you get any money out of the deal? You were the buyer so that they could get some money out of the deal mostlikely from a bogie appraisal and down payment.
Did you get copy's of anything?
What did you sign?
What were you told when you did sign?
Did you contact an attorney?
Get a copy of the trust deed at the courthouse so you can see who the lender is and how much the lein was filed for.
Get your ducks in a row and gather enough information on your advesary if possible from public records.
You may be right, you just dont want to be DEAD right.
Take all your info to the athorities as stated in the other posts.[ Edited by WheelerDealer on Date 02/26/2004 ]
Stockpro99,
Good call on this one, to many variables to give advice here by anyone without all the facts.
This person did not give enough information to make a good call on this one. I would bet this was a owner/occ loan to start off with and they don't even know what documentation they signed when the deal with the buyer was closed.
This is why I asked about the documentation that was given to the buyer. This poster is not giving all the facts of what happened.
John $Cash$ Locke
Call police, ask for protection or is there a way to get a gun quickly because your life is www.danger.May be they will lock him up for terriost threats.
Quote:
On 2004-02-26 19:42, hibby76 wrote:
Get a restraining order on him.
What is "restraining order"?
I did receive money out at the closing. (10K) 5k in cash, 5k certified. The only thing I signed was a deed. There was only a verbal agreement that the loan would be in my name and bought back by the previous owner 6mos-yr. Nothing else was documented, except I did keep a journal of everything that has transpired. I have consulted in several attorneys and friends. The attorneys advised me to sell and/or go to authorities. Friends have advised me to refinance and/or let him buy it back quickly! I still do not know exactly how the loan officer was able to get money out at the closing. She got money too. (10K) She is trying to do the deal again but I don't trust her. The previous owner wanted his wife to buy it back for a high price.
I did not tell the police when he threatened me. I told a friend, who is "the authority."
The previous owner does have a criminal record. I do not know how bad it is and why he has been in prison.
I talked to the previous owner today - he apologized and he said he wants his wife to buy the property, but he does not want to pull any more money out. He wants me to find an appraiser to appraise the property and he wants me to find someone to do the loan. He says he wants her to buy it back with just enough money to pay for closing costs. He sounds like he wants to cooperate. On the other hand, he may be bluffing again. He has been beating around the bush for so long - I don't think he is ever going to buy it back like he says he will.
You are right, I am very confused and scared - confused on whether or not I should continue let him drag his feet and eventually he would buy it back. Scared that if I sell it, he is going to come after me; Scared that if I tell the authorities - are they going to believe that I am an innocent party or lock me up? I have a 10 month old. I do not need to go through this!
Thank you and I will keep you all posted.
[ Edited by missjohnson on Date 02/27/2004 ][ Edited by missjohnson on Date 02/27/2004 ]
Also during the past three months, I had a title search done. I found out I am the only one on deed and title. Moreover, someone told me the previous owner bought the taxes. The taxes have not been paid since I took deed and his name is on the tax bill. I was told that after 2 years he can buy the property through a tax sale. Is this true? Is this the reason why he is dragging his feet?
Call the Office of Banks and Realestate.
312 793-3000 if you have any questions email me .
Miss Johnson:
You agreed to the deal. You signed the deed, received the money and now due to the fact the straws buyer has not taken the loan out of his name, you are upset.
You should have never agreed to do this deal in the first place. You could be held liable as well.
I would recommend working with the guy who is in the house and trying to get him to put it in his name. Give him a timeframe to have it in his name. If he does not meet that reasonable time frame, and he is still making late payments, I would evict him and sell the property. You should be upfront with him though and give him ample time to get it in his name.
Best Riches,
Jeffrey Adam
[addsig]
You are right. I should have done my homework before I agreed to do this. This is a lesson to be learned. You live and you learn and I will never, never do it again.