Shhh, Casey is sleeping. He was up past 2:00AM and is getting the flu. It'll be a day or more before he gets round to moderating me and censoring our man Homey.
So, here's what he did. He signed an unsecured promissary note to Countrywide for the difference twixt ashort sale and the outstanding 1st mortgage balance. And these are my replies. The first is up on his blog but like I said, the second will be a long time in posting. Post here for timely discussion.
Wow, did your real estate specialist attorney ever negotiate you a poor deal. You… did… use legal representation… didn’t you? Of course not. If you did you’d have grounds for malpractice. But everything’s turned out okay. The second lets their $75,000 position go with no complaint and no consequences to you. The first gets $239,000 immediately and $420/month for 5 years. They don’t even have to call the $420 income and you needn’t be bothered with deducting the interrest as there is none. Countrywide gets the equivalent of $270k for their $245k owed and some nice buyers gets a house. I’m just surprised that the 2nd leinholder has been so quiescent. How’d you do that Casey? Here’s where you can live up to one of your goals. Educated we unwashed masses who have no idea how to pull this off. Being able to walk away with no issues from 2nd trust deeds would save millions of people from foreclosure or worse.
"I still have a way to back out of it… i think."
Ummmmm, no. You signed it remember? The note wasn't contingent, you just signed an unsecured, unconditional IOU for 50 large. Come Feb 1st you'll owe the original mortgage, the fees and penalties and now an additional $416 if the short sale doesn't record by then. And if you think the second is going to walk on their $75k and o so within the next 2 weeks and the kind of person buying properties like this can complete escrow in two weeks... nevermind. What you believe is irrelevant.
Just so you hear it even if you don't understand; Countrywide did not agree to a short sale. They agreed to discharge a $260k plus penalties mortgage for $240k plus your $50k note. $50k over 10 years for let's say a $30k deficiency is the equivalent of a 12% interest bearing note. They only made it look like 0% so that they cannot be accused of usury in any future proceedings. As a special bonus they managed to move their note out from any cloud of bankruptcy discharge. Countrywide may be in deep doo-doo for even getting involved in our global credit bubble but they weren't stupid in this case.
Based on this binding result you could expect the 2 trust deed holder to demand a similar note in the amount of $80,000 at 0%. Add it up. $240,000 purchase, $50,000 1st, $80,000 2nd equals $370,000 over the next 10 years. Just what they would have recieved had you made payments for 10 years and then sold.
You don't have Larchmont short sale approved. Not by a long shot.
None of this matters. It's 7:30AM. You were up past 2:00AM and now you are getting sick. This day is lost to you as are another $800 at your new burn rate. And when you get to this comment for moderator approval you'll be so intellectually tired it won't stick. Quick look, no swear words, no personal family information revealed... approved. Just like the prblink signing and now Countrywide signing.
40 comments:
I don't understand what he's doing either. Here's what he said in the comments:
"So why did I sign a personal note to get the short sale through? Well for one, because a short sale is much better than a foreclosure on my credit record for the purposes of applying for mortgages in the future. It shows that I tried to pay back at least some of the loan as apposed to just throwing in the towel."
How can he still be worried about his credit report or even anticipate getting another mortgage anytime soon? He must imagine having this conversation in a year or two:
Mortgage Officer: "Casey, I'm sorry, but there's no way I can approve you for a loan. You have six foreclosures on record and have lied on your loan applications."
Casey: "Actually, I have only five foreclosures on my record. The lenders on the sixth house agreed to take a short sale after I didn't make payments for 6 months and now I still owe them money at 0% interest."
Mortgage Officer: "Oh, well that's much different. Mortgage approved!"
The only real reasons I can think he's doing this is to either show that he's making an effort to work something out (possibly reducing criminal charges) or he just wants to unload the house ASAP and has no intention of paying the note.
Oh I'm sure he intends to pay off the note. Just as I am sure he won't be able to pay off the note. He's been reduced to his blog as his only social interaction. Everything else in his life is such a clusterfuck, the blog is the only place he has any illusion of control left.
It's quite obvious that all things financial are off in Caseyworld 2.0 where everything appreciates and no one ever pays.
Regards the Larchmont house I'm expecting some fireworks from the second. "What do you mean there's $239k equity and it's all going to the 1st?" This property appraised for $330,000 8 months ago!. Fraud! Pay or face prosecution."
Good point about maintaining control. I think that's why he continues to moderate comments. I wonder if he'll turn to the board for support if his wife leaves him. A lot of people close to Casey are going to start to disassociate themselves from him as things fall apart.
The second lender will be one of many in line to get at Casey when it hits the fan soon. I wonder who was giving him these high-interest unsecured loans. Lenders who loan out at 36% APR usually aren't above-board.
Roberto-
Another great post; very insightful. Since I'm not an FB, there is a lot I don't know about this stuff, so I like what I glean here...
One point though, Casey never really comes out and SAYS he signed that $50k note. His friend David DOES work at Countrywide, so it could be part of an elaborate ruse (I'm convinced this whole thing is an elaborate ruse...) After all, where does he keep coming up with $$$ for taxes and whatnot?
-jbjbj
I think the taxes were paid automatically from the impound account. The problem is he isn't paying th impound so the result is the same only worse. Impound servicing agencies don't charge just 10% late fees like the County. He's racking up a huge bill with them.
Look,
It's obvious the kid is flying by the seat of his pants. He has no guidance other than his own immoral compass to navigate with. His parents have clearly divorced themselves from him. They know more than anyone that Casey is a con artist, going back to his early teens. The last thing they need is for them to get caught up in his mess. Forget about the in-laws either.
My best guess is that Casey lacks any sense of self esteem or worth. That would explain why he never asks for advice. He is always trying to prove to himself and his family that he isn't a screw-up. His one brother is a Marine and the other is a mechanic- two 'honorable' regular type normal occupations. Casey most likely has been the looser of the family his whole life. He has felt pressure to out-do hos brothers and parents. However, because Casey's brain doesn't function like the rest of us, he is convinced in his own mind that "working" in the normal sense of the word to obtain success is for chumps. Having such low self confidence, he is putty in the hands of those snake oil salesman that speak of "easy millions" without actually working or educating oneself.
So, Casey has been trying to do the get rich route for ten years, jumping from one con to the next. That is why he never asks anyone advice, because he is afraid to confirm that he is a failure. He wants to succeed ON HIS OWN, regardless of how it's done. Even in failure, he is embarrassed and afraid to seek help. He'll just get the same ," God, what a fuckup you are!" speech again.
He is unwilling to work in order to obtain his goals. Work is for suckers and losers. Except THIS time, it's serious. Now he is so screwed beyond belief that he is drowning.. drowning and gasping for air with a 500lb weight around his neck. At this point, he has no choice but to grasp at ANY thing thrown his way. It's called desperation. It's called panic.
I doubt at this stage of the game it will matter what he does. The die is cast and he is so far behind in payments and is so deeply in trouble, his options appear to be limited. At best, he can find a BK lawyer that will take his case, and a pray that nobody yells "FRAUD" at the creditors' meeting. IMHO, his debts will not be discharged.
Casey, Galina, and others involved will be very lucky if they escape this ordeal without civil and criminal action against them.
So here's a question worth pondering: what exactly is the endgame here?
It seems quite clear that Casey can't meet his obligations. It also seems that he won't be able to discharge them in bankruptcy. But if he gets saddled with payments that he cannot make, they're not going to get paid, so how is that any different?
He may or may not face jail time; we like to think that the DA or the FBI is on the case, but there's no guarantee that anyone will actually file charges. Even if they are filed, he could just as easily plea it all out and get probation or a suspended sentence, turn State's evidence in return for immunity, or even (although unlikely) be found not guilty. It's nice wish fulfillment to think of him in jail, but in reality I think the odds are pretty small that he will see real jail time.
So, all that said, what is really going to happen to Casey 6 or 12 or 24 months from now?
Endgame? BigDaddy has it right, Casey will slouch into oblivion with no plan.
He's going to prison and there will be no deal. He doesn't know jack, is stupid, kept poor records and wouldn't be a credible witness. There's no way he's not on a half dozen radars. Any delay is just the carnivores fighting over the bunny rabbit. How'd you like to be the Dacto DA next election facing an angry crowd asking about Casey?
Go to http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/ and see what eventually happens.
The latest he can hang on is Mon 23 April 2007 when it is confimed that his 1040s are not in order.
Although I’ve been tracking the Casey wreck for months now, I never bothered looking at the Larchmont photos. What a complete POS! Why the hell couldn’t he be bothered to clean the bathtub and toilet prior to photographing them? Maybe he fancied himself a cinema verite photojournalist of some sort and he’d rather leave that to the "little people" who work for a living while he embarks on his next “master” plan. And the #1 question is what could have ever possessed him to buy that completely POS (besides the cash back he received – which is perhaps even higher than stated…)?
He is completely deranged yet it is unfortunate that his wife will be stuck with half of his “sweeeet” dealing.
Sociopaths are incredibly charming, charismatic people, and from that angle, Casey would be a great witness.
But, if you dig up some of the people the sociopath has screwed over in years past, it's easy to impugn their character. They tend not to keep the same set of friends for long periods of time.
I don't think the IRS will go after him immediately if he doesn't file his taxes by 4/23/2007. The FBI is probably already gathering evidence against him, and the IRS won't start until he fails to file a return or files an obviously fraudulent one.
Anon-
Why couldn't he be bothered? Because he is a sociopath, perhaps even a psycopath. He lothes us "nine to fivers". Cleaning toilets is for losers. Loose (ha!) tiles are for losers to fix. Fraud is okay if you're really really sorry. Ruining the wife's credit, and her chance at a CPA is okeedoke, if that's the price a person has got to pay to make a sweet deal.
He's worse than the usual MasterTards his age, as he keeps making bad decisions, not to have more stuff, but for the trill of "the deal"...
-jbjbj
Sprezzatura, whether the debt can be discharged in the bankruptcy or not is unlikely to make a short term difference given that Casey doesn't appear to have any assets. However, it could affect the long term if Countrywide or whoever owns the note at the time decides to keep going after Casey's assets. He could possibly keep getting phone calls, keep getting called in to judgment debtor exams, and continually face garnishments and levies. I find it disturbing that he is risking this possibility out of some notion that he can continue to engage in sweet deals unimpeded. By the way, my friends in the DAs office and U.S. Attorneys office have heard about Casey. Whether there's a case being put together in Sacramento, I don't know.
One of the interesting things about sitemeter, you can track incomming IP addresses. Click the little sitemeter icon and details.
http://www.sitemeter.com/?a=stats&s=s27iamfacingforeclosurecom&r=8&v=1
I see several interesting IPs from time to time.
I found the NM address:
6021 GUADALAJARA RD NE
RIO RANCHO NM 87144-7772
I wasn't able to find it before because for some reason the property is listed under "CASEY SARIN."
One other thing I find interesting and peculiar when I look at the real property records is that for many of the properties I am seeing grant deeds from Galina. It appears she is giving gift grant deeds to Casey (no consideration). This may be to cut off her community property rights. At minimum, it shows she is more involved than Casey would like his readers to believe.
I think a Free Galina T-shirt/update/what-have-you is needed. While I don't know her personally, from everything I've read and seen online, I cannot believe she had a clue what that little snake was leaving her with for a very, very long time. Where's Homey, btw?
Perhaps our little buddy CS is observing this Russian tradion (per NYT):
Russia’s Extended Winter Holidays: A Binge of Drinking and Spending
MOSCOW, Jan. 7 — New Year’s has long been the favored holiday here, celebrated with Champagne and fireworks and gifts under the Christmas tree. Then there was Jan. 2, also traditionally a holiday. Now there is the 3rd and the 4th and the 5th.
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press
Muscovites celebrated the new year by dancing in Red Square. After that, many Russians hit the shopping malls and movie theaters.
There is, in fact, not another official workday this year until Jan. 9, a protracted holiday break that began eight days ago. It seems like a deep breath, a really deep breath, before plunging into 2007.
Russia has more or less shut down, the government having ceased all but essential functions. The occasion last year prompted a senior official of the upper house of Parliament, Ivan D. Grachev, to declare, “The less they work, the better it is for the country.”
President Vladimir V. Putin made his traditional New Year’s greeting on Jan. 1 — an address Boris N. Yeltsin made famous in the first moments of 2000 by resigning and appointing Mr. Putin — and then he disappeared until early Sunday morning, when he attended Orthodox Christmas services at the New Jerusalem Monastery in Istra, a town west of Moscow.
There have been no newspapers published since Dec. 29, the last workday of 2006, while most television networks have drastically pared back news programs in favor of treacly variety shows and movies, among them, all three parts of “The Lord of the Rings
I saw somewhere online someone had posted some cached text from Casey's old blog and it sounded like his wife was pretty involved in finding houses and getting contractors to fix things, etc. You can see her in some of Casey's non-public Flickr pictures online looking at houses with contractors and holding a clipboard.
I don't know how much she knew about the financial details of their deals. Since she was studying to be a CPA at the time, you would think she would have a finger on her own household's financial situation. Then again, she might have fancied Casey as an expert investor since they lived on the cash from his sweet condo deal before.
I think Casey is trying to protect her as much as possible, which is admirable. She might escape prosecution or just get probation, but her financial situation is going to be screwed up for a long time. She's very attractive though and could probably find another guy to support her pretty easily.
The last paragraph of the nytimes article sure sounds familiar....
“I would like to do everything possible, and we shall do everything possible, so that the results which we have achieved in developing our economy will lead to serious positive changes in the life of each specific person,” Mr. Putin said in his New Year’s address.
Only, after the holidays.
Homey posted part of CS's personal blog where it showed in detail that Galina is much more involved than we are led to believe. CS is trying to play both sides of the same coin. He is in public trying to defend her, while in the real (legal) world, he has ruined her credit, opened her up to civil suits, IRS problems, and put her freedom in jeapordy.
The two of them strike me as typical gen x know it all, want it all for nothing type. Watch any of the get-rich informercials on TV. They are filled with twenty something, uneducated, attractive people that don't have to work like us slobs.
Casey and Galina remind me very much of two other crooks. William and Chantel McCorkle are in jail for various real estate fraud.
Like most crimes, we most likely know very little of the behind the scenes details. But think about it, what we do know, or have found out, is pretty scummy. You have to assume that what we don't know is equally bad or worse.
Robert, what's the significance of the sitemeter thing?
Reading about the McCorkles points out all the charges an aggressive prosecutor could levy on Casey. Mortgage fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and tax evasion all come to mind.
Maybe Casey can get a 110% bond when he posts bail so he can have some cash to bird-dog for some sweet deals before his trial starts.
This is definitely a family affair. Mom and dad appear to have dipped their toes in the RE market while the blushing bride is hip deep with Casey in the swamp. The long string of quitclaim deeds and reconveyances is his attempt to cover her ass. He probably has some scheme to avoid taxes by using these to document losses as well. This guppy is swimming with sharks. The fraud units and FTB and IRS have seen it all. Me? I'd be most scared of the FTB in California. I only crossed them once on a bookkeeping error on my part and they are just the the unstoppable cogs of justice. They were fair and played by the rules and patient and accessible. Just the things that Casey isn't. That's why they'll eat him alive and leave the his flensed carcass to regrow more meat for them to harvest over and over.
Casey claims that he's coming down with the flu.
Like many of my fellow lurkers, I'm surprised. I thought his Jamba Juice wheatgrass regimen -- combined with his strict vegan diet, intermittent hot/cold showers, and total abstinence from alcohol and microwaved foods -- would prevent him from almost any malady.
Seriously though, I'd like to thank you all for providing interesting insight on Casey Serin. Besides the entertainment value, I'm learning a lot about real estate as well.
Who wants to bet that Mom and Dad Serin did the same thing on their properties, but prior to the market turning sour?
Apple not falling far from the tree, you know.
Yeah, the quitclaims between Casey and the wife are a joke, paper thin.
It will be funny when the money trail is known. If any of it passed through family bank accounts, WHOA NELLY. The entire Serin clan will have adjoining cells.
Casey has done exactly the wrong thing at every turn, which leads me to the belief that he did not cover his tracks well, if any. Even if mom and dad are "clean", they will come under scrutiny and need an attorney.
Casey doesn't have the flu. Our Gen Y Nega-Hero is on the downside of his increasingly bipolar episodes. This isn't just a financial trainwreck, there's a personal trainwreck going on as well. If the price to me and my children were not so high I might even scrape up some sympathy.
One of the interesting things I've learned is a little embarrasing. I've known met or worked for some of the very smartest people of our age. I can see hyper intellect. What I'm blind to is the contrapositive; people who are profoundly stupid yet functional on some level. Clearly Casey is a 12v bulb accidentally screwed into a 110v socket. We are all dazzled by the bright flash and loud pop but that's it. Done.
Uncle Cote, what was it that you noticed about his sitemeter that was interesting?
-jbjbj
Nephew JimBob,
Yes, I've been watching his sitemeter for several months. What happens is a few keywords in the actual post (not replies) trigger a flurry of Franchise Tax Board (CA) and DOJ (FBI) and various Virgina gov't (DOJ) scans of his website. There's no way he doesn't have more red flags than a "carnivore" voice ID of a terroist using keywords.
Uncle Bob,
OMFG,
Homey was right?!!! The FBI, etc. have been monitoring his site? For months? I wonder if Casey has any idea. It's not like he has provided them with any evidence ( cough).
Please post those ip's so we can all watch and laugh. My bet is the last IP to visit will be the FBI and then it goes dark.
Da Homez is da bomb. Sum stuff is reporting uv stuff dat be old or excusable but da most is straight shit.
You need to understand the new paradigm. Those of us who "get it" are able to promulgate information based on truth and such by bypassing age old restrictions. Ofen we employ tangential language or obscure alliteration. Homey da Clown is not a homeboy nor clown. I've made no effort past the first inquiry (long erased) to know Homey doesn't have a reason or dawg in the fight 'ceptin' transparency.
It's a good thing Casey and his wife are practicing getting up at 5:00 AM, because that's probably about the time they'll have a large number of visitors at their door one day soon.
Lots of amazing information in those sitemeter stats. Casey is getting search engine traffic for a bunch of financial/real estate terms. That traffic can be monitized into a ton of money if you know what you're doing. His domain name alone is probably worth several thousand dollars with all the one-way backlinks it has from financial and real estate sites.
Went to the sitemeter for Casey's site, saw the pentagon, freddiemac, wells fargo, several Ca,Tx gov adresses, and a few from Virgina( dum de dum dum)
Uncle Rob, You were dead on when you said that SOMEONE is copying screen shots fur future 'reference.' hehe
I noticed that many of the characters in the plot have fallen by the way side. Rats jumping ship, maybe.
Anon 11:52 observes:
"Went to the sitemeter for Casey's site, saw the pentagon, freddiemac, wells fargo, several Ca,Tx gov adresses, and a few from Virgina( dum de dum dum)"
Yep. I am only interested in providing hints, facts and direction. You used the sitemeter resource correctly. Casey is being fought over by a whole slew of multistate multijurisdiction prosecutors.
Mail/wire fraud is easiest.
Mortgage fraud is a slam dunk but needs 4 states to agree on who gets the first chunk.
The FTB is the big dog... excse me, beeeg dawg! in this hunt but they don't care 'bout the chem like Casey Serin (aka Sarin) and his wife Galina Serin when they are stalking Countrywide and themsuch. The IRS? They live forever. They don't need or want to jump in, they'd rather wait and assess the pieces.
Every law enforcement agency even remotely associated has vetted the Casey Affair. No worry that he's under the radar.
All of this reinforces my belief that there are coffee cans full of cash and passports in the back yard. I'm sure Casey has looked at his sitemeter too. He may be anti-social/sociopatic/psycopathic enough to believe that he won't be getting in trouble. More than likely they (the Serins' et.al.) are grubbing together enough cash to get out of dodge.
I'm not so sure about the CA FTB being that quick to act. I did not file my fed or CA taxes last year (I knew I had a refund from each, so took the day off on April 15th ... heh, sounds a bit like Casey), and only last week did I receive a "REQUEST FOR TAX RETURN" notice, dated 12/26/06 from the FTB.
Mmmmm... I've long since suspected there was a lot more to Casey's blog than he let on. It's nice to see that I am not the only one.
I think I might stick around here for a while. I might as well learn something from the addicting train wreck Casey's blog is.
No updates to Casey's blog in a while. I wonder if something's up. My guess is that either his laptop finally broke or he's having issues with his wife. If he were arrested, I think that would be picked up by a news agency.
If Casey were smart, he would set up the blog to automatically approve comments at random times and post new articles occasionally while he high-tails it back to Uzbekistan. Do you think he still has citizenship there?
Has anyone researched the following;
1. Utah house buyers?
2. Chris record?
3. David at Countrywide?
4. His realtor Amy?
5. The lender of the 2nd for Larchmont?
A few quick phone calls to these supporting actors would be quite enlighting, I imagine.
Regarding Casey's whereabouts,he mentioned last week that he would be talking with bankruptcy lawyers this week. Expect an update from him on this.
22 hours at this point in the bipolar cycle is nothing. 4-5 days is required.
Hang here. Until I start the adsense experiment I don't have any "dawg" in the hunt 'ceptin' my personal self worth. Trust me, I'm such an arrogant self sentered unrepentant kind that I don't need approbation.
Casey isn't smart. Anybody who expects even a spark is set up for disappointment.
Casey does not have a master plan. He isn't that smart and not even smart enough to monetize the trainwreck.
the site is down. Is this the end?
I believe this is her realtor.
http://sacramentohousefinder.com/
If you check, the North Highlands house is listed under Featured Listings
Post a Comment