I have some expertise in this field. I did a property records search in Lee County, FL (Fort Myers, Lehigh). Here’s what I found:
She and her son ‘bought’ a vacant lot from a developer. They were then steered to the Riverside Bank to secure a “Mortgage” which was a “Construction Loan” which would have been a ‘wraparound mortgage’, i.e. paid for both the vacant lot and home construction.
The house was never built, and the bank allowed them to “Surrender” the mortgage and all rights to the property back to the bank to AVOID FORECLOSURE.
Here’s a photo of that document:
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn221/americanunity/HENRIETTA-HUGHS-Bank-Surren.jpg?t=1234607794
The rest of the “deeds’ after that are Quit Claim and Warranty deeds that returned all the property rights back to the developer.
After doing a nationwide search of property records on a confidential database my wife uses for her business I found no property owned by Henrietta or Corey Hughes (her son).
Okay, that means the loan value was greater (probably much greater) than the price of the lot.
They never built (i.e., they pocketed the extra money), and they failed to pay on the loan, and the bank started foreclosure proceedings. They surrendered the loan and the land back to the bank to avoid foreclosure. But they kept the money. Sounds like a scam.
There was also something about selling a vacant lot for $48,000. Was it the same lot? Does that mean they pocketed $78,000? Or was it a different lot they sold?
These folks are big time grifters.
