Foreclosure Scam Warning

Would-be homebuyers find themselves in ownership limbo | Real Estate | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California: "Recording Deeds

However, 10 deeds were recorded in Riverside County between July 24 and Oct. 8 that purport to transfer ownership of houses to 'Sovereign Solomon Brothers Archbishop Corp. Sole.' The houses were in the cities of Corona, Murrieta and Palm Springs and in the unincorporated communities of Romoland and Victoria Grove.

As of Nov. 3, RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure research firm, found that six of those houses had been repossessed by banks and the legal owner of a seventh house was an individual in default.

King Solomon II did not answer a letter asking for an interview that was sent to the mailing address of Sovereign Solomon Brothers at 160 W. Foothill Parkway, a mail box center in Corona. He also could not be reached at a house in Fallbrook that is described in court records as the home of Terry Lee Herron, also known as King Solomon II, a 42-year-old with a previous felony conviction for auto theft who was charged earlier this year for illegal possession of a firearm.

The Fallbrook house was posted with the same kind of signs saying 'spiritual sanctuary' and 'no trespass' that can be found on other houses deeded over to Sovereign Solomon Brothers.

By filing deeds that cloud title to a house, someone can get free shelter and 'hold a house ransom' by demanding cash from banks that want to avoid the delay and expense of an eviction process, which can take 60 days or longer, said Pete Nyiri, owner of Top Producers Realty & REO, which specializes in selling bank repossessed houses."