Friday, December 21, 2007

Troubled Crisp & Cole properties spread beyond Kern

From the Bakersfield Californian:

BY VANESSA GREGORY

The trail of troubled properties linked to the former Crisp & Cole Real Estate agency appears to extend beyond Kern County.

At least one high-priced property in Fresno County’s mountainous Shaver Lake region was shuffled between a Crisp & Cole company and two former staffers, according to the Fresno County Recorder’s office.

The $1.3 million property was foreclosed on last month, according to records reviewed by Fresno County Assistant Recorder Gilbert Carter.

One-time Crisp & Cole salesman Jeriel Salinas bought the property, one of a dozen on Shaver Lake’s Yellow Lupin Lane, last December, Carter said records show.

Salinas bought the property from Julie and Charles Farmer, and Aiden, Logan & Associates Inc., a company created by former Crisp & Cole’s principals, David Crisp, 28, and Carl Cole, 60. Julie Farmer, who was a Crisp & Cole sales agent, was also a company director, California Secretary of State filings show.

“Find a life,” Salinas said when asked about the foreclosure Friday. “Find something else to report about. Call everybody else who’s in foreclosure in Bakersfield.”

Salinas financed the purchase with a $1 million mortgage and a $325,000 second loan, both from Novato-based Kay-Co Investments Inc., Carter said.

A number of Crisp & Cole-related homes that have been foreclosed on, or are now in default, were bought and sold in a fashion similar to the Yellow Lupin Lane transaction, The Californian’s analysis of Kern County records shows.

As of the first week in December, at least 105 defaulted and foreclosed properties can be traced to associates of the former Crisp & Cole companies, according to an ongoing Californian tally.

More than $64.6 million in loans were borrowed against the homes, according to the tally.

3 comments:

Funny Circus Bears said...

I see a Federal Penitentiary in their future...

Adam said...

Kudos to the writers and staff at the Californian for smoking out the rats, exposing probable mortgage fraud. Me thinks it's just the tip of the iceberg...

Marla said...

My former employer is running what appears to be the biggest real estate theft / real estate fraud operation in the history of CA. I even heard him force one of his victims into foreclosure, laughing, "Most people are 1 paycheck away from bankruptcy." I saw him forging paperwork, then I uncovered a trail of real estate fraud - forgeries verified by an expert handwriting analyst.
All of this is behind the secret altering of Fresno's water system aka: "water shortage." Illegal tie-ins to the "infrastructure upgrade" no permits or inspections.
He is a former employee of the City of Fresno - guess who is protecting him?
Beyond the lies and altered records is a massive cover-up.