California Senator Asks Kern County to Form Real Estate Fraud-Fighting Unit

By Vanessa Gregory, The Bakersfield Californian

Oct. 3–Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, is asking the Kern County Board of Supervisors to form a specialized real estate fraud-fighting unit within the District Attorney’s office. Florez’s proposal would fund the office by tacking a $2 fee on certain public real estate filings.

Deeds of trust, mortgage agreements and notices of default would be subject to the plan, according to a news release issued Monday by the senator.

At least 14 California counties have similar programs, which are authorized under a 10-year-old state law, the release states.

“Good for him,” Bakersfield appraiser Gary Crabtree said. “That’s my idea.”

Crabtree, who raised the alarm about local mortgage fraud earlier this year, said the problem is unlikely to disappear, even as the real estate market slows.

“The fraudsters are out there, and they’re becoming more and more sophisticated,” Crabtree said.

Kern County’s foreclosure rate has jumped 190 percent since last year, making the county fourth in the state for foreclosures, according to Florez’s release. Questionable transactions may be compounding the state’s housing problems, the release states.

Florez’s fee proposal comes days before the senator is set to host a community housing forum dubbed “Preserving Homeownership — Preserving Communities.” The meeting is intended to aid borrowers in trouble and homeowners worried about their property values.

The public forum, set for Wednesday night at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office, will focus on the local impact of the mortgage crisis and on lender and government response.

Experts will be available to offer strategies to prevent foreclosure.

“The best defense against a full-scale meltdown of the housing market is to make sure individual homebuyers know as much as they can about lending practices and about resources available to those under threat of foreclosure,” Florez said in the release.

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