Fire Drives Unwitting Recent Homebuyer From Residence Shortly After Learning His Property Purchase Was Worthless Land Contract Fleecing Him Of $48K

In Vacaville, California, KTXL-TV Channel 40 reports:

• The home Johnnie Carabajal was living in went up in smoke [earlier this month], but the fire was the last in a long list of bad things that happened to him and his four kids.



• Earlier in the month, he had been told to get out of the house he was trying to buy. "It went into foreclosure I lost it for hiring a bad realtor he's in court for embezzlement for 1.5 million dollars," said Carabajal.



• FOX40 backed up his claim on the FBI’s website. Alonzo Brown III was indicted on mortgage fraud charges this past summer. The nine-count indictment states Brown took out loans in the names of friends and used the money to buy property without their knowledge. Carabajal was not named in the case, but he says he used Brown to help him through the short sale.



• "I've given him almost 48 thousand dollars cash throughout the whole time," said Carabajal. That cash never made it to the bank. "The bank doesn't even know who I am on this house they look at me as a squatter on this house and I've been squatting in this house for two years," said Carabajal.



• FOX40 tried to contact Brown today, he did not answer the phone. Wells Fargo is looking into the situation. For now Carabajal is living in a motel and is trying to find a rental in the school district his kids attend.

Source: Fire Uncovers Possible Real-Estate Fraud.