As the days go by, Al gets in touch a few more times and shares a few other things that Diane had failed to disclose over the years. Primary among them was the fact, though she had always said she had nothing to do with her siblings, Al had, in fact, driven her to visit brother Michael in NE Oklahoma awhile back. This was notable since Al mentioned he had to call Michael to give his permission as next of kin to the hospital to place Diane on a ventilator.
Now we had two scenarios that were gonna play out. The first was someone was going to have to get into Diane's house before the eviction date. Scenario two was do nothing, let the eviction happen, and see all her stuff placed out on the curb or taken into storage limbo. Before Diane left for DC, I had contacted a local estate sale company, apprised them of the situation, and found that they could and would move everything out, store it (until Diane's death or return), then sell everything or whatever she didn't need. Al tells me he wasn't going to let me break into her house. As I explain to Al that, to keep it all above board, I'd have to go get legal guardianship to do it. Throughout all this, Al had said that he wasn't sure where Diane's keys were, alternately telling me, they might still be in Diane's purse in DC, at his niece's place in DC where he'd stayed, or maybe even still packed away in his bag which he hadn't bothered to unpack yet. I mention I'm planning to get legal guardianship (my fear here was that upon her death, one of the allegedly long lost brothers would show up wondering where all her stuff went and what did that fast talking nephew have to do with it). Only then does Al say, "You get legal guardianship, and I'll find the keys." Turns out he knew all along Diane had left her keys in his car.
When I speak to a couple of attorneys, I find the fee for such a service is gonna run $2000-$3000, Don't think I'm gonna go and get legal guardianship! Now I make a call to Legal Aid. Give them all my info and wait to hear back from them. However, the more I think about it, I'm still not next of kin and, technically, I'm not even a blood relative and even if I did go through all this hassle, her brother would still have legal claim to her estate and I'd be on the hook for even more of my time and money. Decided it was time to share the burden.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Smoke On The Water
I heard from Diane in Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C. on a Friday and she tells me she'll be released and able to come home the following Monday. I wait until Wednesday to call. No answer. Call again Thursday evening. No answer. Call Friday...no answer. Obviously she's still hospitalized somewhere. The following Tuesday I have to jump through several hoops to find out that she's still in Walter Reed and, with no phone in her room, unable to take or make calls.
I wait a few days and try to get hold of boyfriend Al, who made the trip with her. Call his son who gives me his cell phone number and tells me that Diane was the one who wanted Al to make the trip and they went to D.C. for a wedding of the son of a friend of Diane's. This was interesting since Diane didn't really have many friends, save the women of the Gatewood Girls, a loose social group of women who, like Diane, lived in the Gatewood neighborhood. My guess is Diane was invited to this wedding because 1. They thought she would never show, and 2. they had to invite her because it would have been socially rude to invite some of the girls and not all...As far as why Diane went, I have two more theories: 1. The wedding was held in the same church where President Bush occasionally attends when he wants to put on a show for his neo-con right wing Christian fan base and Diane thought perhaps he would be there and she could meet him, and/or 2. While meeting Bush, she could ask for a pardon or a federal bailout from all her debt...Either way, I'm guessing the mother of groom would have fallen over from shock when she came down that aisle and saw Diane grinning stupidly at her. Turns out it never happened as Diane went to the hospital about two hours after she got off the plane
On August 2 (a week before the sheriff's sale of her house) I get hold of Al in D.C. on his cell phone. Al seemed shocked that I called and was even more shocked when I told him I checked in on Diane once a week or so. Seems Diane had told him no one in her "family" ever checked up on her.
Turns out Diane had taken a turn for the worse and was not doing well at all. She's on a ventilator and not very coherent. Al also mentions Diane suffers from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, caused by, you guessed it, smoking!) and had undergone chemotherapy to treat myelodysplasia (essentially pre-leukemia) a year or two ago. Two small little things Diane had failed to ever mention to me or anyone else save for Al....
I don't say anything to Al about Diane's situation and decide to wait until the day of the sheriff's sale to tell him about it, and that would only be if Diane was still out it. A week goes by and I call Al. There's no change in Diane's condition and she's not real coherent. Take a deep breath and tell Al all the sordid details, specifically about the foreclosure on Diane's house. His reaction, "How can that be?" I give him as many details as I can and I almost hear the man deflate as I go through the story. By now, he's been in D.C. three weeks and says he has to get back to town to take care of some of his own business and that we'll talk more next week.
The following Monday, I get a call from my cousin Mark, telling me an attorney had called him, saying he'd been visited by a guy named Al and did I know anything about Diane losing her house. I fill Mark in and realize that Al, not believing that Diane would have been dumb enough to mortgage her own home to the hilt and suddenly hearing about it from her fast-talking nephew, might have been thinking Diane had been taken by said nephew (your humble correspondent). Finally hear from Al a few days later (after he realizes I'm actually trying to bail Diane out I guess) and we start trying to figure out what to do next...
I wait a few days and try to get hold of boyfriend Al, who made the trip with her. Call his son who gives me his cell phone number and tells me that Diane was the one who wanted Al to make the trip and they went to D.C. for a wedding of the son of a friend of Diane's. This was interesting since Diane didn't really have many friends, save the women of the Gatewood Girls, a loose social group of women who, like Diane, lived in the Gatewood neighborhood. My guess is Diane was invited to this wedding because 1. They thought she would never show, and 2. they had to invite her because it would have been socially rude to invite some of the girls and not all...As far as why Diane went, I have two more theories: 1. The wedding was held in the same church where President Bush occasionally attends when he wants to put on a show for his neo-con right wing Christian fan base and Diane thought perhaps he would be there and she could meet him, and/or 2. While meeting Bush, she could ask for a pardon or a federal bailout from all her debt...Either way, I'm guessing the mother of groom would have fallen over from shock when she came down that aisle and saw Diane grinning stupidly at her. Turns out it never happened as Diane went to the hospital about two hours after she got off the plane
On August 2 (a week before the sheriff's sale of her house) I get hold of Al in D.C. on his cell phone. Al seemed shocked that I called and was even more shocked when I told him I checked in on Diane once a week or so. Seems Diane had told him no one in her "family" ever checked up on her.
Turns out Diane had taken a turn for the worse and was not doing well at all. She's on a ventilator and not very coherent. Al also mentions Diane suffers from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, caused by, you guessed it, smoking!) and had undergone chemotherapy to treat myelodysplasia (essentially pre-leukemia) a year or two ago. Two small little things Diane had failed to ever mention to me or anyone else save for Al....
I don't say anything to Al about Diane's situation and decide to wait until the day of the sheriff's sale to tell him about it, and that would only be if Diane was still out it. A week goes by and I call Al. There's no change in Diane's condition and she's not real coherent. Take a deep breath and tell Al all the sordid details, specifically about the foreclosure on Diane's house. His reaction, "How can that be?" I give him as many details as I can and I almost hear the man deflate as I go through the story. By now, he's been in D.C. three weeks and says he has to get back to town to take care of some of his own business and that we'll talk more next week.
The following Monday, I get a call from my cousin Mark, telling me an attorney had called him, saying he'd been visited by a guy named Al and did I know anything about Diane losing her house. I fill Mark in and realize that Al, not believing that Diane would have been dumb enough to mortgage her own home to the hilt and suddenly hearing about it from her fast-talking nephew, might have been thinking Diane had been taken by said nephew (your humble correspondent). Finally hear from Al a few days later (after he realizes I'm actually trying to bail Diane out I guess) and we start trying to figure out what to do next...
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Girls Just Wanna Have Phlegm!
The following week, I make contact with the attorney and schedule a meeting with Diane to start the bankruptcy ball rolling. Filing bankruptcy would buy her 60-90 days, which would give her more time to find another place to live and to figure out what to keep and what to sell or store. The meeting was set for Friday of that week.
I call Diane that day to tell her about it and got no answer and no call back. Same story the next day. This was unusual since Diane would usually look at her caller ID to see who called and call me back accordingly. So, on Wednesday night, I decide to go over to the house and see if anything was amiss. (And only half jesting, I told my wife I was going over to see if she was dead) After a few minutes spent banging on the door and walking around the place, her neighbor comes by. I introduce myself and ask him if he knows where Diane is. He proceeds to tell me that she and her male companion Al took a week's vacation to Washington, DC!!!!!!!! Did she say a word to me about it? Noooooooooooo!!!!!!
So there it is in a nutshell, Diane vacations while Bill bails her ass out!!!!!!! And that $300 she needed for oxygen equipment? I'm guessing that went instead to pay for her trip! Right then, I had half a mind to wash my hands of this deal and watch her sit there doing nothing till the sheriff came to evict her and throw all her crap out on the curb! I was fucking pissed!!!!!!!!!
Oddly enough, the following Friday, I got a call from my beloved Aunt Diane! Needless to say, she was shocked when I finished her sentence which began, "I'm in...."
But then she said, "And I'm back in the hospital." Yes, she was at Walter Reed with her third bout of pneumonia in the last four months! Went on to say the doctor said she could fly home the following Monday (wouldn't you like to have been be the lucky passenger who got to sit next to that mucus machine for three or four hours!)
But the best part is, she actually had the stupidity to ask if I'd heard anything good from the attorney, (overlooking the irony of me doing all her damn legwork while she's coughing all over the capital!). Holding my tongue, I told her that there was no good news, that she'd have to file bankruptcy when she got back that she'd have to find someplace else to live, because yes, she's gonna lose the house. Her response? "Well that's probably gonna take them awhile...."
So since she was sick, I was denied the opportunity to unload on her. My wife told me I sounded pissed while I was talking to Diane, but sadly, such subtle little nuances seem to elude her. I started to wonder seriously, since she seemed to be getting weaker with every round of pneumonia, if sooner or later, that one big phlegm ball with her name on it is gonna catch up to her and send her to that great big ash tray in the sky...
I call Diane that day to tell her about it and got no answer and no call back. Same story the next day. This was unusual since Diane would usually look at her caller ID to see who called and call me back accordingly. So, on Wednesday night, I decide to go over to the house and see if anything was amiss. (And only half jesting, I told my wife I was going over to see if she was dead) After a few minutes spent banging on the door and walking around the place, her neighbor comes by. I introduce myself and ask him if he knows where Diane is. He proceeds to tell me that she and her male companion Al took a week's vacation to Washington, DC!!!!!!!! Did she say a word to me about it? Noooooooooooo!!!!!!
So there it is in a nutshell, Diane vacations while Bill bails her ass out!!!!!!! And that $300 she needed for oxygen equipment? I'm guessing that went instead to pay for her trip! Right then, I had half a mind to wash my hands of this deal and watch her sit there doing nothing till the sheriff came to evict her and throw all her crap out on the curb! I was fucking pissed!!!!!!!!!
Oddly enough, the following Friday, I got a call from my beloved Aunt Diane! Needless to say, she was shocked when I finished her sentence which began, "I'm in...."
But then she said, "And I'm back in the hospital." Yes, she was at Walter Reed with her third bout of pneumonia in the last four months! Went on to say the doctor said she could fly home the following Monday (wouldn't you like to have been be the lucky passenger who got to sit next to that mucus machine for three or four hours!)
But the best part is, she actually had the stupidity to ask if I'd heard anything good from the attorney, (overlooking the irony of me doing all her damn legwork while she's coughing all over the capital!). Holding my tongue, I told her that there was no good news, that she'd have to file bankruptcy when she got back that she'd have to find someplace else to live, because yes, she's gonna lose the house. Her response? "Well that's probably gonna take them awhile...."
So since she was sick, I was denied the opportunity to unload on her. My wife told me I sounded pissed while I was talking to Diane, but sadly, such subtle little nuances seem to elude her. I started to wonder seriously, since she seemed to be getting weaker with every round of pneumonia, if sooner or later, that one big phlegm ball with her name on it is gonna catch up to her and send her to that great big ash tray in the sky...
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
As summer began, things began to slow down in Diane's little saga. Some things didn't change however as, whenever I asked her where the $185k went, the only response I got was, "I don't know."
In early June, Diane was hospitalized once again with pneumonia. As before, what she said would be a five day hospital stay turned into 10. When she returned home this time, it was obvious this round had taken a lot out of her and she was on oxygen day and night. Her weakened condition was obvious when I went by to pick up some documents and found her sitting on the front porch, looking like hell (which in her case...well, never mind) with an oxygen tube up her nose and a stupid, mindless grin on her face.
In this time, I was still working with Countrywide to try to figure a way out of foreclosure and with the FBI to do whatever I could do to nail the con man. However, in July, things changed. Though I had previously taken as gospel Diane's fuzzy tale of being taken by a con man, some elements become clearer after I had a chat with the FBI agent working the case. Though she was taken and her credit used to purchase other houses, according to the G-man, she apparently did go out and legitimately get a loan against the house before ever contacting the con man. Thus, she pissed all that money away and wound up at the con man to try and refinance her first loan! Needless to say, I lost much of the sympathy I had for Diane after this conversation.
This was all the more frustrating when one considers that Diane came to me needing $300 and offering me a post-dated check payable on the 25th in return. Said she had some extra bills she couldn't pay related to the oxygen equipment she's had to pay for since her second round of pneumonia. This was driven home when she couldn't stand on the front porch for more than 30 seconds without having to sit down to catch her breath.
This was all well and good, except for the fact that, according to the FBI agent on the case, she also went to the credit union that holds the note on her car wanting to squeeze $300 more out of that loan because "a sister had passed away out of town"! (she doesn't have any sisters) When they turned her down and suggested she go to family in town, she told them she didn't have any family here!!!!! Also of note here, Diane had the balls (or stupidity) to go to the same credit union where she had fraudulently cashed the insurance check. When that was mentioned to her, she told the lady at the credit union the FBI would take care of that! I mention that because, when recounting to me the story he'd gotten from the lady at the credit union, the FBI agent quoted Diane almost verbatim using the same pitch she'd used when she called me.
Now it was obvious Diane had a little bit of con man in her as well and, though I was tempted to wash my hands of the whole thing, I still felt sorry for her and felt like I needed to see it through till the end. Turns out, the end was coming faster than I knew.
In late July, my phone rings. I pick it up and without a hello or anything else, Diane immediately says, "They're gonna sell my house." The sheriff's sale date was three weeks away and she would likely need to vacate two to three weeks after that. Though I had told her all along this was very possible, she seemed surprised by all of this. I advised her to start thinking about what possessions she wanted to sell or store and what she wanted to take with her when she moved.
I tried to remind Diane that there were still options, however. I knew she could file bankruptcy and, if nothing else, buy some time and get out from under the rest of her other debt. And, though it hadn't been promising, I was still trying to figure something out with Countrywide.
My first call was to Diane's bankruptcy attorney. He was out of town and wouldn't be back around till the following Monday. From there, I called Countrywide. Once we all got on the same page, they pretty much realized very quickly that she didn't have any options, save for rolling the delinquent payments back into the note, giving her an even bigger monthly payment. Hearing that, it was time to find Diane someplace to live.
It was plainly obvious Diane needed to be in some form of a senior center. I priced an apartment or two but most of them were somewhat pricey and offered little security for an old lady. I then spent a fair bit of my free time trying to find out what it would take to get Diane into a senior type place she could afford. For the Catholic ones, she either had too much income to qualify for the low income center or just barely enough income to afford a nice independent living center. Problem there was, they didn't have any studios available. I then looked at city funded senior housing. She could certainly afford it, but there were no openings at any of the centers she would want to live and the application and wait process was going to take too long.
Finally I settled on some nice high-rise apartments downtown that offered reasonable rates,all bills paid, six month or one year leases and private garage and secure entry while still leaving her about $1500 a month to live on. Now all we had to do was get bankruptcy filed....
In early June, Diane was hospitalized once again with pneumonia. As before, what she said would be a five day hospital stay turned into 10. When she returned home this time, it was obvious this round had taken a lot out of her and she was on oxygen day and night. Her weakened condition was obvious when I went by to pick up some documents and found her sitting on the front porch, looking like hell (which in her case...well, never mind) with an oxygen tube up her nose and a stupid, mindless grin on her face.
In this time, I was still working with Countrywide to try to figure a way out of foreclosure and with the FBI to do whatever I could do to nail the con man. However, in July, things changed. Though I had previously taken as gospel Diane's fuzzy tale of being taken by a con man, some elements become clearer after I had a chat with the FBI agent working the case. Though she was taken and her credit used to purchase other houses, according to the G-man, she apparently did go out and legitimately get a loan against the house before ever contacting the con man. Thus, she pissed all that money away and wound up at the con man to try and refinance her first loan! Needless to say, I lost much of the sympathy I had for Diane after this conversation.
This was all the more frustrating when one considers that Diane came to me needing $300 and offering me a post-dated check payable on the 25th in return. Said she had some extra bills she couldn't pay related to the oxygen equipment she's had to pay for since her second round of pneumonia. This was driven home when she couldn't stand on the front porch for more than 30 seconds without having to sit down to catch her breath.
This was all well and good, except for the fact that, according to the FBI agent on the case, she also went to the credit union that holds the note on her car wanting to squeeze $300 more out of that loan because "a sister had passed away out of town"! (she doesn't have any sisters) When they turned her down and suggested she go to family in town, she told them she didn't have any family here!!!!! Also of note here, Diane had the balls (or stupidity) to go to the same credit union where she had fraudulently cashed the insurance check. When that was mentioned to her, she told the lady at the credit union the FBI would take care of that! I mention that because, when recounting to me the story he'd gotten from the lady at the credit union, the FBI agent quoted Diane almost verbatim using the same pitch she'd used when she called me.
Now it was obvious Diane had a little bit of con man in her as well and, though I was tempted to wash my hands of the whole thing, I still felt sorry for her and felt like I needed to see it through till the end. Turns out, the end was coming faster than I knew.
In late July, my phone rings. I pick it up and without a hello or anything else, Diane immediately says, "They're gonna sell my house." The sheriff's sale date was three weeks away and she would likely need to vacate two to three weeks after that. Though I had told her all along this was very possible, she seemed surprised by all of this. I advised her to start thinking about what possessions she wanted to sell or store and what she wanted to take with her when she moved.
I tried to remind Diane that there were still options, however. I knew she could file bankruptcy and, if nothing else, buy some time and get out from under the rest of her other debt. And, though it hadn't been promising, I was still trying to figure something out with Countrywide.
My first call was to Diane's bankruptcy attorney. He was out of town and wouldn't be back around till the following Monday. From there, I called Countrywide. Once we all got on the same page, they pretty much realized very quickly that she didn't have any options, save for rolling the delinquent payments back into the note, giving her an even bigger monthly payment. Hearing that, it was time to find Diane someplace to live.
It was plainly obvious Diane needed to be in some form of a senior center. I priced an apartment or two but most of them were somewhat pricey and offered little security for an old lady. I then spent a fair bit of my free time trying to find out what it would take to get Diane into a senior type place she could afford. For the Catholic ones, she either had too much income to qualify for the low income center or just barely enough income to afford a nice independent living center. Problem there was, they didn't have any studios available. I then looked at city funded senior housing. She could certainly afford it, but there were no openings at any of the centers she would want to live and the application and wait process was going to take too long.
Finally I settled on some nice high-rise apartments downtown that offered reasonable rates,all bills paid, six month or one year leases and private garage and secure entry while still leaving her about $1500 a month to live on. Now all we had to do was get bankruptcy filed....
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
The Smoking Gun
By late March, Diane was feeling better. And now, an IRS/Treasury Dept investigator (working together with the FBI) wanted to sit down and interview her and they wanted me there to make her feel a bit more comfortable. If they liked what they heard, there was talk they would put her before a grand jury!
Though I was skeptical as to how much coherent information she'd actually provide, the agent very patiently walked her through everything and she was surprisingly lucid in her answers. What was notable was the "aha" moment when we figured out that Diane's note with Countrywide was a re-finance of a previous loan. This was significant because all along Diane had said she went to Countrywide on her own and surely she wouldn't have been dumb enough to actually take out a loan against the entire value of her home, would she?
What we figured this meant was, Diane went to the con man for a loan of some form, he got her a loan against the whole house but diverted the funds, and Diane only went to Countrywide when she got fed up with the con man. Countrywide then re-financed and paid off the previous loan, and this answered the question of where all the money went from that loan. Because, surely she couldn't have been dumb enough to take out a loan against the entire value of her house, right?
In addition to trying to get Diane out of this mess, I also decided to see if there were any veteran's widow's benefits that she was entitled to. Apparently, in seven years of marriage, George never got around to getting Diane down as his spouse for the VA. He either never signed and returned the form or was too cheap to pay the nominal premium. Thus, save for TriCare health insurance (which was all encompassing and pays for everything) Diane wasn't getting a damn thing as the widow of an over 20-years-of-service veteran.
The VA told me to get a number of items, such as death certificates, dishcarge forms, etc. It took six weeks of nagging Diane but she finally handed me a large, vinyl bank envelope (that reeked of cigarette smoke) filled with all kinds of random paperwork and several of George's official military forms, still in the frames she had put them in!
Though I was skeptical as to how much coherent information she'd actually provide, the agent very patiently walked her through everything and she was surprisingly lucid in her answers. What was notable was the "aha" moment when we figured out that Diane's note with Countrywide was a re-finance of a previous loan. This was significant because all along Diane had said she went to Countrywide on her own and surely she wouldn't have been dumb enough to actually take out a loan against the entire value of her home, would she?
What we figured this meant was, Diane went to the con man for a loan of some form, he got her a loan against the whole house but diverted the funds, and Diane only went to Countrywide when she got fed up with the con man. Countrywide then re-financed and paid off the previous loan, and this answered the question of where all the money went from that loan. Because, surely she couldn't have been dumb enough to take out a loan against the entire value of her house, right?
In addition to trying to get Diane out of this mess, I also decided to see if there were any veteran's widow's benefits that she was entitled to. Apparently, in seven years of marriage, George never got around to getting Diane down as his spouse for the VA. He either never signed and returned the form or was too cheap to pay the nominal premium. Thus, save for TriCare health insurance (which was all encompassing and pays for everything) Diane wasn't getting a damn thing as the widow of an over 20-years-of-service veteran.
The VA told me to get a number of items, such as death certificates, dishcarge forms, etc. It took six weeks of nagging Diane but she finally handed me a large, vinyl bank envelope (that reeked of cigarette smoke) filled with all kinds of random paperwork and several of George's official military forms, still in the frames she had put them in!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Smoke And Mirrors
As this saga began, every time I talked to her, Diane again reiterated her claim that she would get a part-time job to make everything right. Or, as Diane put it, "I'll get a job delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut." When we thought about this, the idea of Diane getting a job was actually laughable. Why? Because what can a 71 year old woman with no social skills actually do? Yes, she could deliver pizzas, but that requires good driving skills (uhhh no), a certain amount of fearlessness (don't think so), and an ability to figure change in your head (and as you've already seen, numbers and thinking on her feet ain't exactly Diane's strong point).
What about greeter at Wal-Mart? Lots of retirees do that, right? Well, even if the lack of social skills were to be overlooked, that job requires you be on your feet for the better part of the day and have a certain amount of personality. Given her physical condition and generally nil personality, I figured the best Diane could offer America's largest retailer was someone who would sit at the door most of the day, offering up an occasional phlegmy, "Hi." Rest easy Sam Walton.....
As March began, I started trying to sort out the whole mess. Going through paperwork, trying to correspond that with what Diane could tell me, and playing off anything the FBI had picked up in their investigation. In the middle of the month, Diane (who was either unwilling or unable to tell me the whole story) calls and tells me that she was in the hospital with pneumonia. I ask if she needs anything and she says no. When she does go home (three days after she told me she would), she's on oxygen and weak. So much for getting a job.....
As I went through the paper work, I found Diane owed a shitload of money to everyone, everywhere. Specifically:
Credit Cards
Chase $18,237
Another Chase $8,206
Bank of America $6,620
Catherine's $1,537
J.C. Penney's $3,823
Loans
Car (re-fi) $3,478 (on a $5020 re-fianance of a used car!!!!!!)
Note Loan $571
Mortgages
Her own home $183,714
Home Equity Loan $46,400
Other homes $130,211
$102,638
$92,150
Second Mortgages on the above others
$32,851
$26,388
The other house mortgages would go away with foreclosure, so that only left the credit debt and her own home loan to worry about. I figured, some way, some how, the con man had made off with majority of the funds from her home loan. Whenever I asked where that money went, Diane could only offer, "I don't know."
And, btw, why wasn't there a second mortgage on the third home that the con man had duped Diane into "buying"? Well, because it burned before he could get that lined up. But, where there's a mortgage, there has to be structure insurance, right? Well of course, this guy manages to have Diane take the insurance check she received to the bank and get it cashed (without the endorsement of the mortgage company), specifically instructing her to get the funds in five separate cashier's checks and to bring the checks and receipts to him. She got one of these checks as her payment for this "job", he took the rest. OK, while technically illegal, it certainly paid better than Pizza Hut delivery......
And aside from ill-gotten insurance funds, what was the con man gaining in the house purchases? Since he owned a finance company my guess is, in the primary purchase, he overfinanced the loan (i.e. got a $60k loan on a $40k house sale and split the difference with the seller under the table), racked up big loan fees which were rolled into the loan, and got a commission when he sold the loan upstream. And of course, the second mortgages were just easy cash grabs! Oh, and as I found out from the FBI, he was then renting out these houses, keeping the rent monies, and telling the renters they were renting to own....
What about greeter at Wal-Mart? Lots of retirees do that, right? Well, even if the lack of social skills were to be overlooked, that job requires you be on your feet for the better part of the day and have a certain amount of personality. Given her physical condition and generally nil personality, I figured the best Diane could offer America's largest retailer was someone who would sit at the door most of the day, offering up an occasional phlegmy, "Hi." Rest easy Sam Walton.....
As March began, I started trying to sort out the whole mess. Going through paperwork, trying to correspond that with what Diane could tell me, and playing off anything the FBI had picked up in their investigation. In the middle of the month, Diane (who was either unwilling or unable to tell me the whole story) calls and tells me that she was in the hospital with pneumonia. I ask if she needs anything and she says no. When she does go home (three days after she told me she would), she's on oxygen and weak. So much for getting a job.....
As I went through the paper work, I found Diane owed a shitload of money to everyone, everywhere. Specifically:
Credit Cards
Chase $18,237
Another Chase $8,206
Bank of America $6,620
Catherine's $1,537
J.C. Penney's $3,823
Loans
Car (re-fi) $3,478 (on a $5020 re-fianance of a used car!!!!!!)
Note Loan $571
Mortgages
Her own home $183,714
Home Equity Loan $46,400
Other homes $130,211
$102,638
$92,150
Second Mortgages on the above others
$32,851
$26,388
The other house mortgages would go away with foreclosure, so that only left the credit debt and her own home loan to worry about. I figured, some way, some how, the con man had made off with majority of the funds from her home loan. Whenever I asked where that money went, Diane could only offer, "I don't know."
And, btw, why wasn't there a second mortgage on the third home that the con man had duped Diane into "buying"? Well, because it burned before he could get that lined up. But, where there's a mortgage, there has to be structure insurance, right? Well of course, this guy manages to have Diane take the insurance check she received to the bank and get it cashed (without the endorsement of the mortgage company), specifically instructing her to get the funds in five separate cashier's checks and to bring the checks and receipts to him. She got one of these checks as her payment for this "job", he took the rest. OK, while technically illegal, it certainly paid better than Pizza Hut delivery......
And aside from ill-gotten insurance funds, what was the con man gaining in the house purchases? Since he owned a finance company my guess is, in the primary purchase, he overfinanced the loan (i.e. got a $60k loan on a $40k house sale and split the difference with the seller under the table), racked up big loan fees which were rolled into the loan, and got a commission when he sold the loan upstream. And of course, the second mortgages were just easy cash grabs! Oh, and as I found out from the FBI, he was then renting out these houses, keeping the rent monies, and telling the renters they were renting to own....
There's A Smoker Born Every Minute
My first call after visiting the lawyer with Diane was to the FBI. They were already looking into the man who had conned Diane into signing her name at closings, so they took my information and set up an appointment for later to go over things in depth and to peruse all the paperwork she had.
Next up was a call to the Department of Human Services. They took my info and a day or so later called back and got further details. A few days after that, a DHS case worker calls and tells me she's in Diane's driveway and getting no answer at the door, but that her car was in the driveway. Thinking Diane had taken the message of "speak to no one" to heart, I call her, thinking if she's home, she'll see my name on the caller ID and pick up. I got no answer. Later when Diane calls back, she tells me she was at the doctor. I tell her the case worker's name and that she would be back the following Tuesday.
I also mention to Diane that I needed some further information so I could begin trying to figure out the depth of her problems. She informs that she gave some of her paperwork to "the girl at the finance place." I respond, "What finance place?" Diane, the woman who had been told to not do anything, not talk to anyone, and refer everything to her lawyer says, "Well I got this thing in the mail and it said they could save my house. So I called and they said they'd talk to Countrywide and they'd work with them and take care of everything." Fighting the urge to just go over there and have her sign her own death warrant, I politely informed her that it was another scam and that if they call again, she should refer them to her lawyer.
A few days later, I question Diane about a summons she'd received but not mentioned. Her response? "Well I hadn't heard anything more about that for a couple months so I figured it just went away..."
A few days on, I get a call back from the DHS case worker. She confirmed that she found Diane very confused and that she believed hers was a case of elderly abuse. She suggested I line up a financial guardian for Diane and said she would refer her report to the DA. A day or so later she calls back and asks who Diane's doctor is, thinking she would check with them to see if they might have noted any reduced mental capacity (insert your own tacky remark here, I'm running out of them).
So I call Diane to follow up and ask her about her meeting with the DHS lady. Diane says she just asked a bunch of questions, including several about if she gave the con man any money. And what did you tell her Diane? "I told her I never gave him any money" What about the checks that he had you cash and hand to him? "Oh I forgot about that..."
When I ask her who her doctor is, she replies, "Who wants to know?" The DHS lady. "Why?" I lie and say that she wants to make sure you're receiving the proper care. "Well I go to a bunch of different doctors." Which one were you seeing that day last week when the DHS lady came by? "Errr, ummm, that was an oncologist, but I don't have cancer!" Other than to get his name, I was literally too dumbfounded by that statement to reply.
Passing along this info the DHS lady, we were both confused, but her check with the doc's office revealed no notation of compromised mental state in Diane. Maybe they just never took the time to try to talk to her.....
The mystery was kind of solved some weeks later when we discovered that the oncologist was also a hematologist (blood doctor) and Diane had said she was anemic. Just another little detail Diane had neglected to mention.....
Next up was a call to the Department of Human Services. They took my info and a day or so later called back and got further details. A few days after that, a DHS case worker calls and tells me she's in Diane's driveway and getting no answer at the door, but that her car was in the driveway. Thinking Diane had taken the message of "speak to no one" to heart, I call her, thinking if she's home, she'll see my name on the caller ID and pick up. I got no answer. Later when Diane calls back, she tells me she was at the doctor. I tell her the case worker's name and that she would be back the following Tuesday.
I also mention to Diane that I needed some further information so I could begin trying to figure out the depth of her problems. She informs that she gave some of her paperwork to "the girl at the finance place." I respond, "What finance place?" Diane, the woman who had been told to not do anything, not talk to anyone, and refer everything to her lawyer says, "Well I got this thing in the mail and it said they could save my house. So I called and they said they'd talk to Countrywide and they'd work with them and take care of everything." Fighting the urge to just go over there and have her sign her own death warrant, I politely informed her that it was another scam and that if they call again, she should refer them to her lawyer.
A few days later, I question Diane about a summons she'd received but not mentioned. Her response? "Well I hadn't heard anything more about that for a couple months so I figured it just went away..."
A few days on, I get a call back from the DHS case worker. She confirmed that she found Diane very confused and that she believed hers was a case of elderly abuse. She suggested I line up a financial guardian for Diane and said she would refer her report to the DA. A day or so later she calls back and asks who Diane's doctor is, thinking she would check with them to see if they might have noted any reduced mental capacity (insert your own tacky remark here, I'm running out of them).
So I call Diane to follow up and ask her about her meeting with the DHS lady. Diane says she just asked a bunch of questions, including several about if she gave the con man any money. And what did you tell her Diane? "I told her I never gave him any money" What about the checks that he had you cash and hand to him? "Oh I forgot about that..."
When I ask her who her doctor is, she replies, "Who wants to know?" The DHS lady. "Why?" I lie and say that she wants to make sure you're receiving the proper care. "Well I go to a bunch of different doctors." Which one were you seeing that day last week when the DHS lady came by? "Errr, ummm, that was an oncologist, but I don't have cancer!" Other than to get his name, I was literally too dumbfounded by that statement to reply.
Passing along this info the DHS lady, we were both confused, but her check with the doc's office revealed no notation of compromised mental state in Diane. Maybe they just never took the time to try to talk to her.....
The mystery was kind of solved some weeks later when we discovered that the oncologist was also a hematologist (blood doctor) and Diane had said she was anemic. Just another little detail Diane had neglected to mention.....
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