Metro Dream Homes

[Rey19]

Originally Posted by ralphmalph

I guess it was reported both here and at scam.com, but 5linx is one I didn't know about. I just saw the logo on the myspace page and did some searching. The site seems to be down, but you can still read the text in the cached version at google, 5linx.com and 5linx.net. One of these pages lists "NFL Hall of Fame Quarter Back - Jim Kelly" as being connected with them.

I am amazed at the nerve these guys show.

Ralphmalph, remember in the beginning of this thread when we were linking all the different companies associated with MDH and 5linx came up. "I guess it was reported both here and at scam.com"; I am assuming you found the post, but missed the company name?

"Let's keep adding when we find info:

Metropolitan Grapevine's companies include: Global Pacific Investment, YTB, HelloWorld, 5Linx, Dream Rides, Metro Dream Homes, Communities in Partnership, DeVine Foundation, CIP, and Billboards 4 ATMs."

[ralphmalph]

Originally Posted by A. R. Todaro

Oh yeah, Just remembered that Andy said something like...Anyone who accidently joined this can get their money back right now. We don't want anyone as a member who didn't mean to join.... Now me, I would have been waving my hand, jumping up and down and saying..."That's me. Just sent you all that money accidentally. Thanks so much Andy! You are as wonderful as everyone here thinks you are! How truly kind of you! Can we just go ahead and do the paperwork right now in front of them and you can prove how generous you are?" But NOOOOO...no one said a thing. Just sat there.

That would create an interesting conundrum. If you bought a house at an inflated price and had the seller pay money to MDH, how can *YOU* get a refund of that money? If MDH gives the money back to you, it could be fraudulent on your part. If MDH gives the money back to the seller, how does that help you?

Even if the government prosecutes the MDH principals and finds money to give back to the victims... legally, who was the victim in the purchased house scam??? Was it the buyer who now has the inflated mortgage, or the seller who actually paid MDH from their funds?

WOW, this is going to be the biggest dog fight over a bone since the S&L debacle back in the 80's.

[MauMau]

Originally Posted by A. R. Todaro

Wow, IMBACK....I thought I was becoming cynical in my old age! I pray you are wrong but I just was talking with someone today and said that when all is said and done, few of those who should be punished will be. Go, go VA!

On another note, I did a MDH search tonight and found a new sight telling about it. The one comment submitted mentions that MDH is also doing this with cars???? They said to check out Dream Ride deals. I did a brief search and didn't see anything about "Dream Ride deals." I also would guess that is is really hard to hide $50K in an overpriced car ! Just wondering if anyone else has heard of this or if they confused and are mixed up with the line used by DR? whatshisname. "No one would finance a $100K car to you for 30 or 40 years so why should we be paying for our homes for 30 or 40 years?" And I will say that this statement, full sound reasoning, being spouted over and over really irked me! Even I, who had to drop Logic 2 xs before finally accepting a "C" on the third try, can see all the flaws in that reasoning...which is one of the premises he used to build his whole speach!

Anyway the site with the comment is: Metro Dream Homes: A New and Dangerous Real Estate Scam - Associated Content

A.R.T.
You read it right! MDH operates what they call Dream Ride alongside the mortgage program and there are many who not only invested in the mortgages but in the car program too. It goes something like this - you buy finance a car from a dealership, pay a certain percentage (sorry I'm not sure how much but thousands of dollars!) of the car's value with MDH and they promise to pay the car note for you until they pay it off completely within a set time. Others may be able to give you the specifics on this one, sorry!

[A. R. Todaro]

I wonder how many car payments have been made this month? Anyone have more info on this plan?

[sagegriot]

Originally Posted by ralphmalph

That would create an interesting conundrum. If you bought a house at an inflated price and had the seller pay money to MDH, how can *YOU* get a refund of that money? If MDH gives the money back to you, it could be fraudulent on your part. If MDH gives the money back to the seller, how does that help you?

Even if the government prosecutes the MDH principals and finds money to give back to the victims... legally, who was the victim in the purchased house scam??? Was it the buyer who now has the inflated mortgage, or the seller who actually paid MDH from their funds?

WOW, this is going to be the biggest dog fight over a bone since the S&L debacle back in the 80's.

99% certain that the funds go to the buyer at settlement and buyer pays MDH, otherwise MDH would be on the HUD settlement form and a 3rd party transaction that large would draw attention. MDH attempted to convince sellers to pay a "finders fee", but thats 2-3x any reasonable real estate commission. If you've ever seen those infomercials for the 'No Money Down-Cash Back at Closing' programs, its basically the same and can be done legally if the appraisal is legit. A buyer can do anything they choose with cash back at closing.

As far as the crazy comments made by Dr B on auto financing, every time someone makes a comment in favor of this whacko program, it's like they're shooting themselves in the foot.

[ralphmalph]

Originally Posted by sagegriot

99% certain that the funds go to the buyer at settlement and buyer pays MDH, otherwise MDH would be on the HUD settlement form and a 3rd party transaction that large would draw attention. MDH attempted to convince sellers to pay a "finders fee", but thats 2-3x any reasonable real estate commission. If you've ever seen those infomercials for the 'No Money Down-Cash Back at Closing' programs, its basically the same and can be done legally if the appraisal is legit. A buyer can do anything they choose with cash back at closing.

As far as the crazy comments made by Dr B on auto financing, every time someone makes a comment in favor of this whacko program, it's like they're shooting themselves in the foot.

A buyer may be able to do what they want with "cash back", but I have never seen a buyer get cash at settlement. If the house sold for $X and $Y were paid back from the seller to the buyer, I am pretty sure they won't allow the $Y to be included in the amount financed. It may be a free country, but if something is sold for $X and you then get $Y back, it was not really sold for $X at all.

I am not a expert on this, but every time I have discussed real estate settlements with an expert, they don't like the term "kickback" (as they are illegal) and prefer "concessions" which are really just discounts on the selling price.

I am pretty sure MDH has to be listed as the party receiving the funds and they are never in the hands of the buyer. Can anyone verify this? I believe there are some members of the trade that are posting here.

Can you explain further how those 'No Money Down-Cash Back at Closing' programs work? How does the seller give money back to the buyer while the full price is financed? What is the justification for the money going to the buyer? I don't see how this can be legal at all. Again, any experts care to comment?

[sagegriot]

Originally Posted by ralphmalph

A buyer may be able to do what they want with "cash back", but I have never seen a buyer get cash at settlement. If the house sold for $X and $Y were paid back from the seller to the buyer, I am pretty sure they won't allow the $Y to be included in the amount financed. It may be a free country, but if something is sold for $X and you then get $Y back, it was not really sold for $X at all.

I am not a expert on this, but every time I have discussed real estate settlements with an expert, they don't like the term "kickback" (as they are illegal) and prefer "concessions" which are really just discounts on the selling price.

I am pretty sure MDH has to be listed as the party receiving the funds and they are never in the hands of the buyer. Can anyone verify this? I believe there are some members of the trade that are posting here.

Can you explain further how those 'No Money Down-Cash Back at Closing' programs work? How does the seller give money back to the buyer while the full price is financed? What is the justification for the money going to the buyer? I don't see how this can be legal at all. Again, any experts care to comment?

There are lots of legitimate situations where this occurs.....kickback implies nondisclosure. Recall I have said repeatedly that the illegality usually pertains to lies (appraisal) or non-disclosure (kickback). Don't confuse the sales price with the mortgage amount. It's routine for a seller pay the buyers closing costs within reason. From personal experience, I accepted an offer for my home for $X. The buyers inspection determined there was a problem with the chimney and asked me to fix it. I did not want to be bothered with selecting a contractor and being responsible for the buyer accepting thier work, etc, so I just get an estimate and rebate that amount of cash to the buyer at closing. When we bought the next house, we asked for and received a 'decorating allowance' from the seller in the form of cash at settlement. On another purchase we completed, the mortgage company volunteered to provide a home equity loan at the time of closing, so we had ability to take cash out at any time. These kinds of items are listed on the HUD settlement form. An appraisal is just an estimate, so its not that big a deal for an appraisal to come in 10-15% high (IMHO). There are ways to target the results. Look on zillow.com and they give a value range that's can be +/- 20%. If the appraisal is 10% high and the seller accepts 10% less, there's a 20% buffer a buyer could borrow against. I would however expect rebates on the order of 15% would raise some eybrows, but let's see what the pros say.

Even without this whacko MDH scheme, there's plenty of abuse in the mortgage markets these past few years, but the combination of loose credit and NOHOUSEPAYMENT will bring pain to many.

[Marka]

We are sorry but city-data does not accept consumer complaints. There are other places for that on the Internet, this is simply off topic here.