Mortgage Scam

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
Apparently, if I understand correctly, there is a scam being used where someone is able to put a mortgage on your property without your knowledge. This was told to me by a friend from a report he saw on the local tv, here is the email:

Sali? en Esteban y al otro d?a en Teleuniverso al D?a, Realty Dominicana ha hecho una estafa multimillonaria a muchos clientes, les vende la propiedad o se las financia y cuando el cliente se da cuenta a los a?os la propiedad est? hipotecada por otro lado.

Una Americana se di? cuenta porque decidi? pagar de contado y al a?o de tanta vuelta una abogada le investig? que la propiedad entera est? hipotecada por RD$20 millones. En la misma entrevista dan los nombres de Fernando Enrique Diaz Lopez, Realty Dominicana, Gurabo.


Moderator, please feel free to delete the name of the business if you feel necessary.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
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Moderator, please feel free to delete the name of the business if you feel necessary.

My feeling is that if the accusation was already made in another public medium, there should be no problem quoting it here.
 

Tallman1818

New member
Nov 19, 2007
393
12
0
Chip you got the wrong idea, I saw it on Detras de la Noticia ( Esteban Rosales program)
the american lady from Puerto Rico purchase the property and it already had a morgage on it and she was told it was a clean title on the property so when she finally got the title on hand she find out the was a mortgage on the entire Urbanizacion for 20,000,000 pesos.
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
1,358
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elizabetheames.blogspot.com
Horror stories abound

You guys should spend a weekend in Las Terrenas and talk to some of the folks there..... There is one house called the Casa Blanca which has been sold at least five times, title never transfered, all sellers out of money but since it is owned by a crooked French guy .... who did years and years of scamming there before moving to Rio San Juan.... and he is a crook, and deals with crooks, whose money is "black" as the French say, the buyers have no recourse.

There was an English couple who bought a lot, built a house, then found that they did not have title to the land. This same couple had their lawyer register the car, then found that while they were in the lawyer's office, he had had the car stolen from the parking lot while registering it in his name.

Geez... I am surprised that you are all surprised by this.

As far as I know, title insurance here, which will actually protect you and is absolutely required in the States, is only available in Santo Domingo... maybe Santiago.
 

Castellamonte

Bronze
Mar 3, 2005
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Cabrera
www.villa-castellamonte.com
As far as I know, title insurance here, which will actually protect you and is absolutely required in the States, is only available in Santo Domingo... maybe Santiago.

Title insurance is available anywhere in the Dominican Republic. The key is to ensure that the title is insurable, which title companies and good lawyers do quite well. My basic rule: if the title company won't write a policy then I won't buy it!
 
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Snuffy

Bronze
May 3, 2002
1,462
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Land In Bonao

There was a piece of land in Bonao I had my eye on for months. I did not buy it but months later I received a visit from a lady asking for a copy of a title document that the previous owner had given me. I explained that I did not have it any longer. She went on to tell me that she had purchased the land and was now finding out that it was a scam. The guy never owned the land and now neither did she. My instincts were right on. Something was amiss.
 

Conchman

Silver
Jul 3, 2002
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www.oceanworld.net
I can write a book about people selling land they never owned, just from our experience here in Cofresi. Its common practice here, especially outside the two cities. Crooked lawyers and judges usually facilitate the fraud.

Getting the right lawyer will (usually) prevent this from happening.
 

MikeFisher

The Fisherman/Weather Mod
Feb 28, 2006
13,766
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Punta Cana/DR
www.mikefisher.fun
You guys should spend a weekend in Las Terrenas and talk to some of the folks there..... There is one house called the Casa Blanca which has been sold at least five times, title never transfered, all sellers out of money but since it is owned by a crooked French guy .... who did years and years of scamming there before moving to Rio San Juan.... and he is a crook, and deals with crooks, whose money is "black" as the French say, the buyers have no recourse.

There was an English couple who bought a lot, built a house, then found that they did not have title to the land. This same couple had their lawyer register the car, then found that while they were in the lawyer's office, he had had the car stolen from the parking lot while registering it in his name.

Geez... I am surprised that you are all surprised by this.

As far as I know, title insurance here, which will actually protect you and is absolutely required in the States, is only available in Santo Domingo... maybe Santiago.


they bought the property and LATER they found out there is not Title for the Property.
that's why I always say:
Never Buy from anybody Who's Name is not on the Original Title Presented To YOU, The Buyer.

as far as the OP,
they purchased the property without doing a check on the Title/Papers of the Property, otherwise they would have seen right away that the Property is Mortgaged.

don't trust ever any Real Estate Agent or Lawyer Who does not present in front of YOUR Eyes the Original Title of a property, and if the Owner's Name on the Title is not the Agent's/Lawyers Name, then get in touch with that Owner and do sign contracts only with the Owner/Person named in the Title.
using the Number of a property's Title You can check if a property is clean or not.

Happy Holidays

Mike
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
11,747
1,343
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Common sense still applies using title insurance ... you folks do realize this thread is over a year old?
 
E

engineerfg

Guest
they bought the property and LATER they found out there is not Title for the Property.
that's why I always say:
Never Buy from anybody Who's Name is not on the Original Title Presented To YOU, The Buyer.

as far as the OP,
they purchased the property without doing a check on the Title/Papers of the Property, otherwise they would have seen right away that the Property is Mortgaged.

don't trust ever any Real Estate Agent or Lawyer Who does not present in front of YOUR Eyes the Original Title of a property, and if the Owner's Name on the Title is not the Agent's/Lawyers Name, then get in touch with that Owner and do sign contracts only with the Owner/Person named in the Title.
using the Number of a property's Title You can check if a property is clean or not.

Happy Holidays

Mike

I don't even know if seeing the name on the title is good enough here. I recall a story up North of a lawyer who's wife actually had a job in the land titles office, and well, you know where that fraud led...