Be sure to watch the video at the KRAB link.
From KRAB Radio :
As you'll see in the video, I tried to be civil for the most part. But I did call him a name at the end. But I did it for all the right reasons. It's sad that this guy is eating out and cruising around in an expensive Mercedes, while former customers of his are getting put out on their asses because they trusted this guy.
Many of the people he screwed were good, working-class Bakons like you and I. Just people who thought they could buy a house to raise their families in. But really, David Crisp slammed them into unrealistic deals just so he could go on playing Bakersfield's version of Richie Rich.
19 comments:
Wow,
It's not surprising that people in the lending industry are super born agains. Some of them just have gullible spirits - will believe anything, especially if it fattens the wallets.
No offense to any religion intended, just some seem to attract the worst kind of idjits.
Chuck Ponzi
Thanks Chuck,
To paraphrase Samuel Johnson ,
"Religion is the last refuge of scoundrels."
Not your best moment, I'm guessing.
Please bear with me before flaming me as I would like to offer an alternative perspective on the Crisp nigthmare.
I am not a relative or friend of the Crisps or the Coles. I used David as an agent in 2001 and 2005 - before the FBI investigation or DRE actions against him. I do not claim that he is innocent. I have no first-hand knowledge of his innocence or guilt. So my opinion is just as valid as the numerous people out there that take shots at him without first-hand knowledge of his guilt.
Please follow this train of thought with me. David as a young ambitious agent made some money and liked it. He partners up with Cole and they compete and make more money. For the sake of image (which was important to David) he buys first a Corvette and then soon a Ferrari. He tries a couple flips in newer neighborhoods, like South San Lauren and they go very well. He takes those proceeds and tries more flips. At the time, housing was booming and there was little risk of losing money on a deal. So he recommends this method to friends and family. His business grows and grows and his image gets flashier and flashier.
By all accounts, he is a raging success. He has at one point, over 60 homes in Bakersfield, not to mention his 12 cars and leased jet. He is generous to his workers and encourages them to follow his path to success. He loans them down payments on flips, knowing he will make his money back. He plans to build towers in Bakersfield, to give back to the community that has given him so much.
Unfortunately, David tended to favor people like himself - not great at school, not very old or wise, but seemed to have potential, and so he hired them to work with him and get rich along side himself. But since these were not high caliber people, and you know who you are, instead of appreciating his offer and taking such a rare opportunity to succeed early in life, some turned on him and started nasty rumors and smear campaigns. Jealous of David's abilities to take risks and succeed, and unable to do so themselves, they turned on him. Most of the worst things said about David came from his own people. Most of it unfounded and untrue. But Sheeple being how they are, most in Bakersfield believed the lies and were eager to see David fall. I think he has held his head high and handled himself quite well. Especially for a person his age who has gained and then lost so much.
By 27, he was President of his own real estate company, was flying around in a jet and driving a $500,000 car. His wife was planning on opening a chldren's clothing store and Crisp Towers was on it's way to becoming the tallest structure within a couple hundred miles. And all of it hinged on the resale homes market continuing to go strong. But with all of those irons in the fire, he somehow loses touch with what the local market is doing. His optimism is misplaced and his confidence is baseless. Some of his more conservative agents, like Scott Reynolds, start selling off their personal investment properties.
While the boom was happening, there was no problem with 100% financing and risky loans, because there was no intention of holding the properties long enough for it to be an issue. But with the market softening, and sales slowing, all of a sudden, people start looking out for their own interests. People who agreed to get rich quick through David are now finding themselves overextended with houses that they are not able to unload and without the tens of thousands in profit that they had hoped for. "Normal" people who took a chance and built houses they intended to flip, all of a sudden found themselves holding more than one mortgage and nobody to sell to. David feels bad, so he sets out to rescue a few of these loyal clients that trusted his advice. David's cash flow is dwindling with the market slamming to a stop, his towers project, with it's promised $250 Million start-up committment is coming due and all of David's eggs are in the resale housing market. He sells off his exotic cars, he shuffles houses between co-workers and family, in an attempt to meet abligations. He crosses the lines of honesty and ethics in a last ditch effort to pull it all through. But ultimately, there are too many cracks in the ice and it all comes crashing down.
IF, and it's a big IF - the housing market had slowed gradually or continued to climb past the summer of 2006, David's life and the way this city views him would be 180 degrees different. His plans would have worked out. The "shady" loans he has been investigated for would have been shuffled into the closed mortgage files (along with a few thousand similar style loans that were closed all over this country in the last several years) and David would still be the favorite son of Bakersfield. But, it hasn't turned out that way.
You all can hate him and hope the worst for him and his family, but it may not be the right or fare thing to do. You can blame him for putting familes out in the streets and single handedly ruining the housing market in Bakersfield, but ultimately, David has lost more than most people will ever earn in their lifetime. He has crashed hard and has very few supporters.
Ask yourself this, if he was such a horrible person and was gulty and deserving of 30 years in jail, than isn't it funny how his wife has stood by his side through it all? If he is the worst person in Bakersfield, as the media makes him out to be, than why hasn't anyone taken a shot at him? Or beaten him up in public? If he was solely responsible for the loss of equity of so many hard working people, than why does he bother to show his face around town at all?
Here is the different perspective....maybe he is not guilty of so many bad things. Maybe he is mostly innocent and is hoping that the truth will come out eventually. Maybe he is clinging on to the hope that good things happen to good people, eventually. Only time will tell. But if he was guilty of such agregious crimes, why has there been no arrest? If there are so many victims of his greed and hubris, then why has nobody taken justice into their own hands? Perhaps because most of the bad is exaggerated or made up. Perhaps because Bakersfield is so starved for something interesting to happen here, they will latch on and believe just about anything with little or no proof.
I'm done. Let the flaming begin.
I don't know Crisp and I don't live in Bakersfield. I work in real estate development.
civil-ized - following the order of your post, here are my comments:
Paragraph 3 - you are correct, he is all flash and no substance. A telling trait of a bad business person.
Paragrapg 4&5 - You say he was trying to help people. I say he was taking advantage of them and their lack of understanding for his own gain.
Paragraph 6 - Over leveraged knowing full well he could not handle all that risk. Another mark of poor business judgement. Business is all about calculated risk.
Paragraph 7 - Getting rich quick in his case was through fraud and misrepresentation, and taking advantage of others - including his family and friends.
Paragraph 8 - anyone ho understands real estate knows there are ups and downs. The past market was way out of control and had to adjust to normal levels. Why are you okay with him getting rich quick but not getting poor at the same rate?
In conclusion, this guy knew what he was doing and he knew it was wrong. If he cared about his wife and children and their future, he would have made more moderate, longer term and safer financial decisions using his initial windfall. Instead he has destroyed their future security.
As far as the fraudulent loans and documentation, etc. - he deserves nothing less than a long, long time in prison.
His plans would have worked out.
No they would not. Understand his business model relied on rolling 6s. He had and has no business acumen. He just rolled an improbable number of 6s at the start and then when the laws of averages started catching up he doubled down rather than reassess.
He's entitled to have his day in Federal Court to explain his side of the story, after which I expect he'll be tossed into a cage for years.
the reason his wife is still with him is because she's got no where else to go. David burned his in-laws plus she's pretty dumb have you ever talked to her talk about brain dead.
"If there are so many victims of his greed and hubris, then why has nobody taken justice into their own hands?"
As soon as the wimp loses the "Jesus Freak" bodyguards, he'll need a lot of dental work.
David's wife has nowhere to go? You don't think a judge would side with her for alimony and child support to maintain the lifestyle he got her accustomed to? You have a limited imagination if you think she has nowhere else to go. And yes, his in-laws attacked him in the media to save themselves, but they failed to mention all the money they made flipping houses with David before the market turned, or the fact that David's father-in-law has been David's accountant since before David got big, so to boo hoo and seek sympathy after David loses it all is nothing short of supreme betrayal. Either David's in-laws are people of extremely weak character to turn on David or people of extremely low IQ to have been taken advantage of so badly - an accountant with years and years of experience - to be taken advantage of by a 25 year old guy with horrible business skills, as "hl" pointed out. If David really did such bad to his in-laws, his wife could run home to mommy and daddy and be consoled and taken care of. Instead, she stays with David. Whether she is a brain-dead blonde or not, it would appear that she is standing by her man, perhaps because she really loves him or he is more innocent than guilty.
Rob Dawg said...
No they would not. Understand his business model relied on rolling 6s. He had and has no business acumen. He just rolled an improbable number of 6s at the start and then when the laws of averages started catching up he doubled down rather than reassess.
Rob Dog, you are 100% right. Lots of people made easy money when the market was booming, and there was no shortage of people trying to make their money. I don't beleive David or Carl started out with bad motives, looking to defraud people. But things went bad and they have to pay the price, I think everybody agrees with this. But I think (just my opinion) that David started out with good intentions and tried his hardest to salvage his business and his friends deals, but too many things were way out of his control. But to say that he started out defrauding people and continued until he got caught is not accurate.
civil-ized is David. hahahah. I know David reads these post. So a big FU Dave you were such the con man. "The Christian Con Man" would'nt that make a good movie of the week.
bako559 said...
civil-ized is David. hahahah. I know David reads these post. So a big FU Dave you were such the con man. "The Christian Con Man" would'nt that make a good movie of the week.
Dumb, civil-ized is NOT David. The first and lowest attack of some low IQ bloggers is to say that if someone defends or agrees with the "evil ones", then it must be the evil one himself. That is the problem with blogs in general. You can take on any persona and accuse anyone of anything. I have known David from a business perspective since 2001. I have spoken with him on occassion and watched his rise and fall. I was merely trying to present a different perspective on the bits and pieces the general public hears about David. Everybody is so quick to believe the bad news and rumors, but when someone presents a clear, informative, logical alternative to the dirt, it is scoffed at and ridiculed.
What is worse? a world that only wants the crotch shot of the newest hot celebrity or the one that believes every word they are fed by the newspaper? Oh yeah - it's the same world. duh. If some of you people in the bloggisphere cannot handle an alternative perspective because it rocks your precious little prozac controled world, then maybe you should stick to the Californian's exhaustive research and dead-on reporting. Heck, they even interviewed the moron from KRAB radio about accosting David in a parking lot. Apparently, that is the closest anyone in the journalism field has been able to get to David. So now KRAB guy is a hero to the news world. He has done what none of them have been able to do. Amazing.
I am an engineer and my wife, a chemist in strong industries. Watching the housing market soar to unaffordable levels certainly never generated an image of the C's as Bakersfield's darlings. For homebuyers interested in securing a place to live and start a family, they looked to me like a blockade. Gangsters to whom I most give my due homage before entering into an unmanageable debt for a 3br home. Even during the boom, their shady business practices weren't exactly cloaked in secrecy. Flipping houses to buyers who didn't meet builder credit checks, false income reporting, playing ping pong with properties internally. Anybody with a passing interest in real estate heard about this two years before the FBI knocked on their doors. Even when I was still in Chicago, I heard plenty.
You don't have to hurt someone physically to be a criminal. Fraud is a white collar crime, but it makes you a criminal all the same. You don't need to be an old white guy to commit them. I laughed when I read the statement that if the market had continued to soar, everybody would still love him. The market makes everybody honest eventually. Saying the market crash is the root of his downfall is like saying a sneeze is the root of a cold. The truth is buried under a pile of greed. It doesn't matter if he's a church going, great family man who made bad decisions, even if initially his intent was to help friends and family. Over the last decade, many of those who were found guilty and convicted of this crime, in various fashions, were often considered great family men, philanthropists, etc. Fraud is a big deal, it is not a victimless crime and threatens our well being and future as a society. It is the major contributor to almost every major economic crash. We see, today, the damage caused by relatively few people, so it is understandable that the penalties are harsh. Ignorance is not an excuse.
He's somewhat lucky, in a way. If he had been partway into construction when the bottom fell out, he would see his case jump to the top of the pile. If he had cashed out big, leaving his beloved clients, family, friends etc to shovel the mess without taking losses, he would be America's favorite target. At least now he can jump back to an "aw shucks" defense and present himself as an uneducated sucker like the rest of 'em.
nddl04 said...
...Watching the housing market soar to unaffordable levels certainly never generated an image of the C's as Bakersfield's darlings. For homebuyers interested in securing a place to live and start a family, they looked to me like a blockade. Gangsters to whom I most give my due homage before entering into an unmanageable debt for a 3br home.
Here we go making it sound like C&C were entirely responsible for not only the market run-up, but for the crash as well. Mr. Boston, how's the housing market back home? Healthy? Was C&C running the market there too? How about Vegas? David responsible for that one too? Or was there another sinister gangster calling all the shots in each city?
Either David is an evil genius or someone who got lucky rolling 6s. One or the other - can't be both. C&C employees were not the only ones rolling around town in $200,000 cars or Hummers w/ advertising plastered all over them. Global is accused of similar antics as C&C, but are not targeted by the blogs or the media (and you are saying "Global who?" - exactly).
Home builders were just as greedy and controlling as these sinister Real Estate Agents. Castle & Cooke forced home buyers to sign documents promising to give Castle & Cooke any profits from the sale of their homes if they had to sell within the first year of ownership - and promise not to rent out or lease out their own properties for the first 3 years of ownership, supposedly to keep investors out of the neighborhoods - yet they blatantly sold homes in those neighborhoods to investors themselves. Sounds like a gangster to me. Maybe they were working for David....maybe Watson and Touchstone and Coldwell and all the rest were all in ca-hoots together - yeah - to force average joe's to pay homage to them at the alter of homeownership - engineer - chemist - get a clue. The same things happened all over the country. Lots of people were priced out of homes. That is why the banks started giving loans out to anyone with a pulse. To continue the income-generating run-up.
nddl04 said...
I most give my due homage before entering into an unmanageable debt for a 3br home.
Again with the poor victim - being forced to buy something you cannot afford....booo hooooo. The market crashed because of the greed of banks and the stupidity of the general buying public. They are the ones that thought the market would continue going up forever (so let's buy now before we are priced out) and they believed positive newspaper articles about the market & the advice of greedy Real Estate Agents (like David and 1999 others) who needed a paycheck to continue their lifestyles.
David is the target because he was dumb enough and naive enough to put his face and his material goods all over town in people's faces. That is why he is hated and singled out. He and many others are partly responsible for the local market, but ultimately, he was a small player in the game. At his absolute peak, he only had maybe 5% of the total listings in all of Bakersfield. There were much bigger players out there who kept a low profile and are ignored by the angry public with their dwindling home wealth.
Ok, I just watched the video for the first time. The "your soul is in jeopardy" caused me to laugh and snort at work. I'm seriously laughing so hard I'm crying. Some kinds of comedy just write themselves.
Bakersfield Bubble, you need to be more careful on who you attack. They may be "angels unawares."
Wow Civilized, I thought I wrote a fairly balanced element. C&C are certainly not the only ones. I didn't voluntarily give them my money, even though our taxes will soon go to help secure the debt they profited to create.
It's like speeding violations, lots of people doing 75 in a 65 zone, but don't be the guy in the bright red ferrari going 110mph while flipping off the cops.
In my profession, as an engineer, in a world of cost cutting, don't be the guy who falsifies test results that sends a defective product to market. After all, nobody will care until someone is killed or injured.
So in the world of real estate, with many people who were walking the grey line between unethical and opportunisitc, don't be the guy falsifying documents, putting your face on the 5% that represent the largest $/per bust and cheerlead the movement. Like I said, he's lucky that they didn't have their hands dipped in the towers money pot. With government capital at play, the attention would have been more than local. At least now he can hope they have bigger fish to fry and stretch the litigation out for years. What's the phrase, the tallest blade of grass gets cut down first?
I'm not sure what we are arguing. I'm not really in for a discussion of moral relativism, reminds me too much of my undergrad prereq class on human morality. Yes, many people are guilty, some more clearly than others. Heads will roll, as they should, and legislation will close the barn doors long after the horse has left, and everybody will pat themselves on the back. Every few years a new fraud scheme enters the picture. Shame on our government and the banks for lacking the foresight to react to this matter, even with the experts screaming in their ears.
FYI, I rented through the housing bubble. No boo hoo about it, but the frustrating thing was knowing that even though I had set myself up by getting an education, saving for a downpayment, and managing my monthy cashflows, that people were abusing the inefficient housing market and driving the price to overinflated values. I was eager to get a place so I could tinker with it, but not eager enough to jump in the pool with the ignorant public. I know that the people who told me I was losing money by waiting truly believed it. I do enjoy the attitude you projected towards my particular story, it is truly indicitive to the relationship between buyers and the real estate professionals.
Side note, I went to the auction in Fresno this weekend. I took a record of all the sale prices, I'll compile that and post. I'd say an average of $100-110/sqr foot for the nicer homes. A 3500 sqr ft + home off Jewetta & Old farm went for $113/per. It was near move in quality, with appliances covered under the home shield. One in Brighton Parks went for $125/per, but it had the neighborhood, amazing upgrades throughout, and was move in quality, little to no damage. A home in the stine/ming area went for $66/per after posting for re-action, a real steal, but I didn't have a chance to inspect before. I went to learn this time, but next time, if the right home is available, I'll bid. I talked to an investor there, his plan was to nab some of the low end properties, and undercut the market. Good sign for things to come, relatively speaking of course :).
Thanks for the auction information.
I know I was ridiculed some time back about my 2009 bottom prediction (and NO I dont think prices will start going up either).
I think there will be some deals over the next 12-18 months, the pace of declining prices will be bumpy between now and then, but I believe the trend will be down.
Once we get there prices will be near 3-4 times incomes. Which is reasonable for local families.
I think we could stay at the bottom for a few years as we work through the 3+ years of inventory and increasing foreclosures.
That said, I would not buy anything that is not a bank owned property or short sale. All of the owner occupied homes are overpriced (IMO), especially some of the high-end stuff held by a local realtor. Those prices are still way too high and total joke! Anyone who buys from her at those prices needs to have their head examined!
FBI... IRS... my tax dollars are working. Leave them be.
I'll wait to find out if these agencies, including others are wrong, but if there was a bet in Vegas... I know where I'd put my money.
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