KENNEL PROPERTY INVESTOR SCAMS! 

Kennel buyers beware! If you are looking to buy a boarding kennel or private show kennel property you are at serious risk to lender-investor-banker scams.

Sept 2015 | TheDogPress.com

Tam Cordingley, Licensed Specialty Broker

We've recently been made aware of some clever investment scams out there. With the tightening of bank lending standards — and the tight money market in general—there have been many predatory lenders come to the front.

They pose as investors, or as Angel investors. In the last few weeks I’ve learned of two instances of these scams targeting the kennel buyer market.

The way they work is to get you to give a deposit upfront, to “cover their expenses”. Sometimes they really have offices; often their office is just a cell phone. They frequently do not need an appraisal; they can work off your business plan. They do not need loan approval, and there is tons of cash available. They are not too concerned with your credit; they are willing to help the underdog.

For many people wanting to buy an existing kennel business, this sounds like heaven. Instead, it may be the beginning of a frightening loss of whatever down payment you may have tendered.

No legitimate investor wants to lend money on an unverified business. If no bank or legitimate lender seems to think you are a good risk, why would someone loan you the entire amount, with no guarantees, in many cases without even having seen the property, much less have had a good appraisal?

These kennel property "investor" people are good at making their investment sound real. They don’t call them “con men” for nothing. They are your salvation, and your best friend, at least until they have your money. Then they are mysteriously unavailable. No phone calls are returned, and they have changed business addresses.

In one recent case, the property investor kept saying he’d sent the local real estate broker the contract; the check for the earnest money must have gotten lost in the mail. The contract was indeed sent, after numerous requests, with none of the pertinent information filled out. No check ever arrived. The closing attorney contacted this investor, and was told it was to close in a few days. How was this supposed to happen? There wasn’t a contract on the table! No funds had ever been sent. No phone calls from either the real estate broker or the attorney were ever returned.

The “investor” kept lying to the buyer until the very last moment. Even up to the point that the buyer left his home and put his stuff in a U-haul to move to his new home and take over his new business. He had put his faith and confidence in this scam artist. Charges have been filed with the FBI for Interstate fraud, and with the Attorney General of the State involved. That doesn’t help the poor buyer or the seller, both of whom were kept on the hook and made plans based on the promised closing.

If you are dealing with a "kennel property investor" or investment group, be careful!  If they want a deposit up-front, be even more wary. If the "investor" isn't concerned about an appraisal or says they are not worried about past credit, run the other way and keep looking. Don’t deal with them.

It is better to put off your dream until you can save sufficient purchase funds, than to lose what money you have to a scam—and still not have your dream kennel property.

At present there are only two kennel property specialists in the U.S.  We don't know the other firm but we highly recommend www.kennelsandhorsefarms.com

Related Article: Buying & Selling Kennel/Stable Property  ~  Realtor Safety

~

Click for FREE privacy-protected HEADlines

TheDogPlace.org, world’s 1st public website,

1st online dog news, TheDogPress.com, and

TheJudgesPlace.com, 1st AKC judges site