LovelandPolitics profiled unscrupulous lenders and real estate practices during the housing bubble while some traditional media outlets in the region instead served as cheerleaders for the worst predatory lenders who were their advertisers. As the Loveland municipal elections wind down we wanted to divert your attention temporarily to another real estate gimmick spreading throughout Loveland.
A new scheme for making big money in real estate, Lease-To-Own, is hurting local families and putting many would be homeowners even further away from their dream of home ownership. The local media has failed to report this important story. Loveland neighborhoods are having to deal with the fall-out of Lease-To-Own schemes as successive numbers of tenants willing to pay big deposits to get a shot at home ownership are rotated through bait houses operated by likely unlicensed operators who don’t care for the property thus changing the character of once quiet and familiar Loveland neighborhoods.
The unsuspecting tenant or “buyer” doesn’t realize the scheme operator makes money whether they can buy the house or not. Taking multiple non-refundable deposits while collecting higher than market rent is more profitable than renting at market rate even if a new tenant is brought in and out every six months.
Read LovelandPolitics special investigative report to understand how “Lease-To-Own” schemes can hurt potential buyers and renters and find out how one Loveland family was recently evicted after paying their life savings into a shady Lease-To-Own contract. They later discovered their contract wasn’t with the owner of the property who wanted them out.
The bottom line is licensed real estate brokers and title companies are the best protection a buyer has to ensure they are indeed buying the property. Trying to buy a house through a backdoor deal may sound alluring but is very risky. We recommend anyone trying to acquire real estate through these unconventional methods hire an independent attorney to represent their interests in the deal or run away fast.
An excellent source of information on real estate gimmicks and scams is the real estate guru muckraker John T. Reed. You can read his commentary on this latest Rent-To-Own real estate gimmick here.
Any comments?
You are no different than those you claim to report on and expose. Why should anyone take anything published here seriously?
Why did you go so easy on these people? It is unconscionable what they are doing and that so many stand by and let them do it. As a real estate professional myself, I am appalled at their tactics but don’t want more regulations – we have enough! Below I out link to web locations where people can find-out what the purchase option prgorams are all about.
http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/30/lease-options-investor-tenant-agent-winwinwin/
A true Halloween horror tale. Not pretty, but thanks for sharing it anyway.
Thanks for this report…sad as it is. Another story I’ll probably never see in the print media.
It seems there are plenty of heartless predators out there, and some people never (or are slow to) learn.
Tinker’s comment makes no sense at all, and I suppose that’s just another case of someone who hates to see such exposes …attacking the messenger (this website). Tinker, if there’s some inaccuracy in this report, why don’t you have the dignity to point it out rather than
The corruption here is that ANYONE who buys advertising in the local newspaper can rape, pillage and steal from Loveland residents with immunity. What happened to the good ole days of an independent media?
Did anyone catch the Repeater Herald editorial this weekend? They will be speaking to visiting Russian publishers about government transparency and keeping an eye on local officials?
Ha! Boy do they drink their own bathwater! Many journalists have been threatened or killed trying to report the truth on the Russian Mafia but the Reporter Herald won’t report the truth for much lesser reasons.
The Loveland Reporter-Herald’s only threat is maybe some advertising dollars and not being invited to Chad McWhinney’s private dinners when he buys out a Ft. Collins restuarant or hosts free beer receptions at local sporting events! Oh, and the fact McWhinney seems to be the landing place now for Loveland Reporter-Herald reporters who keep their noses clean and report only what their editor and McWhinney want to see in print.
Maybe the Russians need to teach the Loveland Reporter-Herald a lesson or two. When your newspaper becomes the stepping ladder to PR jobs at McWhinney and city officials meet in private to decide spending issues without concern of the local newspaper something is wrong.
Ken Amundson is even more out of touch than Ieven I thought!
Not everyone doing lease options is corrupt.
Caveat Emptur or something i think is the saying. Buyer beware.
If people are too stupid to read a contract they deserve to lose their money. I am not certain why the people involved need to answer questions to this stupid website. You are nobody and nothing!
Get A F%$# life!
It is unfortunate that I just found this article. My kids fell into the trap with this man. The owner of the property of course will claim any type of responsibility. The rent is too high along with all the utilities. The owner considers himself the “landlord” of the property and that Marty is out of it. However, the landlord will not help with fixing this house at all. It has mold, the roof is leaking now, the kids had to pay for a new garage door, new hot water tank. These are the responisibility of a landlord. The deposit was a high amount and not considered “security deposit”, but a deposit that should be returned if the people in these situations do not qualify to buy the home. That would be just like any other sales contract right? To the person that says read the contract, well you would be very surprised at how smart these people are. The contract even read looks very legitimate. Now my kids will be homeless soon with 4 kids of their own and it is crazy the owner is not willing to help out with this because he says he can get even higher rent for the property.