Apparent Fraud Spills from Century21 SuCasa to Another Agent in San Jose

I had already known a little about this case before the story hit the press. What I didn’t know was the extent of it and how they were getting away with it.

The (anonymous) homeowner who had given me some information months ago called me one day. She had recently seen cameras from the Spanish television news channel Noticias Univision Canal 14 going into the office of Norma Valdovinos in San Jose but she refused to talk to the reporters.

According to the article by the New York Times published on September 25, Norma Valdovinos (license record), real estate agent in San Jose California, Linda Tran and Pablo Curiel were hit with lawsuits in March 2007 by nine families. Apparently these families were pressured into buying homes they could not afford. These stories look very similar to the ones covered on my previous post about Bic Pho, Century 21 Su Casa and all the other companies he owns.

The difference though, with this story is that Norma Valdovinos and Linda Tran put these homebuyers into undisclosed “down payment assistance” loans from a retired insurance sales agent from San Jose named Pablo Curiel.

The families suing Norma Valdovinos, Linda Tran, Pablo Curiel, and the brokers, were arranged with Option Arm loans as their first and biggest loan, a second Heloc loan and the third loan coming from Pablo Curiel at an interest rate of 10 percent, with 15 percent upfront fee added to the principal balance. The lenders used in many cases for the first and second loans were Washington Mutual and Countrywide.

The Torralba family, one of the plaintiffs, realized something was wrong when they received notice from a man who claimed that they owed him $74,000. They were never told about this third loan.

The Hernandez family, another plaintiff, said Ms Valdovinos had convinced them that they could afford a $745,000 home in San Jose, even though the family income only amounted only to $4,000 a month and told them they could pay no more than $2,500 a month. Before buying the home the Hernandez refused to go through with the purchase after learning their monthly payments would be $4,660 but Linda Tran assured them that they would be able to refinance in a few months and reduce the payments to less than $2,900 a month so they trusted Ms Valdovinos and Ms Tran and purchased the home.

“They said no to worry, that we were in good hands,” Mr. Hernandez said of Ms. Tran and Ms. Valdovinos.

“The American dream of buying a home, it may be real for some,” Mr. Hernandez said. “But not for us. And many people are going through the same or worse.”

“Everything was too easy,” he said of they way he purchased the home. “But nothing is easy now.”

Some other families were not told of the loans from Mr. Curiel until a few days before closing or just after closing, according to the lawsuit. Families that resisted accepting the third loan from Mr. Curiel were pressured by their broker, real estate agent Norma Valdovinos and Linda Tran by telling them that they would lose their deposits. Some said they went ahead after being assured by Ms. Tran and Ms. Valdovinos that they would be able to refinance in a few months.

The nine families bringing the suit are all natives of Mexico; many have been living in California for decades. Most work in construction or as cashiers, janitors, painters, and gardeners. Many had good credit scores and some had been homeowners before.

Of course Norma Valdovinos, just like Felipe Neri did with his involvement in the lawsuit  with Century 21 Su Casa, began putting the blame on everybody else but her self. In legal filings, Ms. Tran and Ms. Valdovinos have denied the claims, saying that they had explained the terms of the loan and that some borrowers, including Mr. Torralba, spoke English. I seriously doubt they explained everything to these families.

The families are being represented by the “Law Foundation of Silicon Valley,” a nonprofit legal assistance goup in San Jose, and Greenberg Traurig, a large national firm that is working pro bono.

The lawsuit is seeking to have the Curiel loans to the families annulled.

The defendant named on the lawsuit in this article Norma Valdovinos, a real estate agent working in San Jose, ranked amongst the top 3 most successful agents inside one of the most recognized real estate franchises in Northern California during the housing boom.

Click on the picture to see a larger image

Large part of her business came from Spanish speaking families looking to have their own piece of the “American Dream” by owning a home. She constantly published her advertisement on popular Spanish magazines like “El Aguila magazine” and “El Avisador” around the Bay Area.

The second person named on this article is Linda Tran, which I believe is the loan agent working for one of the several companies named on the lawsuit. Linda Tran arranged the horrendous loans by exaggerating their income and assets using no-documentation loans also known as stated income loans.

The third person named on this article is Pablo Curiel, a 67-year old retired insurance agent. According to Pablo Curiel’s lawyer, he got to know Linda Tran as an investor who bought private loans made to home buyers by the sellers. Linda Tran offered him new loans on similar terms and offered to take care of the paperwork but supposedly he did not realize he would be providing a third party loan to borrowers. Public records show Pablo Curiel as a lender on more than 200 private loans in Northern California. I think it is very hard to believe he was unaware of all of this since there is another (maybe the same) lawsuit regarding the Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act (RESPA). According to TheLegalDescription.com, the lawsuit alleges a vast conspiracy between a real estate brokerage, two mortgage firms, Paul Curiel and his Insurance company where the defendants received unearned fees and kickbacks from real estate transactions.

As expected, Pablo Curiel also had to point fingers to everyone else but himself. Mr. Curiel is suing Ms. Tran, and her associates, arguing that they failed to provide proper disclosures to the families.

The other defendant named on the lawsuit according to Justia.com, is Paul Curiel Insurance Agency in San Jose and its owner Paul Curiel whom may have some family ties with Pablo Curiel. By visiting “Paul Curiel Insurance Agency’s” web page you see on the SPECIAL EVENTS section that they have hosted and/or participated in several events targeting the Latino community where they have their participating partnes from Century 21 Su Casa and the defendant on this lawsuit Norma Valdovinos. Paul Curiel states on his page to have 24 year of experience and his office is “one of the largest Farmers Insurance Agencies in California. And one of the larges Spanish speaking Farmers agencies in the nation” hhhhmmmm…..I wonder how the got to be so large!!??

According to Justia.com this is the list of the defendants named on the lawsuit:

  • Pablo Curiel
  • Paul Curiel
  • Paul Curiel Insurance Agency
  • Linda Tran
  • Raya Nichole Ghajar, broker for the following corporations also named as deffendants in the lawsuit:
  • Palacio Real Funding Inc in San Jose
  • The corporation which Ms. Valdovinos works for (Note: Even though the agent Norma Valdovinos may be at fault, the broker is responsible for supervising the agents transactions. On the same token we all are innocent until proven guilty)
  • And last but not least and perhaps be the main player of all this Norma Valdovinos

Anyone who has filed a real estate fraud complaint against any agent is encouraged to update his/her contact information with the Real Estate Fraud Unit’s Paralegal, Carol Vega (408) 792-2639.

On a post from It’s Just Money, the author states that critics are pointing their fingers at the main players responsible for these fraudulent transactions and here are the main targets:

  • Mortgage Brokers
  • Appraisers
  • Regulators
  • Lenders
  • Wall Street
  • Real estate agents

“Not a bad list. So, why do I say that they got it all wrong?” he asks:

“Where are the buyers/borrowers on this list? Do they get none of the blame?” In the case of the Hernandez family, their total monthly income was only $4,000 and they expected to only pay $2,500 for a three quarter of a million dollar home just because their agent Ms Valdovinos and loan agent Ms Tran told them that they could and after the property went up in value they could refinance? “Shouldn’t we expect the borrower to have a “wait a minute moment”?”

I agree with the author to an extent. It is true that greedy buyers should be included in this list but in most cases it is a little more complicated because non-English speaking families were involved.

I am sure some of them went along with it with the hopes of making some money by buying real estate. But the MAJORITY of them were “brain washed” by greedy real estate agents like Norma Valdovinos and loan agents Linda Tran (according to the accusations) into believing that buying a home was as simple as applying for a credit card.

One of the biggest obstacles the Latino community faces, besides the language barrier, is the existence of limited amount of information available about real estate in Spanish and the accessibility to such information.

And for the Latino community is like “Damned if you Damned if you don’t.” The Latino community tends not to trust their financial future to non-Spanish speaking agents for the fear of being taken advantage of, therefore they end up falling victims to greedy agents that speak their own language.

**If anybody has an update to this story, please feel free to leave a comment with the source of the information**


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November 10th, 2007 · Filed Under Real Estate & Mortgage FRAUD

Comments

20 Responses to “Apparent Fraud Spills from Century21 SuCasa to Another Agent in San Jose”

  1. sara moreno on November 30th, 2007 4:52 pm

    I feel not only are the agents to blame but also the clients for not doing any research. If it sounds “to good to be true” maybe it is. The sad part is when the economy was good everybody turned a blind eye. The sad part is it gives Hispanic realtors a bad name and not all are bad

  2. Ney on November 30th, 2007 5:23 pm

    And you are so right Sara!
    I agree with you 100%
    The victims should have made an effort to educate themselves and inform themselves a little better and not let someone take control completely over their financial future.
    Agents like the ones involved in these lawsuits make all of us look bad.
    I know there are probably more things involved in the cases involving Felipe Neri, Bic Pho and Century21 Su Casa, Mariposa Mortgage, etc than there were with the cases involving Norma Valdovinos and Linda Tran in San Jose but us as professionals in real estate have the duty to look out for our client’s best interest and from the stories I heard directly from Norma Valdovinos’ own clients, she did not do this at all. Instead it looks like she focused more on her own best monetary interest.

  3. Thomas Nguyen on April 7th, 2008 5:45 pm

    I lost my home because of Linda Tran.

  4. Ney on April 7th, 2008 6:36 pm

    Thomas,
    You and many, many more families are in the same situation. Hopefully, the investigation gets resolved soon and something good comes out of it.

  5. Thomas on May 21st, 2008 7:52 pm

    Thanks Ney,

    I just found out Linda Tran is working for Alpine. I just don’t why she still con’t to sell house. I thought her license was suspended!!

  6. Ney on May 22nd, 2008 3:07 pm

    Thomas,
    Tran is a very popular name and Linda as well. It could be a different Linda Tran or not. You have to guide yourself by the real estate license number rather than simply the name.

    On the other hand, the other defendants in this lawsuit have not had their licensed revoked yet or charged with any wrong doing. One of the reasons could simply be because investigations take some time as do lawsuits. It may be awhile before any changes in the status of their license is seen if these people are found guilty.

  7. Thomas on May 26th, 2008 7:45 pm

    hello ney,

    I know who and how Linda Tran look. her kids went to same school w/my kids. I met her before. I know Linda and Tran is a very popular name, that is why it surprised me when I saw her advertise in Alpine and it her!!! thanks Nev for all the info.

  8. Thomas on May 26th, 2008 7:49 pm

    hello Nev
    this is her website and definitely it her!! http://www.apr.com/lindat

  9. Co-signing on a Mortgage Loan, Car Loan, any loan - San Jose California Real Estate on June 12th, 2008 12:48 pm

    [...] your family member and their mortgage broker promise you that in about six months or less than one year you will be able to refin… the home and take yourself out of the loan the deed the property back to your family member, run [...]

  10. RAUL DIAZ on June 19th, 2008 11:47 am

    WELL I LOST MY HOUSE TO I KNOW IS BAD BECAUSE WE DIDN’T WANT TO LESSENED TO NO BODY BUT RELATORS MAKE TO MANY FRAUD THEY HAVE TO PAY FOR THERE OWN MISTAKE IS TO LATE TO CRY NEXT TIME WE NEED TO OPEN OUR EYES I FORGET THE LADY WHO SELL ME MY HOUSE ONE TIME I TELL HER THAT I WANT TO SELL THE HOUSE SO SHE SAY THAT SHE WILL HELP ME SHE ASK ME FOR MONEY I GIVE $1000 THOUSAND DOLLARS AFTER THAT SHE TELL SHE COULDN’T DO ANYTHING I ASK FOR MY MONEY AND SHE SAY I CANNOT RETURN YOUR MONEY BACK HER NAME IS BERTA I FORGET HER LAST NAME BUT SHE KNOWS WHO I AM

  11. Ney on June 20th, 2008 8:55 am

    Raul,
    I am sorry that you feel cheated by Realtors because you are loosing your home but you cannot generalize. Just like there are crooked cops, judges, attorneys, appraisers, doctos, etc, we also have crooked real estate agents and mortgage brokers but we are not all that way.

    The few that took advantage of their client’s lack of knowledge will hopefully get caught sooner or later. But if we simply relay on hope, we wont get far, you as a consumer need to take action. If you know an agent or broker that did something illegal, report them the correspondig authorities. Follow this link to get the forms you need to report them and for the information about the agencies you need to contact

  12. Mortgage Fraud: How a “Straw Buyer” Scheme Works : San Jose Real Estate : My Home and My Money on July 10th, 2008 12:38 pm

    [...] the property at a much higher price and the profits would be spit 50-50 with the buyer or that the buyer will be removed from the mortgage in less than six months. Perhaps one of the most common ways to convince a buyer has been to offer them monetary [...]

  13. tricia on August 22nd, 2008 5:18 pm

    THE ONES RESPONSIBLE ARE THE BANKS BECAUSE THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR THE INTEREST RATE HIKES.
    THIS HAS ALL PRE-PLANNED THE INDEX RATES HAVE BEEN
    INCREASING FOR NO REASON, THE BANKS ARE PAYING AL-MOST NOTHING FOR THE MONEY THE FEDS PROVIDE THEM
    TO LOAN HOMEOWNERS BUT THE BANKS ARE CHARGING 7.8
    PERCENT INTEREST TO HOMEOWNERS WHO WANT TO REFI.
    THEY ARE MAKING TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS THINK ABOUT IT BANKS DON’T EVEN HAVE TELLERS THEY USE ATM INSTEAD THE BANK FEES/INSUFFICENT FUNDS FEES,COPY OF YOUR LAST TRANSACTIONS THEY CHARGE FOR EVERYTHING AND HARDLY HAVE ANY OVERHEAD, POSTOFFICES HAVE NO MAIL TO DELIVER BECAUSE OF FAX, E-MAIL, WALMART, HOMEDEPO YOU CHECK OUT YOUR SELF.SEARS MACY’S ITS LIKE NOONE WORKS THERE TRY FINDING SOMEONE TO HELP YOU. WHERE ARE NEW JOBS GOING TO COME FROM? BOTTOM LINE THE BANKS ARE NOT
    BEING REGULATED THEY HAVE THE POWER TO LOWER THE INTEREST BUT INSTEAD THEY INCREASE IT AND THE FEDS OR PRESIDENT ARE NOT EVEN DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. THEY JUST KEEP ON RAKING IN THE MONEY$$
    ITS THAT EASY JUST LOWER THE INTEREST RATES 1OR2%

  14. Catchy Radio/TV Ads Lured Homebuyers Who Later Foreclose : San Jose-Santa Clara County Real Estate UNCENSORED on September 5th, 2008 3:36 pm

    [...] It did not happen that way, soon after the purchase, the payments went up to $5,200 because of the one-month “teaser rate” they received. “Our agent told us that once we refinanced, we could get the payments down to $3,000 or less,” said Rosa. After being confronted, Avila agreed to help with about $2,200 per month until the families could refinance in three to six months an apparent common promise made by agents accused of wrong doings. [...]

  15. Were You a Victim of Real Estate or Mortgage Fraud? : San Jose-Santa Clara County Real Estate UNCENSORED on September 12th, 2008 2:29 pm

    [...] but the owner and affiliates still operating with different companies’ names) and the cases of Linda Tran and Norma Valdovinos from a different Century 21 office and other cases which have not yet been discovered by the law [...]

  16. What is Your Code of Ethics? : San Jose-Santa Clara County Real Estate UNCENSORED on September 12th, 2008 7:16 pm

    [...] alleged mortgage and real estate fraud cases against the former Century 21 Su Casa agents, against Norma Valdovinos and the other entities involved, and the cases against Maria Avila from the Rancho Grande power couple of “Maria y [...]

  17. Yoka on September 12th, 2008 9:59 pm

    Check on Norma Valdovinos Public records, she and another agent Jesus Chavev at:

    Golden Hills Associates Inc
    2680 S WHITE RD STE 150
    SAN JOSE, CA 95148

    Are on numerous deeds and defaults, etc. TOGETHER!!! They are unscrupulous……

  18. Yoka on September 13th, 2008 10:59 am

    RE: Linda Tran

    She does not give her licencse number on her website nor a middle name (this is very suspicious). There are numerous Linda Trans with the DRE, however NONE of them work for Alain Pinel Realtors as she claims on her website).

    License ID: 01079009
    Alain Pinel Realtors Inc
    12772 SARATOGA-SUNNYVALE RD STE 1000
    SARATOGA,

    Only one Linda Tran has been in trouble with the DRE, that is #01020843 Tran, Linda Diepnguyen.

    The question is, how can anyone find her in the DRE? She propbably does not want to be found!!Any nicknames or middle names should also be listed!!!

    The public needs to know much more about this dishonest realtor and be protected from her predatory behavior.

    Does anyone know more about her?

  19. Ney on October 2nd, 2008 11:03 am

    Thomas, Yoka and everyone else,

    An MLS search shows that three properties, which were originally sold by the company Norma Voldovinos works for, were listed in 2008 by Linda Tran of Alain Pinel. Two of those three properties were previously sold by Norma Valdovinos. Is this a coincidence?

    According to Thomas, on the messages above, this is the same Linda Tran (license record) that is being accused of fraud along with Norma Valdovinos in San Jose.

  20. Two Milpitas Mortgage Brokers Convicted in $10 Million Fraud Case : San Jose-Santa Clara County Real Estate UNCENSORED on October 22nd, 2008 1:01 am

    [...] you may recall from a previous post Paul Curiel is named in the alleged fraud case against Norma Valdovinos and Linda [...]

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