Title
Receive and accept the Annual Real Estate Fraud Report for Fiscal Year ("FY") 2015-16 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") 2015-16 submitted by the District Attorney's Office in accordance with California Government Code section 27388(d).
SUMMARY:
The District Attorney's Office submits its Annual Real Estate Fraud Report for FY 2015-16 in order for the Board of Supervisors to evaluate the District Attorney's effectiveness in investigating, prosecuting and deterring real estate fraud activity.
DISCUSSION:
During FY 2015-16, the District Attorney's Office received 24 new case referrals involving allegations of real estate fraud. Of those, the District Attorney determined that 14 warrant investigation beyond customary file review, background checks and research to analyze whether a local or statewide law enforcement action may be brought and can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, if criminal, or by a preponderance of the evidence, if civil. The 14 new matters concern: (a) loan modification schemes by unlicensed persons targeting distressed Monterey County homeowners, (b) phony vacation or residential "rental" listings posted through various media, and (c) an investigation opened in response to findings set forth in the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury's Report dated 2015 entitled, "Integrity of Land Records in Monterey County" (hereafter "Grand Jury Report").
As is quite common with real estate fraud investigations, the District Attorney has expended considerable resources with the investigation of the 14 new matters. For example, the loan modification complaints involve multiple victims, several properties and mortgages. In addition to interviewing the complaining parties, District Attorney investigators have spent and will contin...
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