This unbelieveable.

Scheme gives distressed properties to squatters

Authorities aren’t buying bogus grant deeds; arrest made
By Lori Weisberg and Eleanor Yang Su
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS

November 19, 2008

Law enforcement investigators in San Diego and Riverside counties have uncovered a brazen real estate scheme in which individuals are claiming ownership of distressed homes by filing official-looking grant deeds with county recorder offices.

A sign with “NO TRESPASS” and “SPIRITUAL SANCTUARY” was posted next to a bogus grant deed at a home in the Rolling Hills Ranch neighborhood.
The perpetrators then move people into the vacant homes, in some cases, by hiring a locksmith to change the locks. In one instance, a woman who tried to move into her newly purchased home of more than $800,000 in Chula Vista found a bogus grant deed taped to the window and squatters wrecking the inside.
“I was in tears,” said Christina Suggett, 37, an insurance company executive.

Suggett finally was able to reclaim her house with the help of the bank that had foreclosed on the previous owner.

The people who are filing the deeds say they are able to do so under the cloak of a religious order known as the Sovereign Solomon Brothers Archbishop Corporation Sole, which they insist makes them immune to prosecution.

Real estate and law enforcement experts dismiss that claim. They see the use of bogus grant deeds as emblematic of the rapid proliferation of real estate scams in a foundering market.

The glut of foreclosed properties “makes it difficult to keep an eye on things,” said Christina Tusan, a deputy attorney general who specializes in real estate fraud. “It brings more opportunities for people to try to take advantage of an empty house.”

But the combination of filing bogus deeds and putting in place squatters appears to be a new twist.

“This is one of the weirdest transactions I’ve ever seen with a real estate deal,” said Kurt Campbell, an attorney who represented Suggett. “I’ve never seen someone squat and claim title to another (person’s house).”

Yesterday, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office arrested Maurice Simmons, 31, who has filed at least six deeds transferring homes to the Sovereign Solomon Brothers corporation. Simmons was booked into jail on six felony counts of filing a false document.

In Riverside County, investigator Jim Larsh of the District Attorney’s Office confirmed that his office is looking into the Sovereign Solomon Brothers and directed the arrest last week of Gwendolyn Johnson, who was charged with filing false documents and residential burglary. County records show at least six deeds in Riverside County have been transferred to Sovereign Solomon Brothers since September.

Simmons said he did not profit from the transactions and simply was helping displaced families with nowhere else to go.

“Bankers are defrauding people, and all I’m doing with this program is helping people get into homes who deserve to have a home but who got screwed,” Simmons said in interviews before his arrest. “I’m tired of people getting thrown out of their homes and no one seems to care.”

The net effect of Simmons’ actions has been to cloud the titles, which can take weeks for legitimate property owners to clear, often in court.

County recorder officials say they are not tasked with checking the veracity of documents filed by the public.

“We’re not a policing agency,” said Jeff Olson, of the San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/Clerk’s Office. “As long as it’s (the document) given to us in the proper form, we’re required to record it.”

Filing the grant deeds does not actually transfer title of the homes. But Simmons sometimes posted a copy of his deed in the window of homes. That can confuse law enforcement agencies when asked to evict people who may be living in a home unlawfully.

“What we don’t want to happen is for us to go out there and evict folks who are victims themselves,” said Chula Vista police Lt. Gary Ficacci.

Since mid-October, Simmons has filed deeds transferring ownership of properties ranging from million-dollar houses in Chula Vista to condominiums in San Marcos and University Heights.

Suggett was about to close escrow on one of those homes, in the upscale Rolling Hills Ranch community in Chula Vista, when a real estate agent involved in the deal discovered people living in the five-bedroom house.

Signs declaring “SPIRITUAL SANCTUARY” and “NO TRESPASS” were posted in the windows alongside a “quiet title” document claiming ownership.

The family made a mess of the house, Suggett said, including staining a wall with dog urine and dirtying the carpets.

“It was my dream house,” Suggett said. “To see it in that condition was really disturbing.”

Ultimately, a real estate firm representing the owner, Washington Mutual, obtained the bank’s permission to change the locks, retake possession of the property and hire a private security firm. Security guards remained at the house until escrow closed Oct. 31.

The family that occupied the house said they believed Simmons when he said he was the rightful owner.

“We went through some tough times, and I was looking for someplace where I could get on my feet,” said Steve Hays, a handyman. “Maurice decided to help us out. We’d turn on the lights and take care of the property, and I’d provide some services while I was there. . . . The grant deed was in the window. That led me to believe everything was good.”

A University Heights condominium Simmons deeded to the Sovereign Solomon Brothers involved months of legal battling for Gateway Bank, which owned the foreclosed property.

Mark Sussman, the vice president of the bank, estimates his company spent between $125,000 and $150,000 fighting Simmons in court to evict his tenants and remove his name from the title while the property value depreciated.

“It’s delayed our attempt to sell the house by six months,” Sussman said.

Simmons has insisted in interviews that what he is doing is perfectly legal. He said he only targets homes that have been abandoned.

“I can do this under common law,” said Simmons, who acknowledged that he had lived in the University Heights condo with his 11-year-old daughter and, on occasion, his younger brother. “Sovereign Solomon Brothers operates under common law, not judicial law.”

While the grant deeds that Simmons files look official, with notary stamps and legal descriptions of the property, they include unusual biblical references to Leviticus, Exodus and Ecclesiastes. Several are signed by a “King Solomon II,” who is described as the “county notary.”

Yesterday’s arrest is not Simmons’ first brush with the law. In August, he was charged with robbery, burglary and grand theft, according to court records. He is awaiting trial.

Before that arrest, Simmons was sentenced to three years in prison for domestic violence. He faces more than eight years in custody if convicted and sentenced to the maximum period for the new charges.

Michael Groch, head of the economic crimes division of the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, said, “We will continue to investigate the case, review the documents and interview witnesses to make sure we uncover and charge the full extent of criminal conduct.”

Union-Tribune reporter Tanya Sierra contributed to this report.

Eleanor Yang Su: (619) 542-4564; [email protected]
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Alleged Mansion Stealer Busted, Behind Bars: http://www.sandiego6.com/content/unit6/story.aspx?content_id=c08abffc-a86b-4771-b242-8046833e256c&rss=tick
Reported by: John Mattes
Last Update: 11/21 12:01 am

Grant Deed 1 (86.5KB)
Grant Deeds 2 (63.6KB)
Grant Deeds 3 (169.9KB)

Maurice Antoine Simmons, charged with six counts of filing fraudulent documents with the county recorder.
It’s a story we first broke 3 weeks ago. We uncovered a group stealing mansions. They have been doing it by filing phony deeds with the recorder then invading and taking over homes. We tracked the spree all over San Diego and into Riverside. Now the D.A. has charged the man we first exposed with fraud.

Maurice Antoine Simmons, 31, was accused of filing fake grant deeds with the county for six properties he said he owned pleaded not guilty Thursday to eight felony charges, including grand theft and residential burglary.

Simmons was ordered held on $200,000 bail.

He was also charged with six counts of filing fraudulent documents with the county recorder.

Deputy District Attorney Marlene Coyne also alleged that Simmons committed the crimes while he was out on bail on a pending robbery/burglary case in the South Bay.

Coyne told reporters outside court that Simmons took blank grant deeds and filled them out as if he owned six properties, a condominium on Arizona Street in San Diego and five houses in Chula Vista.

“I don’t know how you innocently do that,” the prosecutor told reporters.

Of the properties in question, three were actually owned by banks and two others were owned by private individuals, Coyne said.

Defense attorney Brian Watkins told the judge that Simmons was renting the condo on Arizona Street. The attorney said the banker had foreclosed on the property and Simmons fought eviction.

Watkins said Simmons began acquiring properties in February but didn’t sell any of them.

“He (Simmons) made no money on the deal,” his attorney said.

Watkins said the case against Simmons was more of a civil matter.

Maurice Antoine Simmons confronted by San Diego 6 reporter John Mattes over bogus grant deeds.

Judge David Szumowski scheduled a bail review for Monday and a readiness conference for Dec. 5. A preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 22.

Simmons faces up to 16 years in state prison if convicted.

Authorities have said they’ve noticed a recent trend in which people claim ownership of properties by filing bogus grant deeds.

The fraudulent owners then move people into the vacant and distressed homes, authorities said.

Investigators said the alleged perpetrators claim to be immune from prosecution because they file the deeds under the guise of a religious order known as the Sovereign Solomon Brothers Archbishop Corporation Sole.

A crime spree is the only way to describe what we first uncovered 2 weeks ago. Con artists are always finding new schemes but it takes nerve to steal a mansion. These people have discovered a loophole which allows them to essentially do just that.

Thieves steal mansions by filing a fake grant deed on a house, transferring the house from themselves (even though they don’t own it) to a friend or bogus entity. Then they break in and change the locks.

When the true owner finds out and tries to throw out the intruders, the police won’t act saying it is a civil matter.

We met recently with a homeowner who had the house she was in the process of buying invaded and taken over by the gang we exposed two weeks ago. The homeowner only recovered the home after the bank hired a security company to retake and re-key the house.

The homeowner was shocked to learn that anyone can deed over another persons property with a single piece of paper. In her case, a man named Maurice Simmons deeded over her home to the “Solomon Archbishop,” a phony church of which he is part.

The ring that hit San Diego is now hard at work taking homes in Riverside county. To date we have uncovered 12 homes taken. And the crime wave continues.

Stealing Homes 11/19/08
2 weeks ago, John Mattes broke the incredible story of people stealing mansions with fake deeds. Now a victim who lost a home to the thieves is speaking out.

Earlier Report:

Stealing Homes 11/5/08
John Mattes has uncovered wild tales of mortgage fraud. Now he shines a light on a new scheme that’s being used to steal mansions.

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News 8 – Scam Robbed Victims Of Their House And Home

Watch Video

Last Updated:
11-20-08 at 7:05PM

A man accused of filing fake grant deeds with the county for six properties he said he owned pleaded not guilty today to eight felony charges, including grand theft and residential burglary.

Maurice Antoine Simmons, 31, was ordered held on $200,000 bail.

He was also charged with six counts of filing fraudulent documents with the county recorder.

Deputy District Attorney Marlene Coyne also alleged that Simmons committed the crimes while he was out on bail on a pending robbery/burglary case in the South Bay.

Coyne told reporters outside court that Simmons took blank grant deeds and filled them out as if he owned six properties, a condominium on Arizona Street in San Diego and five houses in Chula Vista.

“I don’t know how you innocently do that,” the prosecutor told reporters.

Of the properties in question, three were actually owned by banks and two others were owned by private individuals, Coyne said.

Defense attorney Brian Watkins told the judge that Simmons was renting the condo on Arizona Street. The attorney said the banker had foreclosed on the property and Simmons fought eviction.

Watkins said Simmons began acquiring properties in February but didn’t sell any of them.

“He (Simmons) made no money on the deal,” his attorney said.

Watkins said the case against Simmons was more of a civil matter.

Judge David Szumowski scheduled a bail review for Monday and a readiness conference for Dec. 5. A preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 22.

Simmons faces up to 16 years in state prison if convicted.

Authorities have said they’ve noticed a recent trend in which people claim ownership of properties by filing bogus grant deeds.

The fraudulent owners then move people into the vacant and distressed homes, authorities said.

Investigators said the alleged perpetrators claim to be immune from prosecution because they file the deeds under the guise of a religious order known as the Sovereign Solomon Brothers Archbishop Corporation Sole.

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