Published: Saturday, August 17, 2013 at 11:25 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 17, 2013 at 11:25 p.m.
A Sarasota nonprofit advertised as a government-sponsored
foreclosure rescue is using its clients' homes for a sweeping real
estate scheme — delaying defaults through recurrent bankruptcy filings
while renting the houses out, a Herald-Tribune investigation has found.
Keeping Kids in Their
Home Foundation Corp. and related entities have enticed scores of
severely delinquent borrowers from Tampa to Miami to hand over their
deeds for just $100, while using dubious techniques to evade mortgage
lenders and skirt taxes on those transactions.
The
parents of famed wire-walker Nik Wallenda, real estate flippers, a
karate sensei and a local pastor are among the borrowers who took out
multiple loans against their homes during the housing bubble. When the
market slumped and foreclosure was imminent, each turned to Aleksandr
Filipskiy and his foundation for help.
Filipskiy
has managed to stall those defaults for years by routinely transferring
properties to new shell companies and nonprofits he creates, filing for
bankruptcy protection under each entity to block the foreclosure
proceedings.
All the
while, he leases the distressed homes back to their troubled buyers,
rents them to others and even lives in one with his family. His brother
inhabits another, the Herald-Tribune's investigation revealed.
“There's
a lot of misrepresentation here,” said Andrew Rose, a special agent
supervisor with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. “Someone
should never deed their house over to anyone without the bank's consent.
These guys are predators. It's just sad and disgusting.”
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