The purpose of this letter is to explain how we were intentionally robbed of our house by a homebuyer / lease-to-own company / individual. We have been working with an attorney to reclaim our investment but it has so far been an expensive uphill battle with no results. Our focus is to reclaim what is rightfully ours. Either the house or remainder of the balance and to make the public aware of this scam we have become victim to.
We purchased 7833 Blossom Dr Fort Worth, TX 76133-7911 in July of 1991. Its a two story 4-21/2-2 approx 2300 sq ft beautiful house with 2 living rooms (2 fireplaces), spacious kitchen, crown moldings and other custom trim, wallpaper borders, wanes coating, built-in alarm, full sprinkler system, and other extras. The sale price of the house was $109,500 it has a current Tarrant Tax Appraisal of $121,000.
After nearly nine years of scrimping and saving, never going on vacation, spending every extra penny on extra principle on the house, we paid-off our mortgage at the end of 1999. We had to literally work day and night to accomplish this, clocking massive amounts of overtime in the process. Leah and I started saving money for a down payment on a new house in a nice gated community.in early 2003 we put $10,000 down on a new house in a gated community. This house is custom tailored to our specific needs and is the first house weve owned in which we had a say in most of the construction.
Leah initially wanted to either lease our Blossom house or leave it vacant. We were not very receptive to the idea of selling the house using a regular realtor because this would have meant a commission to the realtor of 4-6%, closing costs up to $5000, and other miscellaneous expenses such as appraisals, advertising etc. I did not like the idea of leasing the house because this would mean we would still be responsible for the property taxes of nearly $4,000 a year, the insurance (which would be higher for leased house than a house you reside), and all the repairs which could be difficult and expensive. Despite these odds, we ran an ad in the Star-Telegram to lease the house just to see if there would be any takers at $1,200 a month in rent.
While the ad was in the paper we received calls from people who immediately sounded less than desirable, I had a person call me that wanted to rent the house with section eight government help (and about a half dozen children and pets). The amounts of calls were very meager, and it seemed as though we may be stuck with what to do with our old house which is our nest egg for the future.
Then we received a call from James Brian Cosper who has his own company, which at the time was called Metro I Buy Houses. He presented us with the idea that he would lease-to-own our house to one of his potential tenants. Brian would be the middleman between us and people, who would at first lease the house, then, buy the house once they qualify for a mortgage. I was at first a little leery of the deal so I called a few known sources just to check him out.
I called Austin and his tax ID checked out, I called the Better Business Bureau and there were no pending complaints, I went on-line and checked Tarrant and Dallas counties court dockets and there were no pending cases against him. So we proceeded with the deal with James Brian Cosper.
At the end of May we had the closing for our 7833 Blossom house in our dining room at our 6901 Vista Ridge Dr W home. The only people present at this meeting were: James Brian Cosper, my wife Leah, and myself Charles, there was absolutely no one else present in the house.
It was bad enough we received no down payment at closing, but then we had to pay Brian over $1,300 for the pro-rated property taxes for the first five months of 2003. A seller paying the pro-rated taxes is normal so I didnt think too much of it but we still had a bad taste for not receiving a down payment. On the upside, the mortgage and promissory note was written in a beneficial way for Leah and me. The Blossom house was amortorized for 30 years at 7.25% with a ten-year call. We were / are to receive $1,091.48 per month for the next ten years and then we had the option to either continue with the loan as is or the new owners would get their own mortgage and we would be paid-off. Mr. Cosper pays the payment to us and if he is late we are to receive a two percent late fee. If the loan goes into default Leah and I are to foreclose on the property and reclaim it.
The first half-year or so from the first payment due to us in July there were no problems. We received each monthly installment of $1,091.48 just like were supposed to without tribulation, nonetheless; I decided to make copies of every check before I made a deposit. Around May we started getting our monthly payment late.
Concerned that we may need to seek professional help to foreclose on the property, we went to an attorney for advice. Around the beginning of this past July we received a report via an attorney, which was a title search for 7833 Blossom Dr. Thats when we came to the realization that weve been scammed.
James Brian Cosper was very crafty in his documentation of the sale of our house; in fact there are flaws on his part of how he wrote it up. The legal description for 7833 Blossom Dr is block 31, lots 9 and 10. Brian had only lot 9. This was corrected on the county filling, but not the original paperwork. Also, there was no Notary at the closing in our home the day of the closing, all pertinent paperwork was notarized afterwards, outside of our presence.
Probably the most gut-wrenching revelation in the title search is the fact that Mr. Cosper did not file the loan, the mortgage, and the promissory note with the county deed of records. There was no mention that James Brian Cosper and Metro I Buy Houses owes us anything for the 7833 Blossom Dr property. To make matters worse, Brian used our property to secure a loan of $80,000. Then the property changes hands a few times, Mr. Cosper is released of his loan of $80,000 and then the house is used to acquire a loan of $146,700 from a person Ive never heard of.
The house had been in the hands of trustees since about March. Up to about May or June I had remained in constant contact with James Brian Cosper, if he didnt return my calls I would go to his house at 5524 Milford Dr Fort Worth TX 76137 in the Northeast part of town. Im not sure if it was because of me alone, but Mr. Cosper, his wife Tonya and children moved to an unknown address perhaps even out of state. The trustees: Scott Alpert, Michael Young and presumed new owners Dean Lusk and Ken Eldridge are near impossible to get a hold of. Only if we use a phone with a number theyre unfamiliar with, do they answer the call.
The phone number for James Brian Cosper and his new company name is (866) 311-5446 his email address is [email protected] besides the Milford address there is also his P.O. Address: Brian Cosper 8436 Denton Hwy Suite 208 PMB 281 Watauga, TX 76148. The phone number for Scott Alpert and Michael Young is (972) 671-9324 (the company name is Preferred One, so far). The phone number for Dean Lusk is (214) 629-3003. I have never met or called Ken Eldridge yet he is one of the past property owners for 7833 Blossom Dr if you look it up on tad.org; I visit this web site regularly. Leah and I make constant calls and leave numerous voice mail messages, but to no avail.
All total we received 18 monthly payments up to January. There have been no payments or correspondence since January (a little over two years now). Needless to say we are very upset that we may have lost everything. Payment from our Blossom house was supposed to help us with our current house and it is our lifes savings, our nest egg for the future. When James Brian Cosper used our house to secure a loan Im sure that he did not disclose that he owes us money and thats an outright fraud. Fraud is a criminal offense, and I believe thieves like Mr. Cosper plague our legal system. People like him mar free enterprise and are the demise of our economy. He must be stopped and make restitution with us.
Through an attorney we filed a complaint with the Tarrant County District Attorneys office and gave the investigator copies of all the paperwork involved. Our attorney has also filed a Public Notice with the Tarrant County Deed of Records making our presence known for future inquiries. Neither of these efforts has helped. The DAs office sent us a letter saying there was insufficient evidence to pursue James Brian Cosper. Cosper is still scamming people of their properties and their property equity. The bank that foreclosed on the property was still able to sell it.
Thieves like James Brian Cosper cannot be allowed to defraud people of their property and lifes savings! Deviant con artist such as him must be stopped! Why must we be a nation of victims to people with ulterior motives? We are willing to do whatever it takes to fight this!
Charles (chuck)
Fort Worth, Texas
U.S.A.
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