The Texas Real Estate Commission Standards and Enforcement Services Division (TREC) has received complaints against a group of individuals and companies that have been doing business in the Dallas–Fort Worth area.
The individuals and companies named in the complaints represent themselves as real estate agents and real estate brokerage companies but do not hold Texas real estate licenses. Owners of real property, tenants, buyers and investors claim to have lost large sums of money because of the group’s schemes, which allegedly include:
- taking and keeping deposits for properties over which they have no authority or no control,
- not paying rent to property owners on property they claim to manage for those owners, and
- taking deposits or earnest money on properties that they claim are available for a short sale but in reality are days away from foreclosure.
Much of the solicitation of potential victims has been conducted through www.craigslist.com, according to TREC.
Before consumers give personal information, money, or financial information to a person claiming to be a real estate agent, they should verify the identity of the person and check whether that person actually holds a Texas real estate license. License information can be obtained by doing a “licensee lookup” on TREC’s website, www.trec.state.tx.us, or by calling TREC at 800-250-TREC or 512-465-3942.
The original press release can be found here: http://www.trec.state.tx.us/pdf/press_releases/20100401-DFW_Brokerage_Scams.pdf