4/12/13 - Federal housing officials have released additional details about the circumstances that led to an FBI raid on the Livonia and Brighton offices of a local realtor. The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, on Thursday released the affidavits used to obtain the search warrants that the FBI executed February 27th on the offices of Realtor Will Elias. The information was released as part of the lawsuit Elias filed against the agency after they placed his company, Elias Realty, on an exclusionary list prohibiting his firm from taking part in any mortgage they were involved with. Elias says Freddie Macâs actions were unwarranted. However, the affidavits indicate that the FBI began investigating Elias Realty in January of 2012 for allegedly operating a scheme to defraud Freddie Mac through whatâs known as âbuy and bail,â in which homeowners who were otherwise current on their mortgage payments were encouraged to purchase a second home prior to completing a short sale on their first home. The second home purchase was said to be facilitated through Gold Star Financial, which was housed in the same building as Elias Realty and connected to Elias Financial. The affidavit says Elias and his employees would falsely claim that the existing homes were worth âsubstantially moreâ than their market value and that the homeowners intended to keep those homes and rent them out. In reality, federal officials say the homes were worth much less than stated and the intention was always to put them into short sale. Meanwhile, the second home purchase would be completed prior to the short sale, which would negatively impact their credit and prevent such a purchase. As part of the scheme, the affidavit says Elias also received improper short-sale fees from clients through a firm operated by Thomas Glassman, but that in fact, Glassman was Elias and that he had used his mother to sign registration papers for the firm. The affidavits also state that the FBI convinced someone to pose as a buyer while wearing a wire to record the conversation. The transcript of that conversation indicate that Elias discussed how the prospective homeowner should navigate the process of short selling a property while buying a new one, essentially saying they intended to rent out the original home, but then later say they had changed their mind and wanted to sell it. To date, Elias has not commented on the accusations made by Freddie Mac nor have criminal charges been filed against Elias. (JK)
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