More bad news from the ethics in real estate file...

WCNC in Charlotte reports on a local company that’s being hammered with complaints from home buyers and sellers who claim they’ve been victimized by the company’s unscrupulous practices. 

The victims allege that Charlotte Home Solutions defrauded customers in a rent-to-own scheme gone bad.  The ringleader – a guy called Bill Keaton. 

Evidently the scheme worked like this.  Keaton managed properties for homeowners, promising to find rent-to-own tenants and handle mortgage payments & taxes.  Owners were expecting their properties to be cared for, and tenants were expecting their rent payments to be going towards a future purchase. 

But both renters and owners got the shaft.  Keaton left mortgage bills unpaid, ruined the credit of owners, and made off with the cash that renters expected to be applied to downpayments in the future. 

Keaton refused comment when approached by 6NEWS reporters, but his response to internal emails from Charlotte Home Solutions employees regarding complaints from angry clients:  “F_ _ _ them”. 

Class act.  But a note to investors considering hiring a property manager: there are some creeps out there – do your due diligence!