Is this illegal or unethical? (foreclosure, agent, commission, sales)

[happeemommee]

I worked briefly for an attorney who was also working in real estate, handling primarily foreclosures and short sales. She would talk people into listing with her, rent the house out - promising the people who were renting that she would help THEM buy the house - have them pay more than market value rent on the house while the current owners were going through the foreclosure / ss process.

She would usually list the home on the MLS, but would change the price up and down regularly. She used craigslist a lot to list them as rentals though. Then once someone moved in, she would change the price of the house - all unbeknownst to the renters and then people would show up to see the house, the house they thought they were buying.

This would drag on for months, until she would get the bank's word on what their lowest acceptable price would be. Then she and her husband would buy these homes using a name of one of their various companies - all without either the homeowner or the bank knowing it was actually her buying the house. Keep in mind - the renter living in the house, still thinks they're buying it, too and have been fixing anything that's broken, painting, etc - all out of their own pocket because after all in their minds, this will be their home.

She was being investigated by the real estate commission because a local realtor caught on to what she was doing and my last day at the office, she and another assistant were changing dates on documents, forging signatures, etc to make sure the files were in order. That's problem one.

I should also add that a lot of times the money she would get from the renter would never make it to the owner or the bank - she would use it for "legal fees". That's problem two. And finally, it seems to be that she should have to disclose it's actually her buying these properties. In NC - where we are - it's not illegal for an agent to buy a house, but you have to tell everyone involved that it's you, I think that's why she uses her company name.

Sorry for the book I've written, but what do you think?

[Zyngawf]

Sounds very unethical to me. You've described lying, stealing, and forging documents. I think it will catch up with her.

[rjrcm]

Illegal and unethical.

[MikeJaquish]

OP, I think you need to get off the internet and consult with an attorney to assess your potential exposure to charges for possible involvement in the schemes.
Hopefully, you didn't work there long, but quit within a week or two of employment when you recognized what was going on.

[happeemommee]

I quit the SECOND I realized what was going on, and refused to be a part of any of the fraudulent activity.

I've also taken steps to stop this, but so far have not gotten a lot of cooperation. The RE Board doesn't want to get involved because she's also an attorney, so I've been told. Any other suggestions?

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by happeemommee

I quit the SECOND I realized what was going on, and refused to be a part of any of the fraudulent activity.

Good. Now call an attorney in the morning. Protect yourself. Stuff splatters.

[happeemommee]

Will do. Thanks! Besides not wanting to get in trouble, I don't want these people to be taken advantage of. Some of them have lost their life savings in these homes and she's making it worse. I can't know about that and NOT do something!

[Oleg Bach]

In a sane and honest world if things are unethical they SHOULD be illegal (you would think)....I will never forget what a lawyer said after her aunts cheated her out of a million bucks in rightful inheritance...."It may be unethical but it is LEGAL"----------I lost respect for so-called law at that moment and never regained it fully.

[Oleg Bach]

Originally Posted by Oleg Bach

In a sane and honest world if things are unethical they SHOULD be illegal (you would think)....I will never forget what a lawyer said after her aunts cheated her out of a million bucks in rightful inheritance...."It may be unethical but it is LEGAL"----------I lost respect for so-called law at that moment and never regained it fully.

CORRECTION' what the lawyer said to my wife...The law is an ass....If you fight the system- they will use any means to win - they even resort to criminal methods to maintain their power...I have cornered them during a prolonged law suit- Once I had them against the wall- I never saw so much fraud....repeated lies...and systemic deception............These people were total cowards and circled the wagons to fight off justice rather than protect it.

[MikeJaquish]

Ethics and the law are completely separate concepts.

Ethics are private conventions to create common ground and expectations of deportment within a group, to be enforced by that group among that group.
The law is created and enforced by government, idealistically hoped to be enforced equally for all members of society.

Ethics can address personal and minute examples of behavior which would be beyond the purvey of any reasonable law.