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     Interesting and timely.  That’s all I can say about this news article from WPTV in West Palm Beach Florida.  In my article last week I spoke of landlord and tenant scams.  Here is an apparent scam where 30 people were bilked by a fake landlord.  The alleged fake landlord is a former police officer.

     I’m not sure of the details of each scam but I am sure there were red flags that would have tipped off the potential tenants of what was happening. 

     Strange part is, he is being charged with submitting fake warranty claims on the properties.  I’ll bet if he just stuck to ripping off people he would have been in "business" much longer.

Article and video below.

Fake landlord suspected of scamming 30 renters
Reported by: Jesse Chavez

WEST PALM BEACH, FL — NewsChannel 5 cameras rolled when a would-be tenant confronted her alleged scammers.

Now, the suspected mastermind of a huge rental rip-off is behind bars.

The former officer is now facing 30 criminal charges.

NewsChannel 5′s Jesse Chavez was the first reporter to investigate what authorities now call one of the largest mortgage fraud schemes in Palm Beach County history.

"Who owns this property right here?" asked multi-media journalist Jesse Chavez.

"Who are you?" asked a man who claimed to be a homeowner.

"It don’t make no difference," said an associate.

"How about we just call the sheriff’s department and I’m telling you, get that camera out of my face," said another man who was confronted by us.

Our cameras were rolling two weeks ago, when a group agreed to meet a woman at a home on Wabasso and Oswego.

She had offered to give them $800 to rent it.

"Are you really the landlord then?" asked multi-media journalist Jesse Chavez.

"I own this property," said one man.

"No, we’re property managers," said the woman.

"No, I own it," replied the man. "I could do what I choose to do with it."

It turns out, the group works for former West Palm Beach police officer, Carl Heflin.

None of them own the house in question or any others involved in the alleged scheme.

Heflin was arrested this morning and charged with submitting 20 fake warranty deed forms claiming he owned homes in the Westgate and Belvedere areas of West Palm Beach.

"All the properties are in some sort of foreclosure," said Detective Michael Antinoro of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. "Some of the people are still trying to work it out to pay the payments and some of people just walked away from the property. They’re still technically owned by the person."

Leslie Walker is one of the renters looking for justice.

After paying rent, she even moved into this home before the real owner called the sheriff’s office and had her removed.

"It’s not right, what he’s done," said alleged victim Leslie Walker. "He’s hurt a lot of people and he doesn’t care. He didn’t care what he did."

Walker says she’s now homeless, broke and embarrassed about what happened.

"I’m snake bitten by it, the whole thing. Shocked, angry, victimized is what I am," said Walker.

Heflin is charged with 30 counts of fraud, burglary and grand theft.

Detectives have not charge his associates, but that may change in light of what we caught on camera.

"Listen carefully, back the hell up with your cameras and move on," said the man who claimed to own the house.

"Well if you’ve got nothing to hide, then what’s the problem?" replied multi-media journalist Jesse Chavez.

"This is mine and if you don’t like it, that’s too bad," said the man.

Detectives say the investigation is not complete and others may be charged in the future.

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    Well, I’ve gotten some additional information about the companies that are doing business.  While it seems like one heck of a coincidence, It appears that there is an  Ann Tate doing business in Toledo as RidgeCrest Ventures who purchases homes for sale in full cash deals.  Additionally there is an Ann Tate doing business out of Florida as RidgeCrest Ventures who tried to purchase properties using a lease-purchase and then doing rent to own on the properties with tenants, as was done by Pearce Enterprises, In Faith Properties, KACW Investments and WH Investments.  I’ll admit, in today’s world where you can be in one location (say maybe Florida) with a telephone number from another location (say maybe Toledo) I am still skeptical.  I have, through a separate person, asked this woman to contact me.  Hopefully she will so I can try and get some more information on this.

    I’ve also received the FAQ’s that Eric and Joanne Pearce of Chi Rho Investments send out with their offers.  This is suprisingly similar yet strangely different from the FAQ that Ann Tate and Matt Pearce of RidgeCrest Ventures send out with their offers.  The FAQ’s are very long so I’ve just included the last entry which gives descriptions of the two companies and their principals.  I’ve included it as it was forwarded to me because I am unsure if the formatting of this is the tru way it was sent out.  If so, they need to learn proper typing skills.  As always, you be the judge of what you read here.

Q. Who is Ridgecrest  Ventures
A.  Ridgecrest Ventures  is a subordinate company of Pearce Enterprises Inc.  
Ridgecrest  ventures consists of Matt Pearce, the owner of the company, Anne  
Tate, partner, along with six other employees. Pearce Enterprises  Inc. was
started in Oklahoma in 2002. The company mostly dealt in commercial  real
estate and development at the time, but since then has spread their wings  and
handles every kind of real estate transaction . In 2001 Matt Pearce  graduated
from Oklahoma State University respectively, with accounting and  business
degrees.  And moved the company to Florida.  Anne Tate  graduated from Florida
State, with business and Interior  Design/Architecture.  Anne Tate decided to join
Matt Pearce and  in their first year brought in over 4 million in sales for
the  company with 1.3 million of the sales in lease purchases. In 2003 they   
expanded the business, and they closed their first year with 7.5 million in  
sales with 6.3 million of the sales toward lease purchases.  They closed  2005
with over 9.6 million in sales and 7.9 million toward lease  purchases.  In 2006
they closed the year out with 8.1 million in sales  and 5.3 million toward
lease  purchases.
It is our goal to ensure that the process of selling  your home is a smooth
and easy one for you. We strive for a win-win-win  situation in all of our
lease option deals. You, as the seller of the house,  win by receiving the
assurance of knowing that while the house is being sold,  all of the expenses are
taken care of, and the house is maintained. Our  tenant/buyer wins by getting to
own a home in a shorter amount of time than it  would take them if they were
trying to buy conventionally, as well as being  able to immediately occupy
their new home, while qualifying for a loan. We win  by profiting from the sale of
the home, as well as gaining two more satisfied  customers. The reason that
we are in business is, of course, to make a profit,  as well as use our
expertise in real estate transactions to assist home buyers  and sellers in making
the sale or purchase of their home an easy  one.

Q. Who is Chi Rho Investments
A.  Chi Rho Investments  is a subordinate company of Pearce Enterprises Inc.  
Chi  Rho Investments consists of Eric & Joanne Pearce, the owners  of the
company with six other employees. Pearce Enterprises Inc. was started  by Bill
Pearce in Round Rock, TX, in 1986. The company mostly dealt in real  estate
development at the time, but since then has spread their wings and  handles every
kind of real estate transaction . In 2001 Eric  & Joanne Pearce graduated from
Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma  University respectively, with
accounting and business degrees. They decided to  join the family business and in
their first year brought in over 4  million in sales for the company. In 2003
they moved to Orlando, FL to  expand the business, and they closed their first
year with 7.5 million in sales  and 94 lease option/purchase contracts.  They
closed 2004 with 6.2 million  in sales and closed on 178 lease option/purchase
contracts. They closed 2005  with over 9.6 million in sales and 169 lease
option/purchase contracts.   And in 2006 they topped 15 million and 215 lease
option/purchase  contracts.
It is our goal to ensure that the process of selling your home  is a smooth
and easy one for you. We strive for a win-win-win situation in all  of our
lease option deals. You, as the seller of the house, win by receiving the  
assurance of knowing that while the house is being sold, all of the expenses are  
taken care of, and the house is maintained. Our tenant/buyer wins by getting to  
own a home in a shorter amount of time than it would take them if they were  
trying to buy conventionally, as well as being able to immediately occupy their
 new home, while qualifying for a loan. We win by profiting from the sale of
the  home, as well as gaining two more satisfied customers. The reason that we
are in  business is, of course, to make a profit, as well as use our
expertise in real  estate transactions to assist home buyers and sellers in making the
sale or  purchase of their home an easy one.