SCAM I- ON THE LEVEL

I really hate to write about getting scammed, or attempts people make to scam other people, but it seems to be happening a lot lately.  Which is ok as long as it doesn't bankrupt you or you catch it in time.  And it is not really a commentary on the human condition as scams have been around since Eve scammed Adam, or was it the other way around?  So here are two scams that got caught, kind of, in the last two weeks.

As noted in yesterday's post I also sold a house last week.  Similar to the Freddy and Celia house; two bedrooms, one bath, updated by me with central heat and air conditioning, painted and patched, the usual.  A nice little starter home or investment property.  Also was in a smaller town near here--note to those interested in buying investment property.  It is a lot easier to find a rundown house in a small town than a big city.  Big cities have slums and if you go there you might get shot.  Small towns cannot afford slums unless the whole town is a slum.  Fixing up a house in a small town will pay off because there are usually fairly nice homes in close proximity.  Plus your neighbors will love you.

So fixed up the house a few years ago, rented for awhile, decided to sell with owner finance-again, and promptly had to foreclose.  You are thinking, "How stupid is this guy?  First, Freddy and Celia and then do it again?"  Actually they were both done at the same time and the money was flowing, for awhile.  Plus the husband drove a beer truck and made $45,000 a year--way enough to pay the mortgage.  And she had a criminal record which I didn't know because when she got married and got a new name, the check didn't reveal the criminal record because of the new name. 

After a few months, beer man decided married life was not for him and bugged out.  And Mike Johnson called.  Mike owns the rent house next door and we had met when I started renovating the house.  Mike is about 5'5" and 120 pounds but tough and stringy and a Vietnam vet who had lived in the town since Nam and knew everybody and where each body was buried.  And he didn't like the lady that bought my house because she had a habit of flinging beer cans around, many landing on Mike's property.  Mike used his military training and loved lobbing these beer grenades, especially the ones where the tab broke and they were still full of beer, back across the driveway.  Mike was good and hit what he was throwing at, including her car which soon looked like a golf ball.  If those cans had been real grenades that car and house would have been in slivers.  And Mike didn't care because he had a good lawyer and knew every cop in town and as another of my friends that had been a Marine in Viet Nam told me, "When you've been shot at, not much else scares you."  I'll take his word for it. 

So foreclosed, cleaned up the house which was really a mess, painted and patched and gave it to a realtor with the warning--no owner finance.  Put it on at a pretty good price for me and nothing for five months.  Then a call and offer, accept and start that mating dance called the closing.  The house inspection, which for a 80 year old house, went surprisingly well.  Then another call from the realtor.

Seems that buyer wanted to 'level' (not level as in tearing down but make level) the house and got bids for $4,000 and $6,000 and wanted a credit for $1,500 at closing.  In other words, I was out $1,500.  This is the part where little stuff comes out of the woodwork, similar to getting nibbled to death by a duck.  But my suspicions were aroused as I had had the house levelled, not a very good job but ok, and it cost $1,100, not $4,000.  Plus, why ask for $1,500 when the cost is $4,000 or $6,000?  Didn't sound right so called Mike and asked for his levelling guy.  Kevin Langley, honest as the day is long.  Call my realtor and tell her to get an estimate from Kevin Langley, honest as the day is long.  She called the other realter who revealed that the $4,000 quote came from Kevin.  Hmmm. 

When in doubt, go the the source.  Got Kevin's number from Mike and called him.  "Quote on leveling the house?"  "Yep."  "$4,000?"  "Nope."  "Got a copy of the quote?"  "Yep."  "Can I get a copy?"  "Yep."  "How much is the quote?"  "$2,500."  Hmmm.  "And I don't cheat people."  Honest as the day is long.

Kevin dropped a copy of the quote off in the mail box and I went over to my realtor's office, scratched out the part about the levelling credit, muttered something about lawyers and jail time, and told the realtor to call me with the buyers response.  Got home, phone rang, realtor with the news that the buyers had no problem dropping the credit request.  One scam down, one to go. 

Only the termite inspection to do and I learn why termites can't jump.