Metro Dream Homes (how much, neighborhoods, buyers)

[sagegriot]

washingtonpost.com

This article and others I've seen states that investors put 10-15% of thier homes equity into the MDH program, but I beleive the statement should be value, not equity. Equity is the value minus whatever is owed, so a home financed for 100% of its value has zero equity ( and a loan for 115% of the value has negative equity). Can anyone verify that the terms of the payment MDH required to enter the program is based on value, not equity?

[Rey19]

Originally Posted by sagegriot

washingtonpost.com

This article and others I've seen states that investors put 10-15% of thier homes equity into the MDH program, but I beleive the statement should be value, not equity. Equity is the value minus whatever is owed, so a home financed for 100% of its value has zero equity ( and a loan for 115% of the value has negative equity). Can anyone verify that the terms of the payment MDH required to enter the program is based on value, not equity?

Sagegriot, thanks for the article!

[kook]

All,

I am new to the forum. I am not a member of this Piece Of Sh** known as Metropolitan Grapevine or POS Dream Home, but I agree with what everyone has said about this "company". I have been CLOSELY watching what has been said both in the media and on this board. I had been approached before and turned down the "opportunity of a lifetime." Keep up the knowledge and I look forward to reading more threads here and wherever I find them.

[tiredofscamstoo]

Originally Posted by sagegriot

washingtonpost.com

This article and others I've seen states that investors put 10-15% of thier homes equity into the MDH program, but I beleive the statement should be value, not equity. Equity is the value minus whatever is owed, so a home financed for 100% of its value has zero equity ( and a loan for 115% of the value has negative equity). Can anyone verify that the terms of the payment MDH required to enter the program is based on value, not equity?

Its actually the loan amount that's being paid off. Thats what the 10 or 15% given to MDH is based on. If I purchase a house for five hundred thousand, I'd have to give MDH 50K. This 50K can come from my bank acct or if the home appraises for at least 550K, it can be financed into the loan amount and MDH gets a check at settlement. From what I heard most people were including this money into the loan amounts.

[allinyourpreception]

Scamme,

Trust me I am not least focused on the victims, all I'm saying is not everyone screaming I been hagged, are all victims. I see your point but to me it is also important to see the whole point and not one view.

If people have been scammed then of couse justice should be served. I never said otherwise. I am not going to disclose my state's US Attorney who gave me this info but you could certainly contact yours.

I am not Andy Williams and trust me if I were I would not hide it. That way you could ask me your questions directly and get real answers, which everyone on here is looking for. Furthermore, if anyone wanted my private info, I'd privately give them my phone number and they could call me personally. How bout anyone else on this forum? Thirdly, I don't even live anywhere near Maryland.

I have nothing to hide and I am just as genuinely concerned as anyone else. All of this is just food for thought for all of us to think about. Because truth be told anyone can get scammed.

[allinyourpreception]

Originally Posted by sagegriot

There are two distinct issues that are being intermixed here, which is understandable. First, there's the investment fraud, scam, scandel or whatever which is clearly perpetrated by, and responsibility of the MDH principals (excluding the 'board' members). They have been enabled by some real estate professionals to perform this unethical investment activity. Also some victims are guilty of being greedy, some are just gullible, while others are simply naive. Credit to whataboutthismess for description of how powerful the lure is. Ever see folks overspend on lotteries, casinos and such?.........they're buying hope. I expect the officers of MDH to face mild to moderate punishement for thier deeds, not the harsh penalties some are anticipating........we'll see (and debate). The victims will likely not face any charges from the gov't. They will pay for thier "mistakes" in other ways...wrecked credit, lost homes, etc.

The second issue is the mortgage fraud that has to be present, but there is ZERO action by the AG against any of the enablers for this part of the scheme. These enablers include large mortgage companies that appear to be acting like pawn shops claiming "hey, we thought the goods were legit!" I am very upset that the Md AG has not made a single comment directed at these guys (as far as I know). This has the effect of demeaning many honest real estate professionals. There are many instances where a home may sell 15% below the appraised value and there is no crime as long as the info is disclosed. A 3rd party (MDH) could recieve funds from such a transaction and there is still NO CRIME. The crime (which undoubtedly exists) involves LIES and NONDISCLOSURES....overstated incomes, appraisals, etc, etc. The cases where the homes sell above asking price is a huge red flag.

Thank You So Much, This really sums it up.

[allinyourpreception]

Originally Posted by sagegriot

washingtonpost.com

This article and others I've seen states that investors put 10-15% of thier homes equity into the MDH program, but I beleive the statement should be value, not equity. Equity is the value minus whatever is owed, so a home financed for 100% of its value has zero equity ( and a loan for 115% of the value has negative equity). Can anyone verify that the terms of the payment MDH required to enter the program is based on value, not equity?

From what I have read in other articles, I see the word equity and homes being refinanced. I am not certain, maybe see what purple koolaid says.

[A. R. Todaro]

Metro Dream Homes did not care if they received "equity" or "value." They wanted $50K. Many of the members paid money out of the loan amount to MDH. This was done either by the seller giving back this money (seller concessions) or a builder sending it to MDH after the buyer closing. The importance of calling it "equity" is: 1. for newspapers to go easier on MDH 2. to be more easily understood by the general public 3. to be more easily swallowed by "investors." Unless you refinanced and truly had equity, there was NO EQUITY and there was NO VALUE. The importance of understanding that this was NO equity or value is: if you financed it, there was fraud somewhere in the financing because the home was NOT worth the extra $50K that was financed. Therefore if you or the lender need to sell, it will not sell for what you paid for it. So understand, you did not put in "equity" and you did not put in "value." You put in money through a fraudulent loan that you have agreed to repay. I know many posted before (perhaps on scam0com) that they could not see the big deal about this. They said so what if I paid more than I needed to for a home? MDH is paying my mortgage anyway. Maybe those that said "big deal" are beginning to see the big problem now.

If there was fraud in the mortgage, most likely the borrower has, even if unwittingly, committed fraud. The lender, the appraiser, the Realtor all have hands in this. MDH is also guilty. It runs the spectrum. They all need publicly punished. I just wonder how in the future we can stop something like this before it gets to 900+?

[scamme]

Originally Posted by sagegriot

There are two distinct issues that are being intermixed here, which is understandable. First, there's the investment fraud, scam, scandel or whatever which is clearly perpetrated by, and responsibility of the MDH principals (excluding the 'board' members). They have been enabled by some real estate professionals to perform this unethical investment activity. Also some victims are guilty of being greedy, some are just gullible, while others are simply naive. Credit to whataboutthismess for description of how powerful the lure is. Ever see folks overspend on lotteries, casinos and such?.........they're buying hope. I expect the officers of MDH to face mild to moderate punishement for thier deeds, not the harsh penalties some are anticipating........we'll see (and debate). The victims will likely not face any charges from the gov't. They will pay for thier "mistakes" in other ways...wrecked credit, lost homes, etc.

The second issue is the mortgage fraud that has to be present, but there is ZERO action by the AG against any of the enablers for this part of the scheme. These enablers include large mortgage companies that appear to be acting like pawn shops claiming "hey, we thought the goods were legit!" I am very upset that the Md AG has not made a single comment directed at these guys (as far as I know). This has the effect of demeaning many honest real estate professionals. There are many instances where a home may sell 15% below the appraised value and there is no crime as long as the info is disclosed. A 3rd party (MDH) could recieve funds from such a transaction and there is still NO CRIME. The crime (which undoubtedly exists) involves LIES and NONDISCLOSURES....overstated incomes, appraisals, etc, etc. The cases where the homes sell above asking price is a huge red flag.

sagegriot,

there are many issues here as you excellently pointed out above. However, it does not make sense to completely separate the enablers from MDH, at least for this case. The reason is these enablers and victims would not have acted if it were not for MDH and their program. (I am sure these enablers most likely have a long history of fraudulent activity but you get my point.)

That is precisely why there is CRIME on MDH's part on running the (alleged) scam and profiting from the activities of the scam (receiving funds after closing), even if there is no paper trail connecting them to these enablers. They are the ring leader of sorts.

The AG should focus their attention on MDH and work down the chain.

[A. R. Todaro]

Here is a more recent article on fraud prosecution. Hopefully we will be seeing something like this here soon...and not in years from now!

Broker sentenced to 28 years for mortgage fraud in Atlanta | ajc.com (broken link)