Mark Bosworth “can no longer do any form of real-estate work in Arizona”

This is indeed good news, although it’s not the first time he’s been shut down in one form or another, hopefully this is the final time he’s shut down.

Open Complaints: 23 These guys are crooks I know they did it to us. They should be shut down!!! We rented (lease purchased) with them right after Katrina we were in shell shock and they kept telling us that they would help us. Our lease purchase is almost up but we have to move because they did not pay the note it is being auctioned off the 15th. we are out 20 grand and after Katrina this is the last thing we needed. hope they go where they belong….

His company was managing one of my houses. When the renter moved out the appliances dissappeared. Imagine that. In addition they tole us the renter had been allowed to move in without paying a deposit.

Can someone give me some advice? My father had purchased a condo though Bosworth and had to sell it short sale, for $100,000 less than purchase price. I know, I know… my father should have known better. But he is an easy target; turning 70, foreign, and desperate to make some easy money. Living the “American dream.” Is there any help for him now that Bosworth is in this lawsuit?
Please email me with any suggestions, comments, or ideas.
Thank you.

Gorenter Founder Mark Bosworth Accused of Ripping Off Investors
Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 07:40:28 PM
By Ray Stern

The Arizona Corporation Commission is jumping on Mark Bosworth, the former self-proclaimed real estate “guru” whose troubles were documented in a May feature article in New Times.

In this July 3 “Notice of Opportunity for Hearing,” the commission says Bosworth and three of his employees ripped off $5.6 million from 31 investors who thought they were buying property in Rocky Point, Mexico.

The investors were promised a 30 to 100 percent return on their money. Instead, they took a 100 percent loss, according to the commission. Bosworth had the investors’ money transferred from the company, “3 Gringos Mexican Investment,” to Mark Bosworth and Associates, where it was used for “other purposes,” the July 3 notice states.

As the New Times story reported, Bosworth was once a local real estate star who held seminars to teach people how to invest in Phoenix’s once smoking-hot housing market. His house of cards collapsed when the market went south and investors shed light on some of his spurious business practices. He declared bankruptcy after losing a major lawsuit in which he was accused of forging signatures on property deeds.

That $17 million judgment led the Arizona Real Estate Commission, which is conducting its own investigation of Bosworth and his businesses, to stop Bosworth from doing any more work in the industry.

The Corporation Commission seems to be preparing for a major attack. Besides Bosworth, the notice targets former Bosworth employees Steve Van Campen, Michael Sargent and Robert Bornholdt for possible “restitution, for adminstrative penalties, and for other affirmative action.” The men’s wives are also named, notably Bosworth’s wife and occasional business partner, Lisa Bosworth.

Mark Bosworth and crew have until August 3 to answer the notice. A hearing date hasn’t been set.

Don’t bother looking for news about the Corporation Commission’s latest accusations against Bosworth in the Arizona Republic. The paper’s coverage of Bosworth’s legal troubles has been suspiciously sparse — maybe because it’s too busy raking in dough for the double-page ads bought by the property-management company Bosworth founded, Gorenter.

Insiders say the Republic would be wise to accept only cash for those ads.

A friend of mine invested in some scam in Rocky Point. She and her husband are one listed here:

Gorenter Founder Mark Bosworth Accused of Ripping Off Investors
Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 07:40:28 PM
By Ray Stern

The Arizona Corporation Commission is jumping on Mark Bosworth, the former self-proclaimed real estate “guru” whose troubles were documented in a May feature article in New Times.

In this July 3 “Notice of Opportunity for Hearing,” the commission says Bosworth and three of his employees ripped off $5.6 million from 31 investors who thought they were buying property in Rocky Point, Mexico.

The investors were promised a 30 to 100 percent return on their money. Instead, they took a 100 percent loss, according to the commission. Bosworth had the investors’ money transferred from the company, “3 Gringos Mexican Investment,” to Mark Bosworth and Associates, where it was used for “other purposes,” the July 3 notice states.

As the New Times story reported, Bosworth was once a local real estate star who held seminars to teach people how to invest in Phoenix’s once smoking-hot housing market. His house of cards collapsed when the market went south and investors shed light on some of his spurious business practices. He declared bankruptcy after losing a major lawsuit in which he was accused of forging signatures on property deeds.

That $17 million judgment led the Arizona Real Estate Commission, which is conducting its own investigation of Bosworth and his businesses, to stop Bosworth from doing any more work in the industry.

The Corporation Commission seems to be preparing for a major attack. Besides Bosworth, the notice targets former Bosworth employees Steve Van Campen, Michael Sargent and Robert Bornholdt for possible “restitution, for adminstrative penalties, and for other affirmative action.” The men’s wives are also named, notably Bosworth’s wife and occasional business partner, Lisa Bosworth.

Mark Bosworth and crew have until August 3 to answer the notice. A hearing date hasn’t been set.

Don’t bother looking for news about the Corporation Commission’s latest accusations against Bosworth in the Arizona Republic. The paper’s coverage of Bosworth’s legal troubles has been suspiciously sparse — maybe because it’s too busy raking in dough for the double-page ads bought by the property-management company Bosworth founded, Gorenter.

Insiders say the Republic would be wise to accept only cash for those ads.

Wow only 52 complaints in three years? Thats low, especially since through that time they had atleast 1,800-2,000 tenants at a time and half the amount or more owners. Lets just do the math on tenants. If there were 2,000 tenants in one year and only 17 complaints a year, only .85 percent of all the tenants complained. Thats an amazing number especially for the fact a lot of people just complain because they got evicted for no good reason when in reality it’s because they weren’t making their payments. GoRenter has been served countless times and how many lawsuits have they lost?

you go BOB SEWELL- does anyone know if there is anything else he is involved with. The Gringo’s issue my friend just filed her papers, he should be served soon. Maybe people do not know how to file. Bob can you put a link here for them?

They would have lost ours but we settled out of court. We do not have the heart ache to go through it all again. They are the biggest scumbags I have EVER seen So WOW you must work there.

Hi Joanna-

John asked me to comment, so I thought I would share at least a little insight that I may have.

First, I will say I am not a Mark Bosworth or GoRenter fan. I first became aware of his company when it was called Property Masters approximately 5 years ago, so I have some personal history that compliments my professional knowledge.

With regard to your security deposits, you will need to read your lease carefully. I have read GoRenter leases, and many of them call for the security deposit to transfer in full to the landlord, if the purchase (as most of the GoRenter leases are written as a lease-purchase option) is not made within the time frame called upon. The trouble is, for the landlords I’ve spoken to, they don’t receive that money either.

What can you do? You and the landlord should ask for an accounting of the account, complete with copies of the checks they claim they issued. If those past checks cannot be shown to have cleared, GoRenter should have no problem canceling them and reissuing them.

But the place to start is with your lease. Reading it, and understanding it thoroughly. Honestly, they are not tenant friendly leases, and the proper resolution may not result in money returning to you, the tenant.

Thank you Steve for your response. I checke d the lease agreement. It however was not a lease purchase and the agreement states that the deposit will be returned to lessee after surrender of the premises. Talked with them today and they said they have returned all monies to owner, owner says he hasn’t received anything from them. They said if i take them to court i will pay their attorneys fees?? I am still baffled as to where the money went.

It’s nice to see that I am not the only one who has bad dealings with The Home America/GoRenter organization. This company likes to add things like late fees, administrative costs, and whatever else they feel they can get away with. Even sending a rental increase for 300-350 dollars more then what the house is even worth paying. I intend to do whatever it takes to put them under. Let’s all pull together and get them out!

How about the many times you try to reach someone from Home America only to get voice mails and no return calls! Especially if you are trying to resolve an issue to their infamous “clerical errors” it is impossilbe to speak to a live person…. One last thought…..has anyone ever seen their new buiding on Missouri? Do you think any of those “unknown” adminstrative fees are funding any of that rent or amentities?

I recently sued Home America, gorenter.com, whatever they want to be called, and WON! Now they won’t pay. Anyone have info on a class action lawsuit?

Did you sue and win what? You need to google Mark Bosworth-

right now he is into a new scam. There is plenty of info on Mark out there. The calls to make are to Sam at the AZ Commission office, he is the one most likely to love any info on Mark.

With the economy as such and the state in much need of money, people like Mark who scam the system and don’t pay taxes are who they are targeting - he will not be around much longer……..who allows someone to continue doing this to poor innocent people trusting-

Marks bag of lies is pretty light because he has used them all up!

Yeah we got taken! We were approved for more than one house up in Prescott. Where all the other guru’s were buying. Instead we lost everything and never made a dime. I would love to sign up for a class action lawsuit if one exists.

All the way around Go Renter is pathetic. One of the most unethical services they offer (among others) is to give prospective renters the lock box code over the phone and letting them view your home with no one from Go Renter present. Talk about a liability!!! Not to Go Renter though, they don’t own the house what do they care. Avoid them like the plauge. I am trying to get the Ari.Dept. of Realtors to do something about this company for this practice. If you have a similar story please contact me. Maybe a class action law suit ??????? Steve Belt, if you are still out there and active with this site this is for you, or anyone who might have an answer. I signed a contract with G.R. for property management. One month after hiring G.R. we found out ( due to a friend informing us that the front door to our rental was open when he came by to do some work for us) that G.R. was letting people view our home (giving out the lock box code over the phone) with no rep. from G.R. at the home. Now, there was a licensed realestate agent assigned to our property. It is my understanding that realestate agents (by their code of ethics) can only give the code out to other licensed agents. My issue is that in the management agreement there is mention of a lock box being used, but never how it was intended to be used. When I confronted them on how the lock box was being used and informed them that what the where doing was unethical and a huge liability for myself they told me they were doing nothing wrong. I told them that as far as I was concerned the contract was worthless because G.R. did not disclose how the lock box would be used and withheld information crucial in my decision for signing with them. Would this argument hold in arbitration or court. As it stands in the management agreement there was a cancellation fee of 600.00 dollars. 300.00 for a leasing fee (which, they never leased our property) and 300.00 for an advertising fee. Go Renter is billing us for 365.00 to complete that amount (they used our deposit for 235.00 of it). Go Renter is threatening to take it to court. Should I pay to avoid collection fees and then file for arbitration and try to get the money back or just go to arbitration? Is there any cost in going to arbitration? I can not believe that G.R. is able to do this and get away with it not to mention all the other things they are doing. Where is the ADRE and AAR on this one? I have called them both and have kind of gotten the run around, but I will be doing some more calling. If any one even thinking to do business with G.R. please, please, please e-mail me and I will call you personally to let you know of my experience (the issue above is what broke the camels back, there is more) with G.R.