Ventura County Targets Real Estate Schemes

A Ventura County prosecution team created Tuesday will go after real estate agents, brokers and appraisers who use predatory schemes to take advantage of unsuspecting home sellers and buyers.

As outlined by Dist. Atty. Gregory Totten, the unit will investigate complaints of shady real estate practices and prosecute those accused of breaking the law.

Following a public hearing, the Board of Supervisors approved creation of the unit on a 4-0 vote, with Supervisor John Flynn absent.

The program’s $250,000 annual cost will be covered by a $2 increase in the county’s fee for recording real estate documents, Totten said. Ventura County’s fee for recording deeds, trusts and other documents will rise to $9 from $7.

Several members of a real estate trade group said they supported the program even though it would add to the cost of buying a home. During the hearing, speakers said they had seen an increase in unscrupulous activity in recent years.

“Lenders and agents are taking advantage of undereducated consumers and those who do not speak English as well as others,” said Stuart Monteith, president of the Ventura County Coastal Assn. of Realtors.

In one case, Monteith said, a buyer was charged $20,000 in closing fees on the purchase of a $500,000 home. The standard charges would have been closer to $8,000, she said.

The unsuspecting buyer “didn’t speak a word of English,” she said. “The abuse out there is running rampant.”

Realtor Jim Keith of Oxnard said complaints sent to the state’s Department of Real Estate for investigation take up to four years to conclude because the office is overloaded and understaffed.

Having a local alternative will be valuable, he told supervisors.

“I am seeing things beyond belief,” said Keith, who said he has been in the real estate business for 31 years. “This unit of the district attorney is going to be very busy, and it’s desperately needed.”

The unit calls for just one attorney and one investigator so prosecutors can focus on cases in which individuals are at risk of losing their homes, Totten said.

Four cases have been referred to the unit since he unveiled the program two weeks ago, he said.

“We’re not going to be able to deal with every case,” Totten said, noting that each one involves a laborious paper trail of evidence. “But we’ll do the best we can.”

A 1995 state law authorized counties to impose the $2 fee increase to deal with burgeoning real estate crimes. At least eight other counties, including Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego, have established similar units.

Kay Bolton-Wilson, a Santa Paula Realtor, said trade groups have tried to police their own and educate home buyers about what to watch for. Despite that, abuses abound, Bolton-Wilson said.

“Realtors generally abhor increased taxation,” she said. “But we feel desperate about protecting the public.”