Conservative celebrity and Tea Party activist Sarah Palin is already famous – and notorious – in her own right for her outspoken manner and unabashed conservative views. Now, however, she may be involved in foreclosure fraud as well – as a victim[1]. Palin made headlines when she purchased a property in Scottsdale, Arizona last month. She’s making headlines again now because she may not, in fact, be the rightful owner of that property. At least two fraudulent signatures were involved in refinancing and foreclosure transactions on the property long before Palin’s investment firm purchased it, throwing the chain of title into question and putting Palin in a circumstance very similar to that of other real estate investors who have purchased foreclosed properties that now have cloudy chains of title coming to light.
Naturally, the foreclosure fraud issue is not the only aspect of Palin’s purchase that is being scrutinized. Some parties have also criticized her for buying the property from an investor who purchased the property as a short sale. Even though the investor waited an entire year to sell the property, some are saying that he made “too big a profit” (118%) on the deal and are demanding that the lender who sold the property, JPMorgan, respond to this “red flag”[2].
Thus far, even her critics have been careful to point out that Palin herself is likely entirely innocent of any wrongdoing in the transaction. However, because of her controversial position in politics, Palin is likely to always have a magnifying glass on any action she takes and this has led to the exposure of a problem that she may have with her property that many other Americans also unknowingly have with their homes as well. Do you think it’s fair that Palin’s property purchases should receive scrutiny for fraud that the ordinary homeowner cannot get even when they need it?
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[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/10/sarah-palin-arizona-home-foreclosure-fraud_n_875186.html
[2] http://compliancesearch.com/compliancex/news-and-current-events/sarah-palins-new-1-75-million-house-exposes-another-facet-of-the-neverending-housing-scam-short-sale-fraud/
June 13th, 2011 at 9:01 AM
The devil is always in the details.
I would like to see what numbers they are basing a “118%” profit on. Regardless, it was the party who had equitable interest in the property before she owned it that they are referring profit towards…so what’s the big deal?
As far as fraudulent signatures that cloud title today, again, that was before Palin offered to purchase the property, again, what’s the big deal?
If they have to do a “re-do”, that’s fine. But obviously there was no legal wrong doing on Palin’s part.
Move on, people.
June 13th, 2011 at 9:22 AM
If the purchasers before her acted in a fraudulent manner, then that sale will be voided and they will have to start over. NO, her purchase should not be scruntinzed anymore than the general public. The one problem I have with this story is the thought that investor can make “too Much” money in any type of investment, especially flipping houses. That world was built on buying destressed property and turning them around and selling them, what is wrong with that? With market conditions as they are in Arizona, you know that property had to be in some state of disrepair, so that profit did not come from some sceme, it came from a real estate investor knowing what he/she was doing.
June 13th, 2011 at 9:23 AM
Sarah is fine, she purchased Title Insurance. The story is much ado about nothing.
June 13th, 2011 at 9:49 AM
I think it’s ridiculous to blame the purchaser or even the investor for something they did not do. Go after the lenders who committed the fraud and make them reimburse the homeowner for any damages they may have incurred as a result of the fraud. Also, even though the investor made a nice profit, it’s likely he did substantial work to the property to accomplish that and, although it’s quite trendy to criticize investors as greedy, the reality is that without them, the housing market would be even worse and we all would be suffering for it for a much longer time.
June 13th, 2011 at 9:50 AM
It is crazy that they are trying to taint her with this. If investor or lender did something wrong go after them - just keep Palin out of it. They are grasping at straws and hope that someone will just form a negative opinion without looking at the facts.
June 13th, 2011 at 10:36 AM
Stuff happens. If Palin was not attempting anything illicit, then no, the story is just an attempt to smear her. She’s no different than anyone in that someone could easily do the wrong thing in a transaction without her knowledge. What’s the big deal? Go after the truly guilty party and smear them!!
June 13th, 2011 at 11:23 AM
If her name were anything other than Sara Palin we would not even be reading this article, which probably wouldn’t have been written! Yes much to do about nothing!!
June 13th, 2011 at 12:15 PM
I am clearly not a fan of Sarah Palin - however, on the surface this looks like she got caught in the middle of events that she did not create. This looks like the loonies are out to grab some attention by painting her as some type of con artist. On this item, give her a pass. She has enough legitimate problems. Leave her alone.
Jim Myers
June 13th, 2011 at 12:24 PM
This past legislature had an opportunity to help homeowners in a meaningful way by adopting legislation that would have helped to clarify title and note issues with regard to property forclosures and they FAILED-
Legislators in Arizona had a chance to at least clean up some of the problem by requesting that all lenders, mortgage holders etc. prove they had good clear title to the property BEFORE they foreclosed BUT - Nancy McLain, Carl Seer, Michele Reagan and others Killed the legislation !
Did the three stooges really receive personal mortgage reductions and other favors for doing the big banks a favor? They Sure Did’nt Help Arizona Homeowners !
These three are sorry excuses for Arizona lawmakers which is why people around the country refer to Arizona as having the best politicians Money Can Buy !
June 13th, 2011 at 4:54 PM
Again, this is all political. Another stupid ploy. Always trying to trash her name. If not her, it would be anyone else that opposes the Obama admin. She just happens to be a bigger threat to them in their eyes. Apparently she bought a NICE piece of property. So I’m sure the investor and Sarah both favored well. I feel neither the investor, nor Sarah has anything to worry about regarding this issue.