Southern Maryland Real Estate Blog: Metro Money Store

Joy Jackson Pleads Guilty in Metro Money Store Mortgage Scam

It may not save the homes of the people scammed by this scumbag group, but at least some justice has been served.Joy Jenise Jackson, the former head of the Metropolitan Money Store, has pleaded guilty on charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, which carries a maximum prison term of 30 years.

She is now the 7th and most significant player to plead out on charges related to the Metro Money Store scam.

Prosecutors say that 115 people have been identified as victims, and that number is expected to grow.

This sort of mortgage fraud ran rampant through Maryland during the boom years, and now that it's come crashing down, we're finding cases of scumbags like this, cheating people out of the very roof over their head, and for what? $800,000 spent on her wedding? A McMansion in Fort Washington?

I hope it was worth it, because my bet is that Ms. Jackson will be behind bars for at least the next decade. In a way, that's almost too good for her. She's caused over 100 people to lose their homes. I think we should find a punishment to fit the crime. If they don't have a roof over their heads anymore because of her? Why should she be allowed to have one? Make her pitch a tent and live in the prison yard or the next few years!

Washington Post Article

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000 - office
301-653-8116 - cell

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Metro Money Store Guilty Plea!

If you've been following my blog for awhile now, you probably know that I like to keep up to date on the real estate scams that have littered the metro area in recent years. One of the scams that I wrote about awhile back was the Metro Money Store scam.

I won't go into all the previous details (you can read them here), but there's been a bit of good news recently that I wanted to share with all of you. Katisha Fordham, One of the principal figures of the Metro Money Store scam pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit fraud, and can be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.

The two biggest players in the scheme, Joy Jenise Jackson and Kurt Fordham have yet to be convicted, although 4 people have now pleaded guilty as the court builds their case. Katisha's plea may force her to testify in court against her brother and sister-in-law.

It still disgusts me that people were able to rob homeowners like this, right in our back yard. Their actions have forced people into foreclosure, cost them their life savings, ruined their credit scores, and all because these con-artists found a way to get rich quick at the expense of honest folks like you and me. Good riddance to bad rubbish!

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000
301-653-8116
Charles County Real Estate Blog

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Metro Money Store Update

Guilty Pleas Reached, Details will follow this evening!

guilty plea in metro money store scam! Details to follow! http://snurl.com/3uboh

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Feds Press Charges in Metropolitan Money Store Scheme

It looks like things are moving forward with the case against Joy Jenise Jackson (formerly known as a stripper named Night Rider), Kurt Fordham, and The Metropolitan Money Store.

Remember them? They're the one's accused of "saving" people from foreclosure, while stripping their equity out from under them, and leaving the victims in financial turmoil.

Former Stripper Joy J. Jackson Ran Foreclosure Rescue Scam
Uploaded by Scambuster2007

Well, now they've decided to press charges against 8 people, including Joy Jackson and Kurt Fordham, and (provided that the accused can be located), we may finally see some closure to this bizarre tale. It's bad enough that we've dealt with scummy lenders writing bad loans, scummy get rich quick schemes promising to pay your mortgage, and the real estate bubble bursting, leaving us with a serious foreclosure problems, but seriously, this too?

It's an embarrassment to legitimate professionals to see garbage like this happening in the region. I hate the fact that a few bad apples like this can really ruin the reputation of the industry as a whole.

It's great that they've pressed charges, but what I want to know is this: Where in the hell are they, and how do you plan to arrest them? This was in the news months ago that the feds were trying to build a case, and I'd be shocked to hear that they were still in the country at this point! **

**Correction** Multiple arrests were made thursday morning in North Carolina, including both Ms. Jackson and Mr. Fordham, among others.

METROPOLITAN MONEY STORE- 12/02/2007 UPDATE

I'm so relieved to see this story making national news!!

It seems that Joy Jackson, aka "Night Rider" to all her friends back at the strip club, was recently featured on MSNBC Nightly News (video link).

For those of you who need a quick update on the back story, click here.

In addition, there seems to be a growing number of people interest in her and her partners current whereabouts. Funny how people frown upon $800,000 weddings when the bride may have cheated them out of their home equity. I highly doubt her proceeds as an, ahem, "entertainer" managed to pay for Ms. Patti LaBelle's presence there! (I also heard she gave away a Porsche, and a house to her wedding guests, among other things)

At any rate, NBC has broadcast the story now, and there is even a dedicated website, run by a law firm, dedicated to this series of events. I highly recommend you check it out, and if you happen to have any useful information about the case, they'd love to hear from you!

As an aside to the MSNBC story, here's a link to a site MSNBC posted about avoiding foreclosure scams. It's a good read, especially if you're worried about possibly being involved in one!

I'll post more as I hear it, I'm really hoping that people that were cheated will come out of this alright!

Link to original Washington Post Article, Dated August 26th, 2007

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METRO DREAM HOMES- A little more information has trickled in

It's frightening to think of just how deep the bottom line has been buried in regards to Andy Williams and Metropolitan Dream Homes.

Here's the latest info- 18 companies have been determined as subsidiaries of Metro-Grapevine, the parent company of Metro Dream Homes ( aka MDH ). over 1,000 people are financially involved. Company assets that have been recovered include:

$150,000 in cash

50 cars- including S-Class Mercedes, Corvettes, Escalades, etc.

14 local properties- located in Laurel, Virginia, D.C.

The company liabilities are between $200-$300 Million, they are unable to pay the mortgages as promised, and are behind by several months at this point.

There was a recent article in the Laurel Leader, link is included here:

The attorney general's office is asking anyone with knowledge about the assets of POS or any of its affiliated companies, including bank accounts, property or cash, to call the office at 410-576-6360.

Anyone who would like to share their experience about MDH or Andy Williams, please email or call me directly and I will include your story to my next update.

j.benya@c21nm.com
301-653-8116

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000 - office
301-653-8116 - cell

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in Accokeek, Anne Arundel County, Buying, Charles County, Current Affairs, Foreclosure, Foreclosures, Fraud, Fredericksburg, Investment, Maryland, MD, Metro Dream Homes, Metro Money Store, Metropolitan Dream Homes, pre-foreclosure, Prince George's County, Real Estate, real estate agent, realtor, Scam, Short Sale, Southern Maryland, St. Charles | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

METRO DREAM HOMES- Homeowners who need to get out!

   I've gotten a few calls this week about Metro Dream Homes and here at Team Benya we are working with homeowners involved in this scandal to help them get out from under their inflated mortgage payments by negotiating short sales with the banks directly to get their homes sold before they go to foreclosure.

   The typical damage to one's credit score when their home goes to pre-foreclosure is 100-150 points. If that home is foreclosed on, however, that point loss increases to 200-250 points! If anyone out there is in need of trying to negotiate with the banks and get their home sold, give us a call and we can see what we can do to try and stop people involved with Metro Dream Homes from going to foreclosure.

   My team is licensed to list and sell homes in both Maryland and Virginia, so if you need help trying to get your home sold to avoid foreclosure, give us a call.

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000 - office
301-653-8116 - cell

Charles County Real Estate Blog
SOMD Home Search
Southern Maryland Custom Homes & Land

Join The SOMD RE Blog Community and get free news and updates via email!

in Century 21, Current Affairs, Foreclosure, Foreclosures, Fraud, Maryland, MD, Metro Dream Homes, Metro Money Store, Metropolitan Dream Homes, PG County, pre-foreclosure, Real Estate, real estate agent, realtor, Scam, Short Sale, Southern Maryland | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Metropolitan Dream Homes- Just a quick update

I just received a copy of an email sent to investors from Metropolitan Dream Homes (MDH). Included in my post is a copy of that email:

On October 29, 2007, in the Circuit Court for Prince George ’s County, Judge Smith ordered that the Motion for Freeze of the Assets of POS DH, LLC, Metropolitan Grapevine, LLC and Andrew H Williams, JR is granted and that Invotex, Inc. is appointed temporary receiver until further order of this court. You can go to the following website for more details: http://www.pos-receiver.com.

I have been advised that an appeal on behalf of the defendants was submitted on October 30, 2007. All partners should expect an e-mail notification shortly. The company attorneys are reviewing proposed plans to reconcile all outstanding partner issues and subsequent individual partner meetings (one-on-one) shall be scheduled.

All individuals who do not desire to wait on the ‘proposed plan’ and rather instead take action to file claims against the defendants should send by mail ‘proof of claim’ directly to the Receiver.

There will be a status report at this court on November 30, 2007 at 9:00 am.

As always, I'll post more as it becomes available.

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000 - office
301-653-8116 - cell

Charles County Real Estate Blog
SOMD Home Search
Southern Maryland Custom Homes & Land

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Metropolitan Money Store FRAUD Reports

   It goes without saying that the predatory lending practices that have sprung up in recent years are finally starting to be understood to be just that: PREDATORY. Unfortunately there's been more than a few reports, particularly out of PG County, about financial scams that I wanted to post a little info on.

   In a report from the August 26th Washington Post, they talked about a company called the Metropolitan Money Store, who has been accused of cheating people out of some serious money by sucking the equity out of their homes.

August 26th Post Article on Metro Money Store

   The company, led by a former stripper named Joy Jenise Jackson, has had some pretty serious accusations leveled against them. Well, her house is now in foreclosure, I have a link to the listing for it here: Withdrawn Listing.pdf

   There has been a recent update to the story, it came on October 10th.

October 10th Post Article on Metro Money Store

   As more info comes up I'll keep everyone informed. The sooner lenders like this are caught and eliminated, the better off this entire industry will be.