Bloggeron

Mathew Marlon was arrested in February of this year for falsely representing to local homeowners that were facing foreclosure that he would purchase their Nevada houses for what they owed their mortgages, plus a small cash payment. He promised that he would pay the remaining mortgages so that the properties in question would not be foreclosed on by the mortgage companies. This November he pleaded guilty to nine gross misdemeanor counts, including Making False Representations Regarding Title.

Marlon was the subject of an investigation by the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office, as well as the Attorney General’s Mortgage Fraud task force. The investigation found that Marlon asked residents to sign false documents which stated that the homes would be transferred from the individual homeowners to different corporations owned by the homeowners. However, the homeowners owned no such companies. Rather, the reason for the transfer of these homes to various companies was to allow Marlon to conceal his identity and not have to pay transfer of taxes to the Nevada county of Clark.
Homeowners signed these papers with the conviction that Marlon was buying their homes, and in doing so they handed over their homes to Marlon, who did not have to pay county taxes required by law.

After pleading guilty, the judge ordered Marlon to pay $20,000 in fines to the state of Nevada, as well as that he pay $86,990.60 for transfer taxes owed on the various properties. Marlon was ordered to pay restitution to his victims of $43,009.40. His total punishment amounted to $130,000.

Foreclosure scams have become an increasingly abundant problem as more and more Nevada citizens are faced with foreclosure on their homes. If you are a Nevada resident, and wish to report consumer or mortgage fraud, you can report to resources at the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection in Las Vegas, where you can acquire a complaint form. Resources for complaint can also be found on the Attorney General’s website.
There are many resources for avoiding scams such as this one, and it’s important to remember that federal and state laws protect victims of unfair trade practices. It’s also important to report these crimes to the appropriate government officials, who have the resources to find and prosecute these criminals. It is a fact that the more law agencies you notify, the more likely it is that whoever swindled you will get caught.

Restoration of all of your money is usually impossible. But like in this case, a criminal who is caught is often made to return some of the resources stolen as part of restitution or punishment. If you know the person who had stolen your resources, you have the option of taking him or her to small claims court. If you do plan on doing this, first send a letter to this person requesting that your monetary resources be returned.

The Nevada government has an Internet resource specifically for dealings with fraud (fightfraud.nv.gov), where victims can go to learn how to defend themselves from such crimes, as well as to research methods of reporting them.