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LovelandPolitics
| Loveland's Independent News Source |
Ft. Collins, February 24, 2012
Martin Lee Hutcheson (who goes by Marty), operated a "Lease-Option-To-Own" scam in Loveland that
LovelandPolitics has reported on exclusively since 2009 (see links to stories in right column). Hutcheson was
arrested in Ft. Collins on February 17, 2012 and will appear before Larimer County Judge Thomas French on
multiple charges of financial fraud later today. He is being prosecuted by the Colorado Attorney General's Office.
The warrant for Hutcheson's arrest has been concealed by law enforcement. He was indited by a grand jury that
heard the evidence against him and made the indictment. Details of the charges have not been released but all are
class 3 felonies taking place between 2005 and late January of this year. Nine of the ten charges involve security
violations (financial) of making false statements. The last charge is for an alleged theft in excess of $20,000. link
to actual charges
Whether the charges are related to Hutcheson's real estate business activities in Loveland is still undetermined as
the details have not been released. LovelandPolitics received a number of emails over the past three years from
purported victims of Hutcheson claiming to be victims of investment schemes as well as real estate deals.
Ft. Collins Real Estate Broker Receives Public Censure
Ft. Collins real estate broker Clayton Roberts allegedly participated in at least one Lease-To-Own scam by
Hutcheson for a property located on Hazel Court in Loveland. Roberts acknowledges he and Hutcheson (both
former used car salesmen) were friends but denies having been a business partner of Hutcheson.
Roberts' name first appeared when the mother of one of the Hazel Court tenants/buyers reported to
LovelandPolitics that a licensed real estate broker was involved in their transaction. This is noteworthy as
LovelandPolitics recommended in 2009 that people who are approached about investing in a Lease-To-Own
opportunity only deal with licensed real estate brokers and title companies for their protection.
By 2010, Hutcheson who responded by email to the LovelandPolitics story, did involve Ft. Collins real estate
broker Clayton Roberts in at least one deal. According to the tenants on Hazel Court in Loveland, they heeded
such advice and relied detrimentally upon Roberts to act as an honest broker in the transaction. For his part,
Roberts claims his only infraction was failing to properly record his involvement in what he calls largely a broker
"paperwork" obligation oversight.
After the deal went sour, the mother of one of the tenants contacted the Colorado Division of Real Estate and filed
an official complaint against Roberts' brokers license. No complaint was filed against Hutcheson or the owner of
the property as neither is a licensed real estate broker. The Colorado Real Estate Commission only has
jurisdiction over licensees and not other citizens. However, LovelandPolitics was contacted by the Loveland
Police Department that was investigating the issue on behalf of Larimer County District Attorney Larry
Abrahamson. The current charges against Hutcheson are being prosecuted by the Colorado Attorney Generals
Office. They appear to be related to securities fraud accusations.
The Colorado Real Estate Commission fined Roberts $2,500, mandated remedial training in Contracts, Property
Management and Broker disclosures while also recording the event as a Public Censure to remain on his license
record. The Colorado Real Estate Commission final agency order signed by Roberts states,
"Respondent admits that he/she has demonstrated unworthiness or incompetency to act as a real estate
broker by conducting business in such a manner as to endanger the interest of the public"
Stipulation and Final Agency Order
Colorado Real Estate Commission
Roberts Retaliates Against LovelandPolitics
In emails and a plethora of recent blog postings by Roberts, the Censured broker is taking aim at this website and
its publisher by making unsubstantiated personal accusations along with veiled threats of future negative
consequences for the publisher. Someone claiming to be Roberts has posted numerous times in recent days on a
December 1, 2011 blog entry that linked to a LovelandPolitics story exposing an email by Roberts to both a state
investigator and the people cooperating with the investigation that he would make "lives miserable" by hiring an
attorney and sue everyone involved.
LovelandPolitics has learned a second complaint has been filed against Roberts asking the Colorado Real Estate
Commission to take further actions to stop the retaliatory actions by Roberts against his accusers. Roberts also
appears to be making veiled threats to the LovelandPolitics publisher by mentioning assets he is aware of owned
by the publisher of LovelandPolitics accompanied by comments like the two below.
"I would say this kind reporting and behavior will come back to haunt you at sometime" and
"I’m not surprised someone tried to hack your system you got part of what you deserve but not all of
what you deserve hopefully that comes your way in the future."
Clay Roberts
Ft. Collins Real Estate Broker
February 21, 2012
Both Hutcheson and Roberts have maintained they did nothing wrong in their emails to LovelandPolitics and both
have chosen to attack the credibility of this website instead of addressing the specific issues raised in the stories
about the Hazel Court Lease-Option-To-Buy scheme they transacted in Loveland. Both appear to be creating
straw man arguments to knock over instead of addressing the real issues raised in the series of reports.
Above, Roberts statement, "you got what you deserved" appears to support criminal activity as hacking is a
violation of federal law. Unauthorized access to a protected computer is a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(4)
and attempts of reckless damage to a protected computer violate 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5).
Despite attempts at intimidation and personal attacks, we will continue to publish this website and report on those
we believe are acting against the public's best interest in Loveland.
Please don't be shy and place your insights, comments or questions on our blog.
Martin Lee Hutcheson (who goes by Marty), operated a "Lease-Option-To-Own" scam in Loveland that
LovelandPolitics has reported on exclusively since 2009 (see links to stories in right column). Hutcheson was
arrested in Ft. Collins on February 17, 2012 and will appear before Larimer County Judge Thomas French on
multiple charges of financial fraud later today. He is being prosecuted by the Colorado Attorney General's Office.
The warrant for Hutcheson's arrest has been concealed by law enforcement. He was indited by a grand jury that
heard the evidence against him and made the indictment. Details of the charges have not been released but all are
class 3 felonies taking place between 2005 and late January of this year. Nine of the ten charges involve security
violations (financial) of making false statements. The last charge is for an alleged theft in excess of $20,000. link
to actual charges
Whether the charges are related to Hutcheson's real estate business activities in Loveland is still undetermined as
the details have not been released. LovelandPolitics received a number of emails over the past three years from
purported victims of Hutcheson claiming to be victims of investment schemes as well as real estate deals.
Ft. Collins Real Estate Broker Receives Public Censure
Ft. Collins real estate broker Clayton Roberts allegedly participated in at least one Lease-To-Own scam by
Hutcheson for a property located on Hazel Court in Loveland. Roberts acknowledges he and Hutcheson (both
former used car salesmen) were friends but denies having been a business partner of Hutcheson.
Roberts' name first appeared when the mother of one of the Hazel Court tenants/buyers reported to
LovelandPolitics that a licensed real estate broker was involved in their transaction. This is noteworthy as
LovelandPolitics recommended in 2009 that people who are approached about investing in a Lease-To-Own
opportunity only deal with licensed real estate brokers and title companies for their protection.
By 2010, Hutcheson who responded by email to the LovelandPolitics story, did involve Ft. Collins real estate
broker Clayton Roberts in at least one deal. According to the tenants on Hazel Court in Loveland, they heeded
such advice and relied detrimentally upon Roberts to act as an honest broker in the transaction. For his part,
Roberts claims his only infraction was failing to properly record his involvement in what he calls largely a broker
"paperwork" obligation oversight.
After the deal went sour, the mother of one of the tenants contacted the Colorado Division of Real Estate and filed
an official complaint against Roberts' brokers license. No complaint was filed against Hutcheson or the owner of
the property as neither is a licensed real estate broker. The Colorado Real Estate Commission only has
jurisdiction over licensees and not other citizens. However, LovelandPolitics was contacted by the Loveland
Police Department that was investigating the issue on behalf of Larimer County District Attorney Larry
Abrahamson. The current charges against Hutcheson are being prosecuted by the Colorado Attorney Generals
Office. They appear to be related to securities fraud accusations.
The Colorado Real Estate Commission fined Roberts $2,500, mandated remedial training in Contracts, Property
Management and Broker disclosures while also recording the event as a Public Censure to remain on his license
record. The Colorado Real Estate Commission final agency order signed by Roberts states,
"Respondent admits that he/she has demonstrated unworthiness or incompetency to act as a real estate
broker by conducting business in such a manner as to endanger the interest of the public"
Stipulation and Final Agency Order
Colorado Real Estate Commission
Roberts Retaliates Against LovelandPolitics
In emails and a plethora of recent blog postings by Roberts, the Censured broker is taking aim at this website and
its publisher by making unsubstantiated personal accusations along with veiled threats of future negative
consequences for the publisher. Someone claiming to be Roberts has posted numerous times in recent days on a
December 1, 2011 blog entry that linked to a LovelandPolitics story exposing an email by Roberts to both a state
investigator and the people cooperating with the investigation that he would make "lives miserable" by hiring an
attorney and sue everyone involved.
LovelandPolitics has learned a second complaint has been filed against Roberts asking the Colorado Real Estate
Commission to take further actions to stop the retaliatory actions by Roberts against his accusers. Roberts also
appears to be making veiled threats to the LovelandPolitics publisher by mentioning assets he is aware of owned
by the publisher of LovelandPolitics accompanied by comments like the two below.
"I would say this kind reporting and behavior will come back to haunt you at sometime" and
"I’m not surprised someone tried to hack your system you got part of what you deserve but not all of
what you deserve hopefully that comes your way in the future."
Clay Roberts
Ft. Collins Real Estate Broker
February 21, 2012
Both Hutcheson and Roberts have maintained they did nothing wrong in their emails to LovelandPolitics and both
have chosen to attack the credibility of this website instead of addressing the specific issues raised in the stories
about the Hazel Court Lease-Option-To-Buy scheme they transacted in Loveland. Both appear to be creating
straw man arguments to knock over instead of addressing the real issues raised in the series of reports.
Above, Roberts statement, "you got what you deserved" appears to support criminal activity as hacking is a
violation of federal law. Unauthorized access to a protected computer is a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(4)
and attempts of reckless damage to a protected computer violate 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5).
Despite attempts at intimidation and personal attacks, we will continue to publish this website and report on those
we believe are acting against the public's best interest in Loveland.
Please don't be shy and place your insights, comments or questions on our blog.
Links to previous stories Real Estate Broker Threatens To Sue LovelandPolitics' Publisher November 30, 2011 Local Real Estate Scam Continues Unabated June 20, 2011 Loveland Family Loses Home To Lease-To-Own Scandal Oct. 31, 2009 |
Martin Hutcheson Arrested for Fraud Local broker also receives public censure by real estate commission |
