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Jul 2, 2009 9:47 pm US/Central
CBS 11 Investigates 'Real Estate Cat Burglar'
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Imagine getting a knock on your door one day from a person who says you don't own the house you live in. Well, it happened to Martha and Cecilio Landin when they thought they were buying their first home.
In 2005, the Landins saw a "For Sale" sign on a run-down house in south Dallas. They said they signed papers to buy it, paying $350 a month. But the truth is, the Landins may be trespassers because, according to land records, the house they live in and thought they were buying has belonged to another family for 80 years -- the family of Toni Davis.
Shortly after the Landins moved in, Davis knocked on the front door and said to Martha Landin, "'What are you all doing?' I said we are repairing and moving in and she goes, 'You can't, this house belongs to my aunt.' And I said no, we bought the house and we got the paperwork."
Davis says she was outraged and called everyone in the family telling them, "Someone is stealing our house."
For the past six months, CBS 11 News analyzed land records for a number of properties and learned what happened to the Landins may be affecting dozens of other families in North Texas.
Our investigation unraveled an intricate plot, as one man puts it, to "steal" area homes. And according to an informant, who asked not to be identified, he thinks his former boss is behind it. The informant told us, "He thinks he found a way to acquire property and not really pay for it and make money without really selling it."
The 'he' the former employee is describing is his former boss, Douglas T. Fonteno, known to most as Chase. Fonteno is founder and CEO of Hilton Head Properties, until recently headquartered at 1401 Elm, Suite 3800. Fonteno was once auctioned off as one of Dallas' hottest CEO bachelors and his MySpace page shows he's a member of The Billionaire Boys Club.
The former Fonteno employee says Fonteno would "walk around the office bragging that he legally steals homes and you'd feel dirty about it."
A look at Fonteno's blog titled the
Real Estate Cat Burglar, shows he talks about "stealing property ummmmm legally.... and quite ethically." He lays out lessons for the new real estate investor, talking about acquiring abandoned homes, and points out how to keep it out of your personal name.
According to the former employee, the plan involves going down to the property tax office and asking for "anything on the property taxes rolls so he knows the person has died. He'll (Fonteno) go over to that home and file a quitclaim deed and file it over and stick the sign-up and sell it."
And that's what appeared to happen after Davis' great aunt died in 1982. A family friend rented the house for years and it then sat vacant for several more. But in 2004, land records reveal a deed signed by someone who worked with Fonteno -- using yet another property company name -- appearing to be operating out of the same downtown office suite -- transferring the Davis house to a company, sources say was controlled by Fonteno.
Davis says, "If they have a deed, it has got to be false."
Sources tell us Fonteno's company had a number of other entities that it worked with. Those companies not only shared the same address, but the same office suite. Yet, Fonteno's name would rarely appear on the paperwork. Unless it came to collecting mortgage payments, when receipts would show, his name would sometimes show up on money orders.
As to why Fonteno's name isn't on many of the land documents, according to the informant, "He didn't want it cause of his legal problems in past... he wanted deniability."
Fonteno has a criminal record. Thirteen years ago, he was convicted of state securities fraud and is currently on mandatory supervision.
But the Landins aren't the only ones who are upset and confused. Four other families came forward and told us they were misled. Each thought they were buying a home, but the homes may still belong to other people. In each case, all of the paperwork traces back to one of several companies headquartered in that same office suite at 1401 Elm in Dallas.
Manuel Torres says, when he bought his house, there was a renter still living in it. When Mariana Magana asked someone at one of the property companies about her title, she was told that if someone showed up and said it was their house that she would get another house.
We showed paperwork signed by the purchasers to SMU law professor Julie Forrester; her expertise is Real Estate and Property law. We wanted to find out if what is happening here is, as Fonteno's blog puts it - legal and ethical. She told us, "I don't think this is legit."
In many cases, the legal paperwork we reviewed has a common theme. The original property owner is dead and the heirs say they never sold the property. And written into the paperwork to buy the house, it states the property company doesn't have clear title and that the land is held under adverse possession. Adverse possession is a complex law that basically states if someone squats on your property for a number of years - then under certain circumstances - they can claim they own it.
Professor Forrester says adverse possession doesn't apply in this case and the deeds may not be valid. Professor Forrester says, "I just cannot imagine that the so-called purchaser went into this deal understanding all what is going on. They may have a cause of action under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act."
Chase Fonteno declined an on-camera interview. In an exchange of e-mails to CBS 11 News, he blames these problems on former associates and, in particular, one "rogue associate" who did not do his homework and did not follow guidelines.
In addition, Fonteno says he "missed that fact" when they acquired the properties. Fonteno says he gave and walked away from about 45 homes. We spoke to those associates and they all say they acted on Fonteno's orders. Fonteno says it would be hard for them to act on his orders when they owned their own companies.
To date, more than a dozen victims have complained to the Texas Attorney General's Office. Each case is marked closed, including the one from the Landins. But recently, the former employee we spoke with has met with the Dallas District Attorney's office, which is investigating Fonteno's business.
The Landins say they love the house and don't want to leave.
Toni Davis wants one thing: "The house back in our family."
A few years ago, the Landins and several other families tried to sue Fonteno's company, but the case never went anywhere. All of the families in this story have stopped paying the property companies.
Friday evening, Fonteno sent CBS 11 News an e-mail in which he says he is ordering a review of land documents because of our story.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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