Sunday, August 05, 2007

Crisp and Cole accusations grow

Please read this entire article. There are some serious accusations here of fraud, straw buyers and cash back at closing. WOW. This is getting ugly.

From the Bakersfield Californian:

Crisp & Cole defaults: Nightmare on Ordsall Street

Agent: Crisp & Cole took advantage of weak for gain

BY GRETCHEN WENNER, VANESSA GREGORY AND STEVEN MAYER, Californian staff writerse-mail: gwenner@bakersfield.com, vgregory@bakersfield.com, smayer@bakersfield.com


Between October 2005 and the following summer, a low-level office worker at the former Crisp & Cole Real Estate company bought four homes.

Together, the properties cost nearly $1.9 million.

Three are now in default. The fourth sits empty, a for-sale sign posted out front.

The office worker's estranged husband is angry.

He believes his ex never really owned the units.

"At 14 bucks an hour she can't afford any of those homes," said Gabe Stockton, a local real estate agent, of his former partner, Janie "JJ" Stockton. The couple is legally separated, court records show.

Gabe Stockton believes JJ and other employees were pressured to put their names on properties in order to make the company more money through related transactions.

38 comments:

WaitingToBuy said...

Ironically, he legitimately needs the body guards now...for different reasons than before.

Tyrone said...

Ordsall Street Summary: Public Records

Active Tax Default:
Darrow, Jack
1900 Ordsall St
Bakersfield, CA 93311-8570
(661) 663-7456

Active Tax Default:
1905 Ordsall St

Active Tax Default:
Eddleman, Justin
1908 Ordsall St
Bakersfield, CA 93311-8570
(661) 282-2940

Active Tax Default:
2010 Ordsall St

Redeemed Tax Default:
2011 Ordsall St

Rob Dawg said...

One employee, 4 houses. Isolated incident? Not.

multiply the nuber of C&C employees by 4 as an average and tell me what significant percentage of homes in BKfield (snigger) are toast.

Perfect Storm said...

It looks like Cole's son is involved, selling his flip to $14 an hour employee so that he could save his own ass. The CC duo is leaving a trail of scams all over Bakersfield. Both Crisp and Cole are one in the same. I hope they both go to prison.

dyntek said...

I assume we won't be hearing from Alan Cole on this blog anymore....pity....

Bakersfield Bubble said...

PONZI SCHEME DEFINITION:
____________________

Cash promises

Just around the corner from JJ Stockton's Ordsall Street default is another family's Crisp & Cole nightmare.

Ed Cazares says the purchase plan proposed by David Crisp and former Tower Lending employee Jayson Costa sounded solid.

Buy the house at 1906 Heaton St., Cazares said he was told, and use a promised $65,000 cash at closing to keep up with monthly mortgage checks of $6,000.

Crisp and Costa also promised to resell the house within a year, Cazares said.

The 29-year-old plumbing business owner took the opportunity, putting the property in the name of his wife, Michelle Cazares.

They owned two other rental properties -- one a former home and the other a gift from parents -- but the Heaton Street house was their first investment purchase.

"Just the way they paint the picture for you," Cazares said. "They said they have this list of buyers who in less than a year will get it out of your name."

Unknown said...

I have no doubt that Crisp will be indicted and convicted for mortgage fraud.

Raynor said...

I hope you are correct Beta. However, The Bubble and others seem miffed that the DA doesn't openly pursue this case. Did the DA do the "Yemeni Cigarette Store Owner" case? No. And not just because the violations were all Federal charges and dealt with national security.

The FBI is handling this case, at least from what I can gather. The DA would have to take a complaint from local LE to have jursidiction. The FBI is set up to handle such cases as they have agents who are accountants and lawyers and have experience doing these things (required audit and paper trails, chain of evidence concerns). Why do you think the preponderance of cases on your mortgage fraud blog link on here are federal indictments? Its not all wire fraud and interstate transactions that are being prosecuted. The FBI maintains the expertise in this area of loan fraud. And they work deliberately, and ...... SLOW!

Sorry, but thats the way it is.

I just pray boy blunder doesn't cut a deal and get immunity for rolling on all the ancillary players in this giant Ponzi Scheme partially at least of his own making.

Unknown said...

I find it hard to imagine that he'd get a deal rather than some underling. All this media attention should guarantee his indictment rather than others.

Too bad that bastards like Crisp can't just be executed, like in some countries. That would be only just after the lives he's ruined.

WaitingToBuy said...

Easy beta...this isn't China. He certainly hasn't come close to doing anything that warrants more than fines and prison time and civil lawsuits from those affected. Not taking his side or anything, but I think he really did believe that everything would just keep going up. If things did keep going up, we'd probably be seeing the CSUB towers construction underway right now, instead of all the forclosures. I'm still not saying what he's done is right, but he really didn't think the market would crash like it did imo. He was just naive, which shouldn't hold up in court as a valid defense.

Raynor said...

Ever thought there might be even bigger fish in this than Boy Blunder?

Vegas and even International $$??

Unknown said...

He was just naive?

Uh no. Crisp & Cole appear to have both committed bonafide mortgage fraud. That isn't naive. That is planned, organized, and executed. They both should get some serious jail time.

bako said...

Crisp definitly thought at one time that the market would go on forever. Many of the refis and purchases took place early this year. The market started slowing last year and Crisp continued to do refis, inter-family transfers, inter-employee transfers and purchases. The market was falling and he still deceived many.

xs10shell said...

Yes Raynor -I have always wondered if there is an LV connection plus if you go to the contact info for the site of the issuers of his 1.8 billion letter of credit the address comes up with the words "emirates" and "uae". I'm very worried that someone has used him to get a foot (or more) in the door of Bakers(oil)field.

xs10shell said...

From the article: "JJ paid $795,000 for a southwest home at 2010 Ordsall St. in April 2006, property records show. What Alan Cole previously paid isn't indicated." My question is WHY isn't what Alan Cole previously paid indicated? How and why do you keep info like this out of public records?

subsonic22 said...

I believe it isn't known the exact price he paid is because it was a new home constructions. However, we can sort of piece together his basis of investment. I will work under the assumption that he put little if no money down in any of the transactions. Here is what I am able to put together.

This home was built in 2005. Cole most likely financed a downpayment for $70,500 in 4/04. He then took out a construction-permanent loan for $313,200 in 10/04. I will assume that the first loan of $70.5k was refi'd with this loan. Cole then refi'd the $313.2k loan 1/06 for $500,000. Stockton purchased the property for $795,000 in 8/06. She obtained 80/20 financing terms, a first mortgage for $636,000 and a second mortgage for the remaining $159,000. The first mortgage was a 2/28 ARM, initial rate 8.55%. She had a margin of 7.55%, fully adjusted rate using today's 6 mo LIBOR rate about would be 12.75%. I didn't find financing terms on the second mortgage. I am confident that the rate would have been at least 10%. She would have had to state an income of at least $200,000 to get this type of financing. I don't think $14/hr adds up to $200k/yr.

Notice of default was issued 5/4/2007.

subsonic22 said...

The lender for Stockton's financing was WMC.

Raynor said...

subsonic: Excellent delineation. People need to read through these scenarios (I have looked ay many) to get a real feel for the fact that these people weren't just "naive", they worked real hard at being "creative" and they had the compliance and even facilitation of loan officers, escrow officers, appraisers, financial institutions, RE agents, etc.

Was this a case of "mass naivete'"? I think not!

xs10shell (great name BTW): Horace and the CSUB Argonauts better wonder where that approx $2 mil in C&C "seed" went. There have been a lot of names thrown around in conjunction with C&C including a local car dealer, Vegas developer and hotelier, and Portagee UAE operative. When Bubble gets impatient, he needs to take a chill pill and let the FBI do its job. This thng is bigger than a Bako Breadbox!

Bakersfield Bubble said...

"local car dealer"

Yes, I know these two have met on a few occassions and have some business realtionship - or so I am told.

Bakersfield Bubble said...

"I don't think $14/hr adds up to $200k/yr."

LMAO!!

Its some new math.

Bakersfield Bubble said...

"he needs to take a chill pill and let the FBI do its job."

Yes, I know you are right, but this has gone on for so long I am growing impatient.

I know the Fed and State authorities have visited this blog - please email me and let me know the status of this investigation (or at least confirm there is one). LOL

WaitingToBuy said...

Let me clarify. I believe he was "naive" in thinking that the market would continue to support his shenanigans....the market manipulation and mortgage fraud and all that should land him fines, jail time, and civil suits, as I stated before.

WaitingToBuy said...

Oh and he doesn't deserve the death penalty...that's what my main point was

subsonic22 said...

BB,

$14/hr adds up to $29,000/yr by my calculations.

Here are some additional figures to ponder.

1st mortgage, $636,000 @ 8.55%, 30 years PI - $4,912,84

2nd mortgage, $159,000 @ 12.00%, 30/15 balloon, PI - $1,635.50

Combined PI payments 1 month - $6,548.33

Combined PI payments 1 year - $78,580

I believe I am being optimistic about the rate for the 2nd mortgage. The rate could be as high as 13-14% given 100% CLTV and stated income.

The lender is going to take at least a $200-300k bath on this deal. Imagine how much lenders will lose when you add up the entire web of the C&C shenanigans.

Unknown said...

Oh and he doesn't deserve the death penalty

We'll never completely know the number of lives that he's ruined, but I was being a bit polemic when I suggested that corporate crooks like him deserve execution. I'd be satisfied that justice has been done if he gets 20+ years.

Then again, if you talk to the people who are ruined, they may believe that we should emulate the Middle Kingdom in such matters.

Raynor said...

Sub: I did exactly the same thing as you. She would be lucky at the $29K/yr to get a loan with a $360/mo. paym but the most she could ever get would be around $1,200 with spotless credit. A far cry from the $6,500+ paym required per mo to service the loans.

BB: I heard one thing the car dealer told him was "first thing, drop the body guards, it doesn't look good". LOL!

WaitingToBuy said...

As far as ruined lives go, if you're talking about the people who rented (to own) from him and are going to be evicted due to default....you really can't say thier lives are ruined...they would have been renting anyway...they just have to move, which sucks, but not a life changing event.

The people that he talked into buying houses that are now in default have no one to blame but themselves really. They knew they couldn't afford 5 $500+ thousand mortgages when they bought the properties. Frankly they should all be investigated and prosecuted if they lied on apps and things like that.

The biggest thing that Crisp helped ruin, that I care about, was the ability for the average family to buy a house without every able bodied adult in the family having to work double shifts just to stay afloat.

Raynor said...

Waiting: ***applause***

For:

"The biggest thing that Crisp helped ruin, that I care about, was the ability for the average family to buy a house without every able bodied adult in the family having to work double shifts just to stay afloat. "

Freedom said...

"local car dealer"

Are you guys talking about someone with initials JA?

Raynor said...

It seems no one wants to come right out and say his name.

He has made himself a public figure. The absolute defense against slander in any case is the truth.

But then maybe one would need the body guards. The CA DOJ used to say the no. 1 way to launder $ was car dealerships. Then it was media advertising. Then RE.

Anyone see a pattern here? What if Davey Boy makes it past all this and in a year or so brings back on shore some of his offshore account millions and starts buying up these REO's.

Wouldn't that be a form of laundering? Wouldn't it be effectively under the auspices of the Feds?

Something to think about.

Bakersfield Bubble said...

"It seems no one wants to come right out and say his name."

LOL. If I had solid evidence I would. I only have rumors.

BubbleBoy said...

Man I love this blog! In regards to Ordsall St. I have a family member that lives on the street and the lots listed are not just the only ones with brown lawns. That person has told me there are more like 8-10 (within a very close proximity if not on that street) with the same kind of upkeep which we honestly can attest to one group of individuals. The other ones will come out in due time (as everything has thus far). It really boggles my mind it took this long for news organizations to finally figure this out but I love that it’s flowing out like the kern river of last year. I've been reading this blog for a while and it doesn't take a genius to know that everything wasn't on the up and up. Although when they were throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising why do an investigative piece that will ultimately hurt your bottom line (I don’t condone this but it’s my reasoning). I’m sorry but no one goes from waiting tables at On the Border to driving a 500K car and flying in jets to know someone is getting duped. Love all the regulars on the blog and you boys (and girls) keep my day an exciting one! Keep’em coming :)

Let the dust settle said...

Who was the escrow officer that helped enable CC's buyer of the 1906 Heaton St. property to pocket $65,000 in cash at closing without disclosing it on the HUD1? I wonder how many other escrow officers were involved in these coverups?

Raynor said...

Two things:

Dust: Been sayin' this forever (but not as long as bubble, at least on here), the "facilitators" were legion in this affair. One doesn't perpetrate a fraud this large and far reaching without many involved. This will ultimately lead to its demise as one rolls on another who rolls on another, yada.....yada....

Gordon Gecko Greed was in no short supply in Baco-Bits these last few years of the C&C fandango. David "Barker" Crisp said "Come on Down" and they couldn't wait to latch on to those Armani coat tails.

Bubbleboy: (Remember the "moops"?) This is by far the best blog in Baco-Bits as it has some real meat to it -- not just a bunch of self-reinforcing psycho-sychophantic syberretic socialists wallowing in the shallow end of their own little psuedo-intellectual super chlorinated liberal gene pool attacking en masse any form of fresh indiviualistic thought introduced.

But then, to participate on this blog, you need some modicum of awareness about RE, economics, in hsort...... the real world. :-)

xs10shell said...

This is from the Californian 6/10/2006 written by the mysterious Misty Williams:

"Some wonder how he was able to make so much money in such a short amount of time.

It's tough to hear the rumors about himself, but it comes with the territory, Crisp said.

The young businessman recognizes he's been compared to Family Motors owner Jose Arredondo, who runs a slew of Kern County businesses.

Arredondo acquired most of his businesses in a whirlwind buying spree in the 1990s. Like Crisp, he had a high profile in the community. Rumors about Arredondo, back then, were rampant, including rumors of drug involvement, none of which proved true."

Raynor said...

Rumors about Arredondo, back then, were rampant, including rumors of drug involvement, none of which proved true."

Riiight Misty. Must be true, I just saw it in print!

Nutshell said...

This is only the icing on the cake. The local real estate industry knew of these allegations mid way thru 2005 and yet they all waited in line to cash in on the known artificially inflated values. The writing was on the wall in the begining of 2005 as values had started to slow or cool off yet values continued to rise in neighborhoods where C&C and Platnum Investments were heavily invested. There are other local Real Estate Companies that followed the C&C game plan and they will be pulled out into the limelight in due time but Crisp will be made the whipping boy for sales and Cole the whipping boy for mortgages. There goose is cooked. Ole Crispys' run is ending like his dads failed attempt at running Valley Wireless Cable T.V. in a ball of flames with the FBI close behind. He will probably end up in Australia high on crack trying to make deals with kangaroos.....

Raynor said...

You know, Australia --- maybe.

Vietnam more likely. There are some little hamlets on the South China Sea that are like postcards, And Tu can teach him the lingo.

Its Communist now, but they are probably ripe for learning "hooch flips" doncha think?

Didi Mau, now!