Southern California real estate fraud

Montecastro and Stonewood Consulting are accused of engaging in a scheme by which they used inflated appraisals to obtain mortgages larger than the selling prices of the properties their clients purchased.

Stonewood took the difference between the actual sale price and the mortgage amount as compensation in addition to regular sales commissions, the complaint said.

The department said an audit of 10 properties conducted as part of its investigation showed the accused collected $969,158 in extra compensation as a result of inflated appraisals.

Yep. That guy should go to jail… for a long time.

May 26, 2007 by Realtor John Wake

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John Wake

Born in Phoenix, trained as an economist and now a licensed Realtor, John uses hard data from the real estate market to help his clients -- buyers and sellers of residential real estate -- uncover their best choices for finding the right home or finding a buyer for their current home.

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