Who to contact in CA for illegal short sale

I would like to know who to contact in California when a short sale on a condo in our complex is completed that is obviously a fraudalent short-sale. The Department of Real Estate will only review/go after the real estate agent. I need an entity that will review the Homeowner in this process.

Background:

Unit owner purchased unit in 2004 as Husband/wife for say 400K
In 2007 Unit owner wife transferred title to Husband
A month later couple purchased a SFR down the street for 600K
(They took out 100K from the Condo to purchase the SFR and now owe 500K on the condo)
A month later the couple filed a false claim to the HOA claiming a need to rent property. At time we only allowed rentals that were emergency rentals.
(HOA was not aware at time that they had purchased SFR and we had rental restrictions which have subsequently been voted out)

In early 2010 house went up for sale and did not sell. House was removed from MLS in mid 2010.

Now have come to find out that Unit is in pre-foreclosure and owner is attempting to short-sell.

Here is the rub - We have come to find out that unit owner is attempting to short-sale to a family member. The Real Estate agent which is from the same ethnic group as the Owner's has not shown or listed the property for over a year and obviously only submitted 'the family members' bid as the only acceptable bid.

The current unit owner is not paying HOA dues and we have almost no recourse other than to fine. We can't foreclose on the unit because it is so under water. Value is around 200K so if we took over we would have to deal with a shortsale etc...

I am expecting if property is sold to "Family Member" then they will also not pay HOA dues and we have also found out they plan on keeping their renters who are already on the property.

All of this stinks of fraud. Why should they be able to stiff the bank with the short-sale and keep the their SFR which they purchased with proceeds from re-financing the Condo. Additionally if the bank short sells below market value that hurts all the other unit holder values. And the issue of only ONE offer being presented to bank and they may not know it is a "Family Member"

So, I'm looking who to contact once the short-sale occurs to have an investigation into the legality of the short sale.

Thanks,

Mellissa,

You don't see issue here where selling agent is only offering bank one potential buyer in the short-sale process? The agent has not presented the unit to the general public so that the general public may make other offers on the unit. The bank may not be aware of the fact that the agent has not marketed the unit and by presenting only one offer the to the bank then the broker guarantees only one buyer has the opportunity in this process.

Now it is true that the mere process of short-sale in this scenario is not fraudalent it is the other part of the process that I feel is fraudelent. With the help of their real estate agent the current owner is able to keep the property in the "family" and who knows who is funding this family venture. Maybe there is a backend deal going on here to help the current owner write off the amount of debt difference. So maybe now the 'family only has 200K on the books versus 500K on a 200K property. Yes, this is guessing but I wouldn't put it beyond this group of people.

I will big time disagree with you about it being used as comparable. The unit is same size as my unit AND will be used to price my property by the Assessor's office and by anyone who wants to buy my property if I were to sell. That is today's market.

You are correct the HOA has no business here other than collecting the dues or proceeding with steps if dues are not paid. I'm making this inquiry of my own due to the damage I perceive it may cause me personally if the short-sale goes through at under market value.

David, go on line and look up which bank is holding the mortgage and contact them with your information since they are the ones who will ultimately have to approve or disapprove the short sale. But I strongly advise you to leave the part about ethnicity out of it, least you come off as a shallow minded bigoted jerk. Oh, and don't get your hopes up, if they aren't paying the HOA fees then chances are they aren't paying the mortgage and the bank will be looking to cut their loses.

I see nothing illegal. The only thing bad I see is trying to talk a family member into buying a their bad investment, but that is between them. Short sales are not the "deal" you think they are.

Its not likely the bank is going to accept a short sale of $200k on a $500k loan. The mortgage is probably backed by Fannie, freddie or fha. If they foreclose, and pretend to try and sell it, they will get all of their money back, and more.

That said.... if they do short sale it, you better have a HOA lien filed for back dues. Its your only hope of ever seeing a dime. The deal wont close without the lien being paid at closing.

Yes from CA and a lien can be filed but if I remember correctly can only go this route when amount is over $1800 in back HOA dues. Not quite there yet but will be shortly. Other option is small claims which we are also evaluating. But this was not the purpose of my original post.

No one needs to foreclose. Just file the lien, and when the property changes owners the hoa will be paid.