Developer denies fraud; state says homebuyers lost $24M in depo...

Quote "Florida law allows developers who disclose the practice in a contract to use deposit money to complete their projects, experts say. Some states do not allow it."

And therein lies the real issue!

Florida has government of the corrupt, by the corrupt, for the corupt.

It looks like the whole system of buying vacation homes off plan in Florida is a rip off.
In a State in which tourism is a major industry, you would think that Florida would ensure this did not go on.
As a result of the actions of developers like Weiker, and money grabbing agents who are supposed to act on behalf of the buyer, I will no longer be investing in the USA. I will advise all NOT to invest in the USA and all to boycott Florida for holidays.

Fraud?
Well, sure we lost (well, diverted, actually) millions - but, we didn't mean to (we thought there'd be plenty more money coming, so we robbed peter to pay paul, you know, took some of our profits a little early - well, before we'd earned it, actually).... we didn't do it on purpose.
Sure, people trusted us and everything, we told them we were honest. We told them we were trustworty, licensed and insured. Experienced too, you know.
We told them their investment was safe in our hands.
And, you know, it should have been.
We didn't mean to defraud. Well, I mean, we didn't defraud, we've just got some bookeeping we've got to get squared away. Really. We can pull through this. Just let us keep selling, ok? We'll make it all work.
They'll all be happy.
We guaranty it. You trust us, right?

well, those who argue the current housing mess is all the fault of shady realtors and mortgage lenders -i guess nothing is shady about stealing deposit money

no, i am NOT a realtor or mortgage lender. not even close. i buy properties as investments and hold them for the long term

A developer involved if fraud... may, what a shock.

This developer is blaming Polk County water restrictions and permitting issues, next time do better research before buying the property thats what my company does and is why we don't run into those problems. You know check water and sewer capacity which this company abviously didn't do.

Fastone wrote:

Obviously you are all missing the point. This is clearly George Bush's fault. I'm not sure how to connect him to it, but believe me (because I'm more educated than you) this is definitely his and his administrations fault. Clearly. Absolutely. Really.

I just thought of something if we win the war in Iraq that means we just created more needless competition that could drive more industry from america Imagine what kind of low wages those people will work for!

Florida law (Section 501 dot 1375 Florida Statutes) already requires deposits to be held in escrow, unless the buyer waives that right in writing. Every developer I know of has buried in the fine print of his contract, that he can pull the deposit out of the escrow up front. My advice -- strike such a clause from the contract even if the developer wants a higher price if the buyer exercises his rights. I suspect that every one of the defrauded buyers waived his statutory right to escrow.

Huckabee Supporter wrote:

caveat emptor. no sympathy.

Yeah, let the 'free market' do it's thing. No regulation or other pesky gov interference, God forbid, lest we get bad 'economic voodoo', so our Neo-Con bible says. Enron, CEOs back-dating options, scams and frauds on suckers, leaded toys from Communist China, radio station mega-monopolies... all part of healthy 'free market' and good for America!

chuck wrote:

White collar crime seems to be legal with little or no punishment. A man robs a store of $12 dollars or a pack of cigeretes and gets life or shot and these theifs steal millions and only get a slap on the wrist. The law is a joke!!!!!! These theifs should be put away for life.

I agree - we are TOO easy on white-collar crimes. And worse yet, he'll spend a few years in jail land will have his stolen money when he gets out.(Trust me - he's hidden it somewhere)

Dirt Lawyer wrote:

Florida law (Section 501 dot 1375 Florida Statutes) already requires deposits to be held in escrow, unless the buyer waives that right in writing. Every developer I know of has buried in the fine print of his contract, that he can pull the deposit out of the escrow up front. My advice -- strike such a clause from the contract even if the developer wants a higher price if the buyer exercises his rights. I suspect that every one of the defrauded buyers waived his statutory right to escrow.

Thanks for the practical advice. Contracts are getting more difficult to read - which helps defrauders. Maybe worthwhile to get a real estate attorney?

Like everyone else, I was ready to hang this guy too until I read this line -
"The company has blamed ... "permitting issues" for construction delays"
Last year I lost over $40,000 on a single house because of this. US Fish and Wildlife did me in. They denied my permit because of "Scrub Jays". This was on a vacant lot in an established subdivision. They made me pay a fortune for a survey to show there were no Scrub Jays. Even after the survey said no Scrub Jays, they sat on my permit for months and months for no reason because someone saw a Scrub Jay in the same subdivision 10 years ago. This is a rogue agency that is totally out of control. If they were involved in this at all I'm surprised the loss was only $24M

I really like to know...when is the turn to the Mortgage Brokers and Banker ?
What is going on?
A lots of FAMILIES damaged by those lies, a mean, Option ARM products.

Is this guy any better than the criminal that walks into a bank with a gun and robs it? I think he's worse. His home and bank accounts need to be taken. Any money he gave to his children should be paid back by his children. And he needs to do about twenty years in prison. This is the crime that needs to be gotten tough on. Not some kid smoking weed or DUI etc. We need Mad Mothers Against Stolen Lives. But there is no money in it for the government so it won't happen.

I beieve that the majority of new construction contracts include the right for the builder to dip into the deposit account as they see fit. I know for sure that a large local builder allows for the deposit to be secured by surety bond at a small fee and less than 5%(probably less than 2%) ever secured the deposit. My guess is many more upstart builders will find themselves guilty of bad timing & dipping into the cookie jar.

"Buyers from Belgium, England, Scotland, Norway, Massoachusetts and Florida make up the nearly 580 people who collectively lost $24 million in deposit money for homes in three housing developments in Lake and Polk counties, law-enforcement authorities say."

I wonder the credibility outside by those who lost money with Bank tricks. America we talk about Investors in ..our... country.

OH YEA!!!! This story has made my day, better yet, made my year. Well, some of it anyway. I am sorry for the victims as I am one too from when he was Hearthstone Homes but I am so happy to see they are on to him. If only the Osceola Sheriffs dept, Channel 9, the DPBR, the governor etc. had listened to us in 2003 then none of these people would have lost this additional $24 million. We seemed to be a bother to them all when we gave our case and now look at what has been done. THE WEIKER FAMILY NEEDS TO GO TO JAIL FOR GOOD!

Idiots wrote:

<quoted text>
Corrupt government at every level??? The investigation was properly done and they were arrested for the charges. If this government corruption at every level existed as you claim, there would never have been an investigation or arrest.

Your Title may suit you...Think about it!!If the peoples money was "locked" into an Escrow account, with NO chance of the Developer ever getting his hands on it, this Story would never have been printed. Legislators could have done that years ago....compelling Developers to remain Honest...even if they didn't want to be so.

Requiring payments for houses before they are built is referred to as buying "off plan" in the industry. Florida law allows developers who disclose the practice in a contract to use deposit money to complete their projects, experts say. Some states do not allow it.

Florida should not allow it anymore either. Lock these fools up for a good long time and sell everything they have to pay back the people they ripped off. Find the rest of the $ they hid somewhere.