Complaint Review: Investment Options - Tyrone Valkanas

In July 2002, I answered an Ad in the San Diego Tribune saying"Will pay cash for your home". I contacted the phone number given and spoke with the owner/operator of the company Investment Options, Tyrone Valkanas.

Once Valkanas was at my home he told me that he doesn't really buy the homes for cash right now, but we enter into a contract with a Lease Option to Buy and he will buy my home in two years, during that 2 year time I will be able to continue to use my home as a tax write off.

Two (2) months Valkanas asked me to allow him to make payments directly to my mortgage company. I said no, I'll keep control.

One (1) month later Valkansas asked me to sign over my Title Deed to my home to him and he tried to assure me that it was no big deal because he would not record the deed and that all of his clients sign. My answer to him was-no.

This is when I began to realize that something wasn't right. Why was he trying to get control of my property without even putting money on the table.

Valkanas was supposed to purchase my home by August 31,2004. August 31, 2004 came and went without any word from Valkanas. By November 2004, I contacted an attorney. It appears that Valkanas had a clause in the contract that he could automatically extend the contract for 1 year, it's number 24 on the list of the contract.

But also in the contract labeled number 1, says that after August 31, 2004 the contract becomes a month-to-month contract.Once my attorney read the contract he told me that the contract was written in a way that it benefits the buyer (Valkanas)but the month-to-month clause was good because Valkanas did not notify me that he planned to use the extension in the contract.

My attorney sent an eviction notice to Valkanas and the sub-tenant he had sub-leased my home to in September 2002.

The sub-tenant immediately contacted my attorney saying that Valkanas had told them he was the owner of the property and that they were already in Escrow to buy the property as of November 23, 2004.

The sub-tenant sent all the paperwork regarding the escrow and the lease which they signed with Valkanas. The lease agreement the sub-tenants signed with Valkanas states that Valkanas is the Seller/Landlord of the property. This lease was signed by Valkanas and the sub-tenants on September 2002, 1 month after I signed my lease with Valkanas.

The sub-tenant also related to my attorney that in April 2004 and again in July 2004, Valkanas tried to talk them into refinancing my home by saying it was there home. He had a friend at Global Equity Lending (678)966-7600, by the name of Shane Roberts who would skip the title search and see to it that the refinancing loan was approved even though the sub-tenant was not the true owner of the home.

The lease agreement that Valkansas also required the sub-tenants to make a down payment of $7,500.00 toward the purchase of the home.

Once the sub-tenants found out what Valkansas was not the owner of the home they confronted him. Then Valkansas attempted to open escrow with me so he could buy the home from me. Even the escrow paper work that came to me was not kosher and had a lot of TBD items in the form. However, as far as my attorney and I were concerned the contract was no longer enforceable. I'm now in litigation with Valkanas and my attorney will file a slander of title suit against Valkanas.

How many others have Valkanas taken by getting them to sign over a Title Deed to him because the person believes that he will buy their home.

What kind of a loan company would skip the title search and allow anyone to refinance a home? It's as if anyone can call this lending company and say, hey I want to refinance this home I rent and not own and the company would make it happen.

Valkanas comes off as a big business man who has many homes and lots of money, but it appears that he has only one home and that is the one he lives in right now.

Valkanas does not have a Brokers liscense or a Real Estate liscense.

This is clearly fraud on the part of Valkanas, first by telling me he would buy my home in 2 years, second by telling the sub-tenants that he is the owner/seller/landlord of the home that he had not paid for yet, third by opening escrow with the sub-tenants on a home that he does not own. I can only imagine what would have happened if the sub-tenants had managed to get the refinance loan.

What the sub-tenant told me about the refinance loan was that it was supposed to transfer directly into Valkanas checking account for Investment Options. The contract I signe with Valkanas states the he can sell, transfer or assign the contract to anyone he wishes and then he will no longer be responsible for the contract after that.

This guy is very smooth. He even got Chicago Title Company to open escrow and believe that the contract I signed with him constituted a form of my transfering title deed to Valkanas. After reading the contract more closely, Chicago Title Company canceled escrow and has refused to continue to do business with Valkanas.

Eliana
la mesa, California
U.S.A.