It is one thing to lose your house to foreclosure as a casualty in the real estate market crash and another to lose it because a person you trusted sweet talked you into deals that were destined to fail. At least 75 home owners are complaining about being “coaxed” by a real estate agent into dealings that made them lose their homes to foreclosures. Miguel Romero – real estate agent, income tax preparer, insurance dealer, and credit repair specialist – is being complained about by 75 of the 122 Latino families to whom he sold homes since 2004. Though there are no public allegations to him breaking the law, his case showcases industry excesses that may partly explain the foreclosure crisis: The largely Spanish-speaking borrowers claim that they were convinced to sign documents that they did not understand, charged excessive fees by mortgage brokers who exploited language barriers and offered high-risk loans made more tempting by promises of high payoffs for investments.

Though documents of the clients never show Romero as loan officer, the complainants report that they were actually pushed into lying in mortgage applications – a state crime. But Romero’s colleagues came to his defense, saying he is not the type of agent who would have encouraged people to lie. Records show that on top of the 122 homes sold (and 75 foreclosed), Romero also had a network of employed real estate agents who sold 63 more homes since 205 – and 21 of these have entered foreclosure. In summary, 69% of his sales and 33% of his agents’ have resulted either in short sale or foreclosure. And the clients contest this is not a coincidence. There have been no comments from the attorney general and district attorney as to whether Romero’s actions are now being investigated.