Two Pinched In Real Estate Ripoff Targeting Haitian Immigrants Who Unwittingly Signed Over Title To Homes In Equity Stripping Refinancing Scam

In Delray Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:

• Police allege two Delray Beach-based real estate brokers swindled unknowing Haitian immigrants, many of whom were financially naive or with language barriers, and some even illiterate. The two men are alleged to have created fake property transactions and mortgages in the homeowners' names, then let the properties fall into foreclosure, costing legitimate lending institutions millions of dollars, police said.

• Alex Byron Little, 36, of suburban West Palm Beach, and Jean Pedro Jean Baptiste, 50, of Port St. Lucie, were booked into the Palm Beach County Jail Tuesday. Each is charged with four counts of fraud of at least $50,000, and one count of white collar crime against the elderly of at least $50,000.

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• According to the Delray Beach Police report, the two, along with Boca Raton title attorney Stephen Beyer, ripped off at least six separate individuals or couples in 16 fraudulent mortgage transactions on nine properties in the Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Royal Palm Beach areas.(1)

• The fake mortgages total $3.58 million. "All the properties purchased (or) refinanced by the duped clients fell into foreclosure," [Delray Beach detective Casey] Thume wrote in the report.

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• In case after case, the report alleged, Little and Jean Baptiste forged signatures of homeowners, some of whom couldn't read or write, or rushed owners into signing documents without reading them, and then notarized them. In one case, Baptiste signed a man's name eight months after he died, the report said.

• People who believed they were getting new mortgages actually were unknowingly selling their homes to others, some of them relatives and friends of Jean Baptiste and Little. In one case, a woman had to bring a check to a closing to cover shortfalls, the report said.

For the story, see 2 Delray Beach-based real estate brokers accused of swindling Haitian immigrants.

(1) According to the story, Beyer, the closing attorney, has at least temporarily dodged a bullet as the Palm Beach County State Attorney has opted not to charge him, founder and president of First National Title Co. in Boca Raton and a licensed attorney in Florida since 1971. According to the police report, Beyer told police he closed about 100 real estate deals for Jean Baptiste between 2003 and 2007 but that most were conducted in Creole and he had believed all of them were legitimate, the story states. "There's insufficient evidence to proceed against him at this time," Assistant State Attorney Angela Miller, head of the office's white collar crime division, reportedly said. Beyer reportedly is still licensed and in good standing, and the bar is not investigating him, Florida Bar spokeswoman Karen Kirksey said.

Don't be surprised if one or both of the suspects, in an attempt to save their own asses, decide to belly up to the prosecutor's office, throw Beyer 'under the bus', and implicate him in this alleged racket in an obvious and not uncommon attempt by suspects to shave some time off any possible prison sentence by dragging everyone else involved down into the mud with them.

Further, don't be surprised if the victims of the alleged scam look to The Florida Bar's Clients' Security Fund, Florida's attorney ripoff reimbursement fund, in an attempt to recoup reimbursement for some of their losses, to the extent it is determined that Beyer either new or should have known what was going on, regardless of whether criminal charges are brought against him.

For similar funds established to reimburse clients who have suffered a loss due to the dishonest conduct of attorneys in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.

While the alleged victims are at it, they should also seek possible recovery resulting from the conduct of the two Florida real estate brokers as well from the Florida Real Estate Recovery Fund, which provides reimbursement for eligible claims for losses up to $50,000 per claim due to the escapades of Florida real estate licensees. However, a victim has to first sue the broker in court, obtain a money judgment, and then, to the extent the victim can't satisfy the money judgment from the broker's assets, a claim can be made to the recovery fund for the unrecovered portion of the judgment (the preferred practice is to file a claim with the recovery fund within the 2-year time limitation for such claims, pending the obtaining of a money judgment in court). Further, "Payments for claims based upon judgments against any one broker or sales associate may not exceed, in the aggregate, $150,000." F.S. 475.484(4). For more information on the Florida Real Estate Recovery Fund, see:

• Florida Statute 475.482 Real Estate Recovery Fund,
• Florida Statute 475.483 Conditions for recovery; eligibility.
• Florida Statute 475.484 Payment from the fund. sale leaseback