“There is no trust in this business” said the foreclosure trustee. Scary huh? This isn’t some fictional story. This is real life in Harris County, Houston, Texas.
Recently, members of our team confronted the Trustee that was about to auction off the homestead of one of our clients. In our hand was the Temporary Restraining Order, the ink still wet from a Judge’s signature; effectively stopping the foreclosure sale and saving this home owner.
When the TRO was handed to the Trustee he feigned surprise and acted as if he didn’t care one way or another if some local Judge had ordered the foreclosure sale to stop. Why? He was on a mission for the bank or possible his buddies. Sell the house.
As he glanced at the TRO our team said, “I guess that’s all you need.” The Trustee’s retort, “You going to stick around to see if I still sell the house?” Incredulously we said, “I trust you’re going to follow the Judge’s order.” His curt reply, “There is no trust in this business.”
Amazing huh? Sadly this Trustee who is supposed to sell a home to the highest bidder and show impartiality between the bank and the homeowner is untrustworthy.
Just take a trip down to the foreclosure auctions. You’ll quickly see that homeowners are getting the shaft.
We have witnessed trustees high fiving each other after clearing the sale board. why? Not a single house sold to a third party buyer, in other words they bid back every house to the bank.
Bottom Line: You can’t trust the trustee. Want another example…read on below.
- The Bank Slayer
Department of Justice Press Release – Stockton Real Estate Executive Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging at Auctions of Foreclosed Properties
For Immediate Release
April 16, 2010 United States Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of California
Contact: (916) 554-2700
From Dan Edstrom:
Stockton Real Estate Executive Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging at Auctions of Foreclosed Properties
SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced today that Anthony B. Ghio, 43, of Stockton, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Edward J. Garcia to conspiring to rig bids at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in San Joaquin County.
These charges arose from an ongoing federal antitrust investigation of fraud and bidding irregularities in certain real estate auctions in San Joaquin County. The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office.
According to Assistant United States Attorneys Robin R. Taylor and Russell L. Carlberg, who are prosecuting the case with assistance from Barbara Nelson and Richard Cohen of the Antitrust Division, Ghio admitted in his guilty plea that he conspired with a group of real estate speculators who agreed not to bid against each other at certain public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Joaquin County. The primary purpose of the conspiracy was to suppress and restrain competition and obtain selected real estate offered at San Joaquin County public foreclosure auctions at noncompetitive prices.
Court documents show that after the conspirators’ designated bidder bought a property at a public auction, they would hold a second private auction. Each participating conspirator would submit bids in the private auction above the public auction price. The conspirator who bid the highest amount at the end of the private auction won the property. The difference between the noncompetitive price at the public auction and the winning bid at the second auction was the group’s illicit profit, and it was divided among the conspirators in payoffs. Ghio participated in the bid-rigging scheme from April 2009 until October 2009.
Ghio is charged with bid rigging, a violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victim of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office at 415-436-6660 or visithttp://www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm, or the FBI’s Sacramento Division at 916-481-9110, or the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of California at 916-554-2900.
Media inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Lauren Horwood at 916-554-2706. Media inquiries regarding the department’s Antitrust Division should be directed to Gina Talamona at 202-514-2007.
This law enforcement action is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
