what can I do to protect my mother from a scam artist?

Question

my sister just died, and I think a man in mom and my dads life is scamming them. He owns slum hotels in WV and FLA and is "being so gracious" to have my parents get a loan for him for 15 thousand, he says they will be "silent partners" and acts as if he is doing them a favor by keeping them off the books so they dont get taxed.I have until febuary to stop it and the only way would be to discredit "buddy". Any help would be greatly appreciated, and how would I go about getting a check ran on the guy and his slum hotels? what can I do to help my mother get money documented so they dont get taken.

Answer 1

What is basically happening is he is asking them to co-sign a loan for him, but he isnt one of the co-signers!!!!! Pretty slick. Even if you get the transaction documented, even with a check, if he skips town, they are on the hook for the money. The only way to secure the transaction is to make the transaction a mortgage. That way if he skips town, they have the hotels as collateral. The only taxes payable in this case is the mortgage tax, if the counties assess one, and if they collect interest, they pay tax on that. If the mortgage is for zero interest, your parents pay tax as if they had charged your friend current rates (7% interest).

Answer 2

I hope you can get your parents to listen to reason. If they are "off the books" they have no ownership in the properties and it will be a personal loan. If the hotels are as bad as you say, that might be a good thing, because if the cities decide to take Code Enforcement action, every owner of the property is EQUALLY responsible for the repairs and clean up. If you parents do a straight loan to "Buddy" then they should make sure they have a solid contract outlining repayment, what happens if he doesnt pay, terms and interest, etc.

Good Luck!

I'm Tony Wilson

Answer 3

It sounds like "buddy" has asked your parents to borrow money from a third party (bank, or whatever) and give that money to him with no paperwork to be signed between your parents and "buddy". Am I reading that right?

First, recognize that even smart and good people (and I am putting your parents in that group) can be scammed, and there may not be anything you can do to stop them for going through with this.

There are reasons they are considering this deal with "buddy" to be all right, as absurd as that might appear to you (and others). And people have a right to make mistakes, even if those mistakes cost them money.

What you can do to try would be to start with a rational sitdown with them. Ask them what sort of collateral or other documentation "buddy" is giving them? What is their recourse if "buddy" defaults on his repayment? Treat it as though this was a legitimate arrangement and ask them the types of questions you would ask someone putting together a legitimate deal.

Make your parents think like business people, and maybe they will see things for themselves.

If it doesn't work, you can become more adamant about things as the discussions progress.

You can run criminal checks for people in Florida:
http://www.ecriminalbackgroundcheck.com/florida.htm
and WV:
http://www.ecriminalbackgroundcheck.com/west-virginia.htm

These criminal checks would not, however, pick up civil cases and any previous scams by "buddy" may have ended up on civil court.

Google and Yahoo search "buddy"'s name, and appropriate qualifiers - you could end up surprised with what shows up.

Good luck. I hope it works out for you and your parents.

Answer 4

wow, they are trusting people. There is an old saying that says something about any money lent to a friend should be kissed good bye.
If he is a legitimate business man, he should be able to get a loan through normal channels. At the very least they need to have him sign a note saying he has borrowed the amount, and a schedule of payments and pay off date.

Answer 5

I would spend $200 to save that $15,000.
$45 to a PI to run a back ground check, and then talk to you a lawyer about the type of personal iron clad contract they would need. $150 to have the contract drawn up.
I would really work hard to convince your parents don't do it. If that don't work you go after the low life with his back ground if it's bad or scare him with that, show him he has to sign the contract and make it triplicate! Have him sign things till his head falls off with very detailed schedule of how the profits will be reported to your parents and like every month, make him know it's going to be more trouble and time consuming for him to get money from your parents I bet he leaves for an easier mark.

Good luck.

Answer 6

Were your parents born yesterday????? By keeping them off the books, he's effectively erasing any record they have of their investment and virtually guaranteeing that if anything goes south (no pun intended) they'll be out of their money. I've seen this type of thing before, and you need to get your parents OUT of it immediately; don't even wait till February. They need to dump this Buddy character and perhaps report him to the Better Business Bureau, the Police, the IRS, the FBI and anyone else you can think of. Report to all of these agencies. YOUR PARENTS ARE DEFINITELY BEING SWINDLED; no question about it. Act now.

Answer 7

You can check with the Better Business Bureau to see if this man has been reported by anyone else. If he has then you can provide that information to your parents. Since it would come from a respected third party it would take you out of it. You can also report him to the Better Business Bureau so that there is a record of what he is attempting. In the end all you can really do is give your parents information - what they do with that is up to them.

Answer 8

First get the name of his company , go out on a limb and if your parents get upset don't worry your looking out for their best interest, after geeting the name of the company call the BBB(Better Business Buerau) let them check into it to see if they are for real or if they have had further complaints ..Try to keep your parents from purchasing anyhting..If they don't have a business name well that tells you something..Call the law or do whatever it takes to make sure your parents are not being swindled..the BBB is your best option..

Answer 9

First collect all of the documents related to this 'transaction' and "interview" your parents to record all of the information that they recall about this "buddy" and his offer.

Next contact an attorney and discuss way to protect your parents and their assets. (Trusts etc).

Also contact the district attorney where your parents live and where this buddy has his properties.

Good Luck

Answer 10

If your parents are still competent, hire a lawyer to prepare power of attorney forms for them appointing you as their attorney-in-fact. Then, you will be empowered to handle all of their financial affairs.