| LovelandPolitics.com |
| Maury Dobbie Resigns From NCEDC Local Media Reports Read Like Company Newsletters Praisng Dobbie and not asking any tough questions |
Loveland -- August 11, 2009
Loveland Development Ground Zero for Mortgage Fraud
Last March Arpeggio Village, a housing project in Loveland’s Alford Meadows development that is legally described
as Alford Lake 1st, became ground zero in a statewide mortgage fraud inquiry. The Loveland development was a
textbook case in the type of unethical behavior that artificially inflated real estate prices and caused the crash in our
national economy beginning in late 2006.
Artificially high sales prices driven by kickbacks created an artificial bubble that caused some 43 of the 71 homes in the
development to fall into foreclosure since 2007 according to findings of the Colorado Real Estate Commission.
A common type of real estate fraud is for developers to artificially inflate the values of their properties through phony
sales prices. In this type of scam the developer finds someone willing to buy homes in the development early to help
create a very high initial value of the properties for later appraisal comparisons. The buyer and seller report a phony
higher-than-market sales price which is offset later by undisclosed kickbacks to the buyer. Often the builder sells the
homes to friends or subcontractors who are willing to record the artificially high purchase price and later receive their
money back from the builder through other contracts or cash payments.
This is what appears to have happened in Arpeggio Village. Last January the Colorado Real Estate Commission heard
testimony that broker Kimberly Preston, who sold Arpeggio Village homes, was involved in mortgage fraud by not
disclosing buyer kickbacks in the HUD (Housing and Urban Development) statement of the transaction. The
commission voted to revoke her license, imposed a $40,000 fine and referred the matter to criminal prosecutors for
investigation.
The alleged scam inflated appraisals (or could have provided cover for already crooked appraisers) which allowed
subsequent buyers to finance more of the purchase price of their homes in the development. The builder also benefited
as subsequent buyer’s thought they were getting a bargain when comparing the price they paid with the higher priced
artificial sales history already established in the neighborhood.
NCEDC President – Neck Deep In Arpeggio Village
Maury Dobbie, formerly the President and CEO of NCEDC (Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp.) was
neck deep in Arpeggio Village. Between April and August of 2006 she purchased 3 homes in the development which
according to Larimer County records together cost $1,254,900.
The question is whether county records are correct in light of the Colorado Real Estate Commission’s findings. Was
Dobbie among the early investors receiving kickbacks from the now defunct builder, Grace Builders Inc. of Ft.
Collins? The recent sale of one of Dobbie’s houses located at 5060 Coral Burst Circle in Loveland at a 40% discount
from her reported purchase price is curious at best.
Dobbie - Schemer or Victim?
According to county records, Dobbie paid a whopping $447,900 for a 1,533 square foot home at 5060 Coral Burst
Circle on a very narrow lot. Ray Garcia offered Dobbie $260,000 for the same house just three years later and was
surprised she accepted. Garcia told LovelandPolitics he couldn’t understand why anyone would have paid so much for
that house. The two remaining homes owned by Dobbie (5223 & 5050 Coral Burst Circle) are valued by the Larimer
County assessor at $290,000 and $268,000 respectively. According to county records Maury Dobbie paid just
around $400,000 for each of these properties in 2006.
Dobbie is reported to have received payments from Grace Builders Inc. through her contract for her Ft. Collins media
company, MediaTech Productions Inc., to assist in staging presentations to sell subsequent investors in the
development. For her part, Dobbie has described herself as a victim who thought the houses were good investments.
According to the website Trulia.com, the median price for similar sized homes in Loveland have ranged from just above
$200,000 in 2006 to well below $200,000 by 2009. Arpeggio Village homes, while crowded on very small lots, do
have a number of interior finishing upgrades and some back open space which improves the property's value.
County records show that all 3 of Dobbie’s properties in the development have fallen in and out of various stages of
foreclosure since the beginning of this year. As an example, the property located at 5050 Coral Burst Circle (pictured
in this story) shows a “cure deadline” from foreclosure of September 22, 2009.
While the State of Colorado was investigating Arpeggio Village earlier in the year the NCEDC was embroiled in an
internal controversy of its own regarding an accusation that a board member company acted improperly by steering
new prospects towards itself. In addition, the NCEDC was reeling from declining contributions resulting in a budget
shortfall.
By the end of May 2009 the NCEDC President and CEO, Maury Dobbie, resigned through what was described as "a
mutual agreement" with the NCEDC board of directors. Local media mostly described her resignation as a happy
opportunity for Dobbie to return to the private sector and start “building companies” again. It wasn’t until 3 weeks
after her resignation that local media reported the NCEDC board would not replace her position due to a budget crisis.
Only one local publication (according to our research) ever mentioned Dobbie’s name in connection with the alleged
Arpeggio Village mortgage fraud scandal. Read a story in the Northern Colorado Business Report .
Whether she was just an unwilling victim herself who happened to also assist the developer in media and staging while
buying 3 properties or had a more serious role is a serious question we cannot answer. This would depend on whether
Dobbie received kickbacks and whether such kickbacks were disclosed to lenders at the time of the sale. Because the
property sales don't appear to be "arms-length" transactions it is impossible for LovelandPolitics to determine eider way
by only examining the documents available to the general public. Private communications between the seller and buyer
along with related financial transactions between the parties would need to be reviewed before an educated opinion
could be made whether or not that is what happened in the case of Dobbie's purchases.
NCEDC Falling Apart
Just before Dobbie’s resignation a member company of the NCEDC made serious ethics complaints against Dobbie
and a close friend who was one of the most powerful members of the 13 member board of directors. “Rocky” Scott,
according to a fellow developer’s complaint, used his position at the NCEDC to steer business exclusively towards his
own employer -- McWhinney. That complaint was related to the NCEDC working with Agrium Inc. of Greeley
relocating to the Loveland area.
The combination of Dobbie’s resignation and internal strife at the NCEDC appears to have resulted in even more
reliable contributors refusing to make their annual contributions. The Larimer County Board of Commissioners recently
voted to discontinue their annual contribution of $10,000 to the NCEDC. Larimer County follows a number of
contributors who either scaled back or completely stopped contributing money to the NCEDC in 2009.
Loveland Development Ground Zero for Mortgage Fraud
Last March Arpeggio Village, a housing project in Loveland’s Alford Meadows development that is legally described
as Alford Lake 1st, became ground zero in a statewide mortgage fraud inquiry. The Loveland development was a
textbook case in the type of unethical behavior that artificially inflated real estate prices and caused the crash in our
national economy beginning in late 2006.
Artificially high sales prices driven by kickbacks created an artificial bubble that caused some 43 of the 71 homes in the
development to fall into foreclosure since 2007 according to findings of the Colorado Real Estate Commission.
A common type of real estate fraud is for developers to artificially inflate the values of their properties through phony
sales prices. In this type of scam the developer finds someone willing to buy homes in the development early to help
create a very high initial value of the properties for later appraisal comparisons. The buyer and seller report a phony
higher-than-market sales price which is offset later by undisclosed kickbacks to the buyer. Often the builder sells the
homes to friends or subcontractors who are willing to record the artificially high purchase price and later receive their
money back from the builder through other contracts or cash payments.
This is what appears to have happened in Arpeggio Village. Last January the Colorado Real Estate Commission heard
testimony that broker Kimberly Preston, who sold Arpeggio Village homes, was involved in mortgage fraud by not
disclosing buyer kickbacks in the HUD (Housing and Urban Development) statement of the transaction. The
commission voted to revoke her license, imposed a $40,000 fine and referred the matter to criminal prosecutors for
investigation.
The alleged scam inflated appraisals (or could have provided cover for already crooked appraisers) which allowed
subsequent buyers to finance more of the purchase price of their homes in the development. The builder also benefited
as subsequent buyer’s thought they were getting a bargain when comparing the price they paid with the higher priced
artificial sales history already established in the neighborhood.
NCEDC President – Neck Deep In Arpeggio Village
Maury Dobbie, formerly the President and CEO of NCEDC (Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp.) was
neck deep in Arpeggio Village. Between April and August of 2006 she purchased 3 homes in the development which
according to Larimer County records together cost $1,254,900.
The question is whether county records are correct in light of the Colorado Real Estate Commission’s findings. Was
Dobbie among the early investors receiving kickbacks from the now defunct builder, Grace Builders Inc. of Ft.
Collins? The recent sale of one of Dobbie’s houses located at 5060 Coral Burst Circle in Loveland at a 40% discount
from her reported purchase price is curious at best.
Dobbie - Schemer or Victim?
According to county records, Dobbie paid a whopping $447,900 for a 1,533 square foot home at 5060 Coral Burst
Circle on a very narrow lot. Ray Garcia offered Dobbie $260,000 for the same house just three years later and was
surprised she accepted. Garcia told LovelandPolitics he couldn’t understand why anyone would have paid so much for
that house. The two remaining homes owned by Dobbie (5223 & 5050 Coral Burst Circle) are valued by the Larimer
County assessor at $290,000 and $268,000 respectively. According to county records Maury Dobbie paid just
around $400,000 for each of these properties in 2006.
Dobbie is reported to have received payments from Grace Builders Inc. through her contract for her Ft. Collins media
company, MediaTech Productions Inc., to assist in staging presentations to sell subsequent investors in the
development. For her part, Dobbie has described herself as a victim who thought the houses were good investments.
According to the website Trulia.com, the median price for similar sized homes in Loveland have ranged from just above
$200,000 in 2006 to well below $200,000 by 2009. Arpeggio Village homes, while crowded on very small lots, do
have a number of interior finishing upgrades and some back open space which improves the property's value.
County records show that all 3 of Dobbie’s properties in the development have fallen in and out of various stages of
foreclosure since the beginning of this year. As an example, the property located at 5050 Coral Burst Circle (pictured
in this story) shows a “cure deadline” from foreclosure of September 22, 2009.
While the State of Colorado was investigating Arpeggio Village earlier in the year the NCEDC was embroiled in an
internal controversy of its own regarding an accusation that a board member company acted improperly by steering
new prospects towards itself. In addition, the NCEDC was reeling from declining contributions resulting in a budget
shortfall.
By the end of May 2009 the NCEDC President and CEO, Maury Dobbie, resigned through what was described as "a
mutual agreement" with the NCEDC board of directors. Local media mostly described her resignation as a happy
opportunity for Dobbie to return to the private sector and start “building companies” again. It wasn’t until 3 weeks
after her resignation that local media reported the NCEDC board would not replace her position due to a budget crisis.
Only one local publication (according to our research) ever mentioned Dobbie’s name in connection with the alleged
Arpeggio Village mortgage fraud scandal. Read a story in the Northern Colorado Business Report .
Whether she was just an unwilling victim herself who happened to also assist the developer in media and staging while
buying 3 properties or had a more serious role is a serious question we cannot answer. This would depend on whether
Dobbie received kickbacks and whether such kickbacks were disclosed to lenders at the time of the sale. Because the
property sales don't appear to be "arms-length" transactions it is impossible for LovelandPolitics to determine eider way
by only examining the documents available to the general public. Private communications between the seller and buyer
along with related financial transactions between the parties would need to be reviewed before an educated opinion
could be made whether or not that is what happened in the case of Dobbie's purchases.
NCEDC Falling Apart
Just before Dobbie’s resignation a member company of the NCEDC made serious ethics complaints against Dobbie
and a close friend who was one of the most powerful members of the 13 member board of directors. “Rocky” Scott,
according to a fellow developer’s complaint, used his position at the NCEDC to steer business exclusively towards his
own employer -- McWhinney. That complaint was related to the NCEDC working with Agrium Inc. of Greeley
relocating to the Loveland area.
The combination of Dobbie’s resignation and internal strife at the NCEDC appears to have resulted in even more
reliable contributors refusing to make their annual contributions. The Larimer County Board of Commissioners recently
voted to discontinue their annual contribution of $10,000 to the NCEDC. Larimer County follows a number of
contributors who either scaled back or completely stopped contributing money to the NCEDC in 2009.
| This property located at 5050 Coral Burst Circle is 1 of 3 purchased by Dobbie in 2006 for around $400,000 according to county records. It is listed among properties going into foreclosure with a "cure date" of September 22, 2009. |
| Northwestern University Society of Journalism Oath Preamble Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice |