Summit Realty

SRG Clears it’s Name from the Mark Greget and “The Greget Group”

Summit Realty Group has won the case against Mark Greget and “The Greget Group”. Mark Greget has been found guilty of Codes 10139 (acting or advertising as a broker without a license) 10176 (a) (Substantial misrepresentation) 10177 (j) (fraud or dishonest dealings) 10177 (d) (violation of the real estate law) and/or 10177 (g) (negligence). The California Department of Real Estate is currently pursuing disciplinary action against Mark Greget which will most likely result in the revocation of Mark Greget’s California Real Estate License.

Mark Greget has previously posted false and defamatory comments on various websites stating Summit Realty Group is unethical and that the broker, John Manno, is “psychotic”. The truth to the matter is that Mark Greget was in a desperate state of mind and was saying and/or doing anything possible to scare or even strong arm Summit Realty Group into dropping charges being brought up against him. His comments posted on various internet sites are reinforcement to the fact that Mark Greget is an unethical businessman and a prime example of how every licensed real estate person who calls themselves a Realtor® should not conduct their business.

This case is also a prime example of how Summit Realty Group does not condone unethical behavior of their agents and that through the use of technology, Summit Realty Group has the ability to efficiently monitor agents and their transactions much more closely than other brokerages. View a copy of the case filed by the California Department of Real Estate.  Summit Realty Group wins Case

Tags: avoid housing fraud, avoid housing scams, housing fraud, housing scams, how to avoid housing fraud, how to avoid housing scams

Tips for Avoiding Market Manipulation Fraud

As in Ponzi schemes, the money collected from newer victims of the fraud is paid to earlier victims to provide a veneer of legitimacy. In pyramid schemes, however, the victims themselves are induced to recruit further victims through the payment of recruitment commissions.

More specifically, pyramid schemes—also referred to as franchise fraud or chain referral schemes—are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships. Emphasis on selling franchises rather than the product eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses. At the heart of each pyramid scheme is typically a representation that new participants can recoup their original investments by inducing two or more prospects to make the same investment. Promoters fail to tell prospective participants that this is mathematically impossible for everyone to do, since some participants drop out, while others recoup their original investments and then drop out.

Tips for Avoiding Pyramid Schemes:

• Be wary of “opportunities” to invest your money in franchises or investments that require you to bring in subsequent investors to increase your profit or recoup your initial investment.
• Independently verify the legitimacy of any franchise or investment before you invest.

Market Manipulation or “Pump and Dump” Fraud

This scheme—commonly referred to as a “pump and dump”—creates artificial buying pressure for a targeted security, generally a low-trading volume issuer in the over-the-counter securities market largely controlled by the fraud perpetrators. This artificially increased trading volume has the effect of artificially increasing the price of the targeted security (i.e., the “pump”), which is rapidly sold off into the inflated market for the security by the fraud perpetrators (i.e., the “dump”); resulting in illicit gains to the perpetrators and losses to innocent third party investors. Typically, the increased trading volume is generated by inducing unwitting investors to purchase shares of the targeted security through false or deceptive sales practices and/or public information releases.

A modern variation on this scheme involves largely foreign-based computer criminals gaining unauthorized access to the online brokerage accounts of unsuspecting victims in the United States. These victim accounts are then utilized to engage in coordinated online purchases of the targeted security to affect the pump portion of a manipulation, while the fraud perpetrators sell their pre-existing holdings in the targeted security into the inflated market to complete the dump.

Tips for Avoiding Market Manipulation Fraud:

• Don’t believe the hype.
• Find out where the stock trades.
• Independently verify claims.
• Research the opportunity.
• Beware of high-pressure pitches.
• Always be skeptical.

Summit Realty Group believes that a large portion of fraud and scams can pe prevented simply by creating an public awareness of how fraud can be commited.

Information provided by fbi.gov

Tags: housing fraud, How to avoid fraud, Market Manipulation, ponzi schemes

Mortgage Fraud CONSUMER ALERT

Beware the latest fraud: Lawyers advertising that homeowners can join a so-called “Mass Joinder” lawsuit for loan modification and mortgage rescue. Vulnerable homeowners are tempted in these scams to pay lawyers to add them to mass lawsuits against lenders. Homeowners beware—this is a scam.

•Do not pay up-front fees to anyone promising to modify your loan. That’s illegal—and unlikely to work.

•No one can guarantee you a reduction in principal or a settlement with a bank. Watch out for people making extravagant claims and alluring offers about mortgage relief, or asking to pay a retainer without talking to an ABA-licensed lawyer and checking their reputation with the Better Business Bureau.

•You can research any lawyer by searching their record at the State Bar’s website: http://calbar.ca.gov

If you have questions about how to proceed with your current mortgage situation, please consult a non-profit counselor certified by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. A list of certified counselors can be found at http://hud.gov .

IF YOU FEEL YOU ARE A VICTIM OF THIS SCAM:
The CA State Bar has created dedicated, confidential hotlines for potential victims. Clients of Philip A. Kramer, call: 213-765-1672; of Mitchell J. Stein, call: 213- 765-1639; of Paul W. Petersen, call: 213-765-1641; of Christopher J. Van Son, call: 213-765-1658

For Additional Assistance, Call: 1-888-995-HOPE (4673)

Tags: Better Business Bureau, housing fraud, How to avoid fraud, how to avoid housing fraud, loan modification CA, loan modification fraud, loan modification scams, loan modification tips, mortgage fraud

Tips for Avoiding Ponzi Schemes

“Ponzi” schemes promise high financial returns or dividends not available through traditional investments. Instead of investing the funds of victims, however, the con artist pays “dividends” to initial investors using the funds of subsequent investors. The scheme generally falls apart when the operator flees with all of the proceeds or when a sufficient number of new investors cannot be found to allow the continued payment of “dividends.”

This type of fraud is named after its creator—Charles Ponzi of Boston, Massachusetts. In the early 1900s, Ponzi launched a scheme that guaranteed investors a 50 percent return on their investment in postal coupons. Although he was able to pay his initial backers, the scheme dissolved when he was unable to pay later investors.

Tips for Avoiding Ponzi Schemes:

• Be careful of any investment opportunity that makes exaggerated earnings claims.
• Exercise due diligence in selecting investments and the people with whom you invest—in other words, do your homework.
• Consult an unbiased third party—like an unconnected broker or licensed financial advisor—before investing.

Summit Realty Group believes that a large portion of fraud and scams can pe prevented simply by creating an public awareness of how fraud can be commited.

Information provided by fbi.gov

Tags: housing fraud, How to avoid fraud, ponzi schemes

Tips for Avoiding Prime Bank Note Fraud

International fraud artists have invented an investment scheme that supposedly offers extremely high yields in a relatively short period of time. In this scheme, they claim to have access to “bank guarantees” that they can buy at a discount and sell at a premium. By reselling the “bank guarantees” several times, they claim to be able to produce exceptional returns on investment. For example, if $10 million worth of “bank guarantees” can be sold at a two percent profit on 10 separate occasions—or “traunches”—the seller would receive a 20 percent profit. Such a scheme is often referred to as a “roll program.”

To make their schemes more enticing, con artists often refer to the “guarantees” as being issued by the world’s “prime banks,” hence the term “prime bank guarantees.” Other official sounding terms are also used, such as “prime bank notes” and “prime bank debentures.” Legal documents associated with such schemes often require the victim to enter into non-disclosure and non-circumvention agreements, offer returns on investment in “a year and a day”, and claim to use forms required by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). In fact, the ICC has issued a warning to all potential investors that no such investments exist.

The purpose of these frauds is generally to encourage the victim to send money to a foreign bank, where it is eventually transferred to an off-shore account in the control of the con artist. From there, the victim’s money is used for the perpetrator’s personal expenses or is laundered in an effort to make it disappear.

While foreign banks use instruments called “bank guarantees” in the same manner that U.S. banks use letters of credit to insure payment for goods in international trade, such bank guarantees are never traded or sold on any kind of market.

Tips for Avoiding Prime Bank Note Fraud:

• Think before you invest in anything. Be wary of an investment in any scheme, referred to as a “roll program,” that offers unusually high yields by buying and selling anything issued by “prime banks.”
• As with any investment, perform due diligence. Independently verify the identity of the people involved, the veracity of the deal, and the existence of the security in which you plan to invest.
• Be wary of business deals that require non-disclosure or non-circumvention agreements that are designed to prevent you from independently verifying information about the investment.

Summit Realty Group believes that a large portion of fraud and scams can pe prevented simply by creating an public awareness of how fraud can be commited.

Tags: bank notes, housing fraud, How to avoid fraud, how to avoid housing fraud, mortgage repair fraud

State attorney general shuts down law firms accused of conning homeowners

The state Attorney General’s Office has shut down four Southern California law firms that allegedly conned about 2,500 California homeowners facing foreclosure into paying thousands of dollars to join a lawsuit against lenders that went nowhere.

The law firms made false promises to the plaintiffs to entice them to sue the lenders, telling them that foreclosure proceedings would be stopped and their monthly payments reduced, Attorney General Kamala Harris said Thursday at a news conference.

The attorney general is suing the law firms of Philip Kramer, Christopher Van Son, Paul W. Petersen and Mitchell Stein, which also has an office in Walnut Creek.

“It will bring justice to a number of homeowners of California who were targeted by predators,” Harris said. The suit, which seeks civil penalties, alleges false advertising and violations of the business and professions code.

The State Bar Association has taken over the practices of the law firms. Since 2009, 20 attorneys in California have either been disbarred or given up their license after they got in trouble from loan-modification rescue scams.

Harris alleges that the Southern California attorneys banded together to file “mass joinder” lawsuits, which effectively folded cases with separate but similar circumstances into one legal filing.

The law firms sent out mailers to homeowners in California and 16 other states who had trouble paying their mortgage.

The mailers gave the impression that a legal settlement was within reach and that the homeowners would benefit by becoming a named plaintiff.

Telemarketers gave homeowners misleading advice and information about the benefit of joining the case, according to Harris’ suit. Call center companies were also named in the suit.

Unlike conventional civil cases, which typically work on a contingency fee basis, the homeowners were required to pay from $4,000 to $10,000 to be added as a plaintiff. To date, about 2,500 homeowners, all from California, have been identified as victims, said Harris.

“They are really homeowners who have been victimized a second time,” she said.

Representatives of the Van Son, Kramer, and Petersen law firms could not be reached for comment. A man named Toby, who declined to give his last name and identified himself as a senior paralegal for Mitchell Stein, said the law firm had an active case in Los Angeles Superior Court.

“It’s not as simple as Kamala Harris filing suit,” he said.

No disciplinary charges have been filed against the attorneys by the Bar Association.

The attorney general’s lawsuit does not indicate whether the cases filed by the four law firms have any legal merit. To that end, the Bar Association will look at the circumstances of each case to see whether they should be referred to other lawyers. Clients can call the Bar Association at 213-765-1672 for more information.

A state law makes it illegal to ask for an upfront payment for loan-modification services. The law applies to real estate licensees and attorneys.

“Be wary of any person or company that asks for a fee in advance,” said Ophelia Basgal, regional counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,

She reminded consumers that HUD-approved counseling agencies provide free help to homeowners facing foreclosure. Call 888-995-HOPE (4673) for more information.

By Eve Mitchell
Contra Costa Times

Tags: foreclosure help, housing fraud, how to avoid housing fraud, loan modification fraud, mortgage fraud

Tips for Avoiding Letter of Credit Fraud

Legitimate letters of credit are never sold or offered as investments. They are issued by banks to ensure payment for goods shipped in connection with international trade. Payment on a letter of credit generally requires that the paying bank receive documentation certifying that the goods ordered have been shipped and are en route to their intended destination. Letters of credit frauds are often attempted against banks by providing false documentation to show that goods were shipped when, in fact, no goods or inferior goods were shipped.

Other letter of credit frauds occur when con artists offer a “letter of credit” or “bank guarantee” as an investment wherein the investor is promised huge interest rates on the order of 100 to 300 percent annually. Such investment “opportunities” simply do not exist. (See Prime Bank Notes for additional information.)

Tips for Avoiding Letter of Credit Fraud:

• If an “opportunity” appears too good to be true, it probably is.
• Do not invest in anything unless you understand the deal. Con artists rely on complex transactions and faulty logic to “explain” fraudulent investment schemes.
• Do not invest or attempt to “purchase” a “letter of credit.” Such investments simply do not exist.
• Be wary of any investment that offers the promise of extremely high yields.
• Independently verify the terms of any investment that you intend to make, including the parties involved and the nature of the investment.

Summit Realty Group believes that a large portion of fraud and scams can be prevented simply by creating an public awareness of how fraud can be commited.

Information provided by fbi.gov

Tags: credit repair, credit report, Credit Score, housing fraud, How to avoid fraud, how to avoid housing fraud