Real Estate Agent Steals $3 million and Keeps Her Real Estate License

Last week we talked about the emergence of the selfless real estate agent. Today, we’re going to look at a piece of dirt who makes the rest of the agents out there look bad.

A real estate broker in Shakopee, Minnesota was charged with with 15 felony counts of identity theft; in addition, she filed $3 million in fake loans.

According to Freeman, “in one case, she promised to buy a piece of investment property for someone, said ‘Don’t worry. I’ll pay the mortgage and pay the rents and give you your share.’ She collected the rents, didn’t pay the mortgage and didn’t give the person any money.”

This is yet another warning to everyone to be careful out there. There are so many dubious people out there just looking to scam you, that you really need to protect yourselves. With that in mind, anyone considering investing in real estate has got to be sure that they have a real estate attorney handy.

While your lawyer can’t do too much to stop someone from stealing your identity, they can be sure that the deal you’re considering is legit, and serve to protect you by reviewing all of your paperwork. They are your first line of defense!

The part of this whole story that is most astonishing is, because this is what some call a “white collar crime,” she has not been taken into custody. She also still has her real estate license and won’t lose it unless she is convicted.

Looks like another failure of government to step up and do something. Here’s an idea . . . lets temporarily suspend her license . . . no, that would just take too much paperwork . . . we’ll just let her keep serving in a position where she can steal more money and identities.

I’m not sure who I’m more appalled at, the thief, or the authorities who fail to stop her from doing it again.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.