DATE: September 10, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Lisa A. Smittcamp, District Attorney
SUBJECT: Annual Report of the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Program
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Receive and file annual report of the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution program pursuant to California Government Code Section 27388.
REPORT
This report will summarize the activities of the Office of the District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Prosecution program from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There are no viable options available.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with this action. The Real Estate Fraud Prosecution program is funded with recording fees, which fund 100% of the direct costs as well as a portion of indirect costs associated with this program. During FY 2023-24, the Unit expended a total of $698,990.66 which included personnel costs, operating expenses, and overhead allocations. Revenue in the amount of $556,336.30 was collected from the filing fees and interest earned, all of which was placed in the Unit’s Special Revenue Fund which had a FY 2023-24 year-end balance of $1,170,807.61 after the final accounting.
DISCUSSION:
This report is prepared for the purposes of compliance with Government Code Section 27388 (d). This report will summarize the activities of the Office of the District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Prosecution program from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024.
The monies collected pursuant to Government Code Section 27388 fund the District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Unit which is comprised of five positions for FY 2023-24: one Deputy District Attorney, three Senior DA Investigators and one Paralegal. These personnel are fully funded by the recording fees for investigation and prosecution of real estate fraud crimes.
For FY 2023-24, the Real Estate Fraud Unit received 24 cases for review from members of the community, local businesses, and other agencies regarding possible real estate fraud. Cases for review include referral forms received from the public, reports from governmental agencies as well as cases submitted for criminal filings by law enforcement agencies. The DA Real Estate Fraud investigators are currently conducting 48 active investigations. This number includes new and continuing investigations from prior years as well as new and pending court cases.
Criminal charges were filed in two new cases, resulting in a current total of 18 active court cases including court cases from prior years. In FY 2023-24, 12 cases were closed.
Serious criminal schemes detected and investigated during FY 2023-24 included the following:
● Forgery ● Altered documents
● Identity theft ● Foreclosure/loan modifications scheme
● Grand theft ● Elder Abuse
● Filing forged or false documents
General Overview of Real Estate Fraud cases:
Typically, real estate fraud cases involve extensive investigation and the gathering of numerous documents from various sources. These complex investigations can take anywhere from three months to three years or more to investigate and prosecute to conclusion. Investigations require interviewing victims, witnesses, mortgage, and title/escrow companies, and more. Most investigations require search warrants for documents and/or bank records.
An example of a Real Estate Fraud scenario is:
An elderly couple owned a home in Fresno but had to move in with their daughter down south. They couldn’t afford the home anymore, so they were going to let it go into default. The defendant was the father to one of the elderly homeowner’s grandchildren. He knew about the homeowner’s leaving town and letting the house go into foreclosure. A week after the elderly couple had moved out of Fresno, the defendant forged the elderly couple’s signatures on a grant deed and filed it. The defendant began paying the mortgage on the home, using the elderly couple’s credit.
CAO ANALYST:
Fine Nai