Yes, it is happening in far North Dallas and maybe where you are.  So be on the lookout for those deals that just don't seem right.  At least five homes have been flipped in the last on Winterwood Lane.  Winterwood is just south of Arapaho and intersects Hillcrest. 

For what it is and what to look for see the above Web Site at:

 http://www.dfwrealtors.com/fraud/index.htm

Fox News, local Channel 4, reported on the above.  Here is their first report.  The video requires Windows Media Player to be installed on you computer and for you to allow Active-X controls to be run by your browser. The Active-X control is what is used to stop, start, and control the Windows Media Player. The video is a 9.3MB file; 8:15 minutes in length. To view the video, click on the play button. To download the video and play it later, click here.

In a similar vain; note that the offenses in the article below occurred from 2000 through 2004 and it took until February of 2005 for indictments to be brought.  How long will it be before a trial and possible conviction?  (Webmaster)

Five indicted in $10 million Texas real estate fraud scheme

Texans accused of flipping properties at inflated values Tuesday, March 08, 2005  

Five alleged conspirators were indicted in mid-February in a Dallas mortgage flipping scheme involving more than $10 million, a newly unsealed indictment indicates.

Darron Banks, Alan K. Banks, Mark A. Dean, Katrina L. Crenshaw and Galen J. Wade have been indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas for wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.

The five are accused of creating straw buyers and purchasing Texas homes at low prices and quickly selling them for much more than they were worth – a "flipping" scheme. The alleged scheme encompassed an approximately three-year period, running from 2000 to 2004, according to the indictment.

The indictment, filed Feb. 15, supersedes an indictment filed against R.C. Jordan, Richard Jordan and Meosha Strong Gebhardt on Feb. 3. The five people named in the new indictment have been added as defendants.

The Feb. 15 indictment sets forth details as to how six Dallas properties, one Duncanville property, two Desoto properties and one Cedar Hill property were allegedly flipped.

"They (the defendants) are alleged in some instances to have cycled the same property several times, inflating the value every time," said Dallas attorney Michael Samonek. Samonek represents Richard Jordan, one of the defendants.

Richard Jordan has signed a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney in Dallas and will be sentenced April 14 in district court, Samonek said. Jordan pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge, according to Samonek.

"R.C. Jordan was allegedly affiliated with a company known as Tru-Faith Mortgage," Samonek said. R.C. Jordan, said to be the ringleader of the group, allegedly shared an office with Meosha Strong Gebhardt, Samonek said. Gebhardt is also a defendant in the indictment. "Richard Jordan was in an office down the hall," Samonek said. Richard Jordan is R.C. Jordan's cousin, according to Samonek.

"My guess is that the government threw out its net, collected some fish (in the first indictment) and those fish talked about some fish they missed and the government threw out a bigger net and got some bigger players," Samonek said. "The indictments will all be tied together."

Courtesy of Inman News

The same case as above from a different News Source:

Five More Indicted in Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Thursday, March 10, 2005 - By Staff Writer, The Originator Times

A federal indictment filed February 15, 2005 was recently unsealed. The indictment charges Darron Banks, Alan K. Banks, Mark A. Dean, Katrina L. Crenshaw and Galen J. Wade with wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud in connection with a $10M flipping scheme in the Dallas area. The indictment alleges that beginning on or about February 2000 and continuing through April 2004 the defendants located single-family residences in the Dallas area that were for sale by a bonafide sellers. Once the residences were located the defendants recruited straw purchasers to purchase and finance the residences; submitted fraudulent loan documents in the name of the straw borrowers to obtain loans in an amount substantially greater than the values of the residences; flipped properties to straw borrowers, sometimes multiple times, and inflated the values by use of fraudulent appraisals.

An example of how the alleged scheme worked is as follows:

In or about February 2000, straw purchaser Darron Banks contracted to purchase 1131 Whispering Oaks Drive, Desoto, Texas for $590,000.00 from a bonafide seller.

In or about March 2000, Alan K. Banks recruited a straw borrower, H.H. to purchase the property from straw purchaser Darron Banks for $760,000.00.

In or about July 2000, Alan K. Banks caused fraudulent loan documents to be submitted to Residential Money Centers, Inc. for financing to close the straw borrower H.H. s $760,000.00 purchase of the property from straw purchaser Darron Banks.

On or about July 19, 2000, Alan K. Banks caused Residential Money Centers, Inc. to fund and transmit by wire communications $569,183.25 and $113,183.25 to Texas Title Company to close straw borrower H.Hs purchase of 1131 Whispering Oaks Drive from straw purchaser Darron Banks.

On or about July 19, 2000, Alan K. Banks caused Texas Title Company to issue a disbursement check for $134,984.25 payable to straw purchaser Darron Banks.

On or about July 19 2000, straw purchaser Darron Banks cashed the $134,984.25 disbursement check, and purchased cashier s checks payable to:

Texas Title Company for $74,148.70 H.H. for $9,000.00 Darron Banks for $20,000.00, and $10,000.00 Sewell Lexus for $3,654.00 Darron Banks also received $18,171.55 in cash On or about July 19, 2000, straw purchaser Darron Banks, used the $74,148.70 cashiers check to close straw borrower H.H. s $760,000.00 purchase of 1131 Whispering Oaks Drive.

The indictment includes allegations that the some of the defendants participated in eleven other similar flipping transactions, the latest of which occurred in March of 2004.

Courtesy of "The Originator Times"