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Beware of Long Realty Company!
First Magnus/Stonewater?
This is a true story about my 81 year old father who is a World War II Veteran. He decided to retire and buy a house in Tucson, AZ. He put his trust in Long Realty Company. After one day in the home, the nightmares began. This all started at the Oro Valley office with the Long agent / broker on January 22, 2007 and the mortgage advisor via telephone conversation.She highly recommended using this mortgage advisor because he was a Christian and a very dear friend of hers.
They both took advantage of my father's age and the lack of knowledge of Real Estate. She had him sign and date a blank loan status report, she also had him initial and sign 9 pages of a blank purchase contract. She told him on page 9 to leave the date blank. She told him this was just to get started, and for him to write a check for $1,000.00 earnest money. She told him to offer full price which was $127,500.00, because this house would not last much longer on the market.
My father had only one appointment with the mortgage advisor from Pinnacle Mortgage/First Magnus on January 24, 2007. My father brought all his documents to his appointment, such as Bank Statements, US Military Retirement Pay, VA Disability Income, and Social Security Income. He had my father sign many blank documents. My father came home without any copies of the documents he signed.
The Long agent also said she was very good friends with the Escrow Officer. On February 5, 2007 which was the COE, she had my father sign numerous documents including page 4 of 5 and page 5 of 5 of the loan application.
The Long agent used Pinnacle Mortgage/First Magnus, Title Security Agency of Arizona, and etc. she never gave my father any other options.
They increase his monthly income and liquid assets to quality him for a loan he could not afford. After these companies received their money they sold the loan to CitiMortgage.
My father called the Escrow Officer to get copies that were missing from the closing, she told him they could not give him copies of the documents.
At the end of March we went to the Mortgage Company to get copies of my father's documents. The Vice President said she could give him what she had, and one of those documents was the Good Faith Estimate that was not signed or dated.
The very first mortgage payment was due April 1, 2007 to CitiMortgage.
I called CitiMortgage when I found there was a problem and asked if they could please send me the loan documents. On November 9, 2007 when we received the information we requested , I was horrified to find two sets of loan applications with different information including forgery.
We also found out that the owner's mother was the Long listing agent for this property, as it turned out, she was also the seller's agent for her son when he purchase this property back in December 20, 2004 for $63,700.00.
1. Falsified Loan Application.
2. Falsified Purchase Contract
3. Falsified Appraisal
4. Falsified Home Inspection
5. Falsified Seller's Property Disclosure Statement
Long Realty Company, Pinnacle Mortgage/First Magnus, Title Security Agency of Arizona committed Fraud and Forgery for financial gain.
We have all the documents to support our statements. For more information please e-mail me at esilveira77@hotmail.com
Long Realty Company was partnering with First Magnus until they went bankrupt on August of 2007.
Why is it then, that Long Realty Company now has an open office in the First Magnus building at 603 N. Wilmot Road, the First Magnus headquarters???
Long says… “No Place Like Long”
More like follow the yellow brick road to foreclosures?
History of the housing market "Will housing rebound?"
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=7333181
Long Realty plans to bust Tucson housing market 'myths'
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.14.2008
If you think the market is a "disaster," Long Realty representatives want to set you straight.
Playing on the name of the Discovery Channel show MythBusters — where urban legends are often debunked by exploding things or hurling projectiles — Long Realty representatives are planning a public information seminar called "MythBusters: Designed to Bust the Myth of Buying and Selling a Home in Tucson."
The event will be from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Tucson Association of Realtors, 2445 N. Tucson Blvd. The session, which is free, will feature presentations by real estate experts, including Long Cos. CEO Rosey Koberlein, real-estate related vendors, door prizes and light refreshments.
"We're just trying to get some factual information out there to help with consumer confidence," said Linda Moore, manager of Long's East River Road and North Cambell Ave. office. "The Tucson real estate market is really not a disaster right now," she said.
Some of the beliefs the real estate representatives will discount are "that the real estate market is in a crisis" and "that there's a credit crisis ... and that houses aren't selling," Moore said. ● Read more on this story and local real estate in tomorrow's Star.
If you think the market is a "disaster," Long Realty representatives want to set you straight.
2. Comment by John J. (nojoker01) — April 14,2008 @ 5:20PM
Actually, it could be quite entertaining. I think comedy and humor is a good thing during tough times.
3. Comment by Paul H. (paul47) — April 14,2008 @ 5:23PM
4. Comment by Wilmer C. (rivers) — April 14,2008 @ 8:17PM
5. Comment by R F. (toma) — April 14,2008 @ 11:50PM
6. Comment by Jennie J. (jenniej) — April 15,2008 @ 10:54AM
I have a lot more buyers right now that are finding amazing deals, and one of my Central listings just sold in 5 days, It was priced right.
7. Comment by ella s. (ella53) — April 18,2008 @ 6:23PM
What Long can do for you!
Please visit www.longrealtycompany.wetpaint.com
http://Home deal gone sour reflects tough market | www.azstarnet.com ®
Buyer's remorse
A two-week sale
Signs of problems crop up
Sticker shock
Agents: We were trying to help
**Editor's note: If you sent an e-mail to reporter Christie Smythe between Sunday night and Monday morning, please resend. She was unable to receive her e-mails during that time. Thank you.
First Magnus/Stonewater?
This is a true story about my 81 year old father who is a World War II Veteran. He decided to retire and buy a house in Tucson, AZ. He put his trust in Long Realty Company. After one day in the home, the nightmares began. This all started at the Oro Valley office with the Long agent / broker on January 22, 2007 and the mortgage advisor via telephone conversation.She highly recommended using this mortgage advisor because he was a Christian and a very dear friend of hers.
They both took advantage of my father's age and the lack of knowledge of Real Estate. She had him sign and date a blank loan status report, she also had him initial and sign 9 pages of a blank purchase contract. She told him on page 9 to leave the date blank. She told him this was just to get started, and for him to write a check for $1,000.00 earnest money. She told him to offer full price which was $127,500.00, because this house would not last much longer on the market.
My father had only one appointment with the mortgage advisor from Pinnacle Mortgage/First Magnus on January 24, 2007. My father brought all his documents to his appointment, such as Bank Statements, US Military Retirement Pay, VA Disability Income, and Social Security Income. He had my father sign many blank documents. My father came home without any copies of the documents he signed.
The Long agent also said she was very good friends with the Escrow Officer. On February 5, 2007 which was the COE, she had my father sign numerous documents including page 4 of 5 and page 5 of 5 of the loan application.
The Long agent used Pinnacle Mortgage/First Magnus, Title Security Agency of Arizona, and etc. she never gave my father any other options.
They increase his monthly income and liquid assets to quality him for a loan he could not afford. After these companies received their money they sold the loan to CitiMortgage.
My father called the Escrow Officer to get copies that were missing from the closing, she told him they could not give him copies of the documents.
At the end of March we went to the Mortgage Company to get copies of my father's documents. The Vice President said she could give him what she had, and one of those documents was the Good Faith Estimate that was not signed or dated.
The very first mortgage payment was due April 1, 2007 to CitiMortgage.
I called CitiMortgage when I found there was a problem and asked if they could please send me the loan documents. On November 9, 2007 when we received the information we requested , I was horrified to find two sets of loan applications with different information including forgery.
We also found out that the owner's mother was the Long listing agent for this property, as it turned out, she was also the seller's agent for her son when he purchase this property back in December 20, 2004 for $63,700.00.
1. Falsified Loan Application.
2. Falsified Purchase Contract
3. Falsified Appraisal
4. Falsified Home Inspection
5. Falsified Seller's Property Disclosure Statement
- My father had good credit until he did business with Long Realty Company, his credit is now destroyed.
- My father's house is in foreclosure and is being auctioned February 27, 2008. In addition this house is literally falling apart, the plumbing system is on the verge of total failure, and etc.
Long Realty Company, Pinnacle Mortgage/First Magnus, Title Security Agency of Arizona committed Fraud and Forgery for financial gain.
We have all the documents to support our statements. For more information please e-mail me at esilveira77@hotmail.com
Long Realty Company was partnering with First Magnus until they went bankrupt on August of 2007.
Why is it then, that Long Realty Company now has an open office in the First Magnus building at 603 N. Wilmot Road, the First Magnus headquarters???
Long says… “No Place Like Long”
More like follow the yellow brick road to foreclosures?
History of the housing market "Will housing rebound?"
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=7333181
Long Realty plans to bust Tucson housing market 'myths'
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.14.2008
If you think the market is a "disaster," Long Realty representatives want to set you straight.
Playing on the name of the Discovery Channel show MythBusters — where urban legends are often debunked by exploding things or hurling projectiles — Long Realty representatives are planning a public information seminar called "MythBusters: Designed to Bust the Myth of Buying and Selling a Home in Tucson."
The event will be from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Tucson Association of Realtors, 2445 N. Tucson Blvd. The session, which is free, will feature presentations by real estate experts, including Long Cos. CEO Rosey Koberlein, real-estate related vendors, door prizes and light refreshments.
"We're just trying to get some factual information out there to help with consumer confidence," said Linda Moore, manager of Long's East River Road and North Cambell Ave. office. "The Tucson real estate market is really not a disaster right now," she said.
Some of the beliefs the real estate representatives will discount are "that the real estate market is in a crisis" and "that there's a credit crisis ... and that houses aren't selling," Moore said. ● Read more on this story and local real estate in tomorrow's Star.
If you think the market is a "disaster," Long Realty representatives want to set you straight.
1. Comment by dail k. (question authority) — April 14,2008 @ 3:56PM
Ratings:
-2 +3
the drugs have not kicked in yet. good luck. 2. Comment by John J. (nojoker01) — April 14,2008 @ 5:20PM
Ratings:
-2 +3
Don't drink the "Kool Aid" if served! Actually, it could be quite entertaining. I think comedy and humor is a good thing during tough times.
3. Comment by Paul H. (paul47) — April 14,2008 @ 5:23PM
Ratings:
-2 +2
Long has been one of the key real estate agencies buying SFH's in and around the U of A for out of state investors who then convert them to mini-dorms. This has a tendency to set off a chain reaction of sales sometimes below market value and guess who is looking to buy. Way to go Long. 4. Comment by Wilmer C. (rivers) — April 14,2008 @ 8:17PM
Ratings:
-2 +2
Plenty of homes still selling every month-Central tucson and the foothills are solid-all of the cheaply-built homes in the suburbs are getting hit hard. Long is right to a large degree. 5. Comment by R F. (toma) — April 14,2008 @ 11:50PM
Ratings:
-2 +0
Real Estate will come back. Land is limited, people are coming, the weather is too perfect here. The cost of living in other less ideal climates will drive Tucson from now on. It took the invention of air conditioning to change the Country forever and that is now a reality for everyone. No reason to live in terrible weather or lose your home to an earthquake. Come to Arizona 6. Comment by Jennie J. (jenniej) — April 15,2008 @ 10:54AM
Ratings:
-2 +0
Long Realty Company is a Tucson Institution, having over 80 years of experience in Tucson. Sounds like a good idea. I have a lot more buyers right now that are finding amazing deals, and one of my Central listings just sold in 5 days, It was priced right.
7. Comment by ella s. (ella53) — April 18,2008 @ 6:23PM
Ratings:
-0 +1
First hand knowledge.. What Long can do for you!
Please visit www.longrealtycompany.wetpaint.com
http://Home deal gone sour reflects tough market | www.azstarnet.com ®
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Home deal gone sour reflects tough market
By Christie Smythe / Arizona Daily Star
By Christie Smythe / Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.02.2008
For months, Ellis Herman, an 81-year-old World War II veteran, has fought a losing battle against Long Realty Co.
For months, Ellis Herman, an 81-year-old World War II veteran, has fought a losing battle against Long Realty Co.
Armed with poster-board signs, he, his daughter Ella Silveira and 17-year-old granddaughter Aubree Booth, have stood for hours each week near the company's offices, telling anyone who will listen that Long agents led them into a bad property deal. Herman said he was pressured into buying the house over just two weeks last February without having it properly inspected, and using a loan that he couldn't afford.
Long real estate agent Pam Treece said it was Herman's choice to proceed without a home inspection and that she and other agents did all they could after the sale to address Herman's complaints.
On Wednesday, the house was repossessed after a foreclosure auction outside Pima County Superior Court. Herman believes this wouldn't have happened had Treece not pushed him so — something she denies. But Herman might have avoided the predicament altogether by taking basic consumer-protection measures.
The story of Herman's purchase and loss of the house at 328 W. 38th St. demonstrates the misfortunes some people are finding in the aftermath of the real estate boom. Experts said the run-up in real estate prices provided temptations for sellers, agents and mortgage brokers to push buyers into homes and loans they couldn't afford. Herman says that's what happened to him, although experts point out that many buyers caused their own problems either because of their hopes for quick riches or because of ignorance.
Herman is one a growing group of consumers upset over real estate deals gone bad. In addition to picketing, he filed a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General's Office but not with the state Department of Real Estate, which handles such cases.
Last year, real estate misrepresentations made the Federal Trade Commission's list of top consumer complaints, with 9,475 filed by consumers with various government agencies and business associations. Real estate did not appear on the FTC's top complaint lists in 2005 or 2006.
In 2007, the FBI also reported that it was working more than triple the number of mortgage fraud cases it did in 2002. The cases included misrepresentations by loan officers, borrowers, appraisers and other parties.
Buyer's remorse
Herman and his daughter say they were not allowed sufficient access to the house before they bought it — a house they later learned had bathroom drains that didn't work, a heater that blew cold air and a stove declared unsafe by the gas company. They also say the loan officer inflated Herman's income on application documents to make the sale go through.
Long agent Treece said her husband — also a Long agent — showed Herman through the house at least once during the inspection period. The mortgage broker has left the state and could not be located.
"We would have never bought this house if we'd known what we know now," Herman said.
But if Herman had been a better consumer, he may not have ended up in the house at all, let alone in foreclosure. He acknowledged that he knew little about property transactions, and didn't understand most of the real estate and loan documents he signed.
He also used an old inspection conducted for a previous potential buyer rather than hiring his own inspector, and raised no major complaints about the property during the inspection period. Sale contracts may be final unless buyers find problems and bring them to the sellers' attention, according to the Arizona Department of Real Estate.
At the height of the real-estate boom, about when Herman bought the house, it wasn't unusual for buyers to be tempted to forgo inspections to make sure they landed deals quickly, or to be pressured out of doing them by sellers, said Brad Tebow, a real estate attorney who teaches at Arizona State University. That had the potential to leave buyers with unpleasant surprises, he said.
"It happens all the time," he said. "If (the sale) didn't happen quickly, you didn't get it."
A two-week sale
Herman and Silveira, who was disabled by a mild stroke, and Silveira's daughter came to Tucson in 2006 from Fair Oaks, Calif. They lived in an RV park near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base while they looked for a house.
With about $1,800 in monthly income and limited savings, Herman wanted to stick to lower prices. After contacting Treece in January 2007, Herman was shown a roughly 800-square-foot, more than 60-year-old adobe home along West 38th Street, near Interstate 10 and priced at $127,500.
The house had been on the market about five months, and the price was reduced from $130,500, said the listing agent, Susie DeConcini, in an e-mail forwarded by Jerome King, the agents' designated broker. The house had attracted an offer from one other prospective buyer, Katherine Maas, who said she had trouble finding financing because lenders thought the house was overpriced.
Herman signed a purchase contract on Jan. 23, 2007. About two weeks later, the deal closed. The seller, DeConcini's son, Timothy Hagyard, made more than $63,000 on the sale after paying off a mortgage and transaction costs, according to a settlement statement.
Signs of problems crop up
From the moment he started discussing the house with Treece, Herman said she urged him to buy it quickly and told him it wouldn't last. When Herman asked about getting a home inspection, he said, Treece told him he wouldn't need one. He said Treece immediately referred him to Joe Neal, a loan officer at Pinnacle Mortgage, owned by the now-bankrupt First Magnus Financial Corp. Treece started discussing Herman's loan options with Neal over the phone while Herman was in her office, he said.
After the sale, Herman and Silveira said, they noticed problems with the bathroom drains and the heater. The heater was eventually fixed with help from their real estate agent, but fixing the drains could require jack-hammering the foundation, contractor estimates said. Later, after Herman and Silveira became worried there was a gas leak, a Southwest Gas Corp. inspector shut off their stove because it wasn't vented properly, company spokeswoman Libby Howell said.
Sticker shock
Herman's mortgage payments, about $920 per month for a fixed-rate loan, were about $100 more than he expected.
When looking through Herman's paperwork, he and Silveira found inconsistencies and missing documents. After contacting Pinnacle Mortgage and Citi Mortgage, the buyer of the loan, they found disclosure documents about the price of the loan left unsigned by Herman. They also tracked down an application document, which was signed, that had inflated income figures for Herman.
Loan officer Neal has left the state, according to former work associates.
Herman said he doesn't remember looking at the document. He said he tried to ask questions about documents, but little was explained to him.
Agents: We were trying to help
Blaming Long for their difficulties, Herman and Silveira have picketed, distributed fliers and created a Web site accusing the company of misdeeds. King, the designated broker, said he was "surprised and disappointed" by Herman and Silveira's tactics. He said Treece simply tried to help Herman and his family, who were living in a camper when they approached her, looking for a house.
Treece said the market was still strong then, and the house "met their lifestyle." She said she suggested Herman use an older inspection report only because he wanted to save money.
She and DeConcini said they didn't know of the problems Herman and Silveira said they found. Hagyard, the previous owner, declined to comment. King, the designated broker, said Treece did her part to help Herman by having Hagyard pay $2,700 in closing costs for Herman along with a premium for a home warranty plan.
After the sale, Treece said she helped pay for service calls for Herman's heater. King also stayed in contact with Herman and Silveira for months afterward, and at one time offered $3,500 to Herman for repairs, much of it coming from Treece and DeConcini.
"Even though we don't have liability in our mind, we're sympathetic," King said. "We really want to help."
The Arizona Department of Real Estate Web site lists no complaints against either agent involved in the deal.
Now that the house has been repossessed, Herman and Silveira say they're not sure where they'll live.
Herman said Treece should have done a better job looking out for his interests, and Neal shouldn't have approved a loan that was too expensive for him.
"If I was guilty of anything, I'm guilty and ignorant, or whatever you want to call it, of trusting people," Herman said.
See a video of Ellis Herman and his daughter describing the problems they ran into after moving into their now-foreclosed house.
**Editor's note: If you sent an e-mail to reporter Christie Smythe between Sunday night and Monday morning, please resend. She was unable to receive her e-mails during that time. Thank you.
● Contact reporter Christie Smythe at 434-4083 or csmythe@azstarnet.com.
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