Title
Receive and accept the Annual Real Estate Fraud Report for Fiscal Year ("FY") 2019-20 submitted by the District Attorney's Office in accordance with California Government Code section 27388(d).
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
Receive and accept the Annual Real Estate Fraud Report for Fiscal Year ("FY") 2019-20 submitted by the District Attorney's Office in accordance with California Government Code section 27388(d).
SUMMARY:
The District Attorney's Office hereby submits its Annual Real Estate Fraud Report for FY 2019-20 for the Board of Supervisors to evaluate the District Attorney's Office's effectiveness in investigating, prosecuting, and deterring real estate fraud.
DISCUSSION:
The District Attorney's Office received 41 real estate fraud referrals during FY 2019-20. Of these, 23 were traditional real estate fraud referrals, while 18 arose out of the COVID-19 pandemic. For purposes of the FY 2019-20 Report only, "traditional" real estate fraud referrals mean referrals that are unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These traditional referrals came from multiple sources, including local police agencies, private sector professionals, and Monterey County residents. They demonstrate that real estate fraud continues to pose a risk to Monterey County homeowners and residents. The new traditional referrals involved a variety of fraud schemes, including "rental scams" (which typically promise residential rents at below-market rates), mortgage loan fraud, unlicensed real estate activity, advance fee schemes, unlawful security deposit withholding, foreclosed home theft, and elder abuse pertaining to the transfer of real estate.
Finally, in FY 2017-18, the San Francisco Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Monterey County District Attorney's Office announced the creation of a new task force, the Monterey County Financial Crime Task Force (MCFCTF), whose mission is to identify, investigate, and pro...
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