An Oakland man is suing former Realtor David Crisp, saying Crisp used the man's name in a house flipping scheme that ultimately defrauded lenders.
Jorge Ochoa says David Crisp destroyed his good credit. Ochoa wants $75,000 in damages.
"He was just a victim, one of many, of the scams of David Crisp," Ochoa's attorney Harvey W. Stein said.
The state stripped Crisp of his real estate license following a hearing in July 2008, and he and his former business partner Carl Cole are the subjects of an ongoing FBI mortgage fraud investigation.
Crisp did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Stein says Ochoa is a close friend of Crisp's cousin, and that's how the trouble began in July 2006.
"He was asked not by the cousin, but by Crisp himself if he would be interested in going on title with a piece of property and he'd be paid $5,000 for it and there was no risk," Stein said.
The suit claims Crisp wanted to use Ochoa's good credit to buy a two-story home in 500 block of Blue Meadow Court in Oildale and sell it quickly for a profit.
The suit outlines a plan under which Crisp, who was too overextended to get the loan under his own name, would make a profit when the value of the house increased.
Ochoa said he would get a quick five grand for the use of his name.
"Don't worry, I've taken care of everything," the suit quotes Crisp saying to Ochoa. " I will make all the loan payments and I will send you a copy of everything I did for your records."
Stein says Ochoa never agreed, but later received a check for $5,000 anyway, and a property deed where his signature had been forged.
But the house didn't sell. The suit says Crisp failed to make loan payments, tax payments or homeowner's association dues and the home went into foreclosure, taking Ochoa's credit score down with it.
Stein said Ochoa cashed Crisp's $5,000 check but regrets doing so.
"He later found out when he was applying to refinance his home loan on his home where he lives up here in the Bay Area, that he was no longer credit worthy," Stein said. "Ochoa was shocked that his credit score when from the 780s to the 630s."
Stein filed a lawsuit on Ochoa's behalf for $75,000, saying Ochoa's credit card interest rates have gone through the roof.
But Crisp has not responded to the lawsuit, and Stein is moving for a judge decide in his client's favor by default.
