County’s document filing fees hiked again to help fund D.A.’s anti-fraud unit

A month after doubling a fee assessed in support ofreal estate fraud prosecutions, Riverside County supervisors hiked it againtoday, apparently to ensure the District Attorney’s Office has the necessaryresources to investigate the vast number of fraud complaints received eachyear.

In a 5-0 vote, the board increased the Real Estate Prosecution TrustFund fee from $6 to $10 per document.

On Feb. 5, the board authorized an increase from $3. District AttorneyPaul Zellerbach had sought the increase to $10 at that time, but becauseseveral supervisors had qualms, the board compromised and granted a smallerhike.

They left open the possibility of granting the full $10 — as long asthere was a comprehensive report on how the new revenue would be appropriated.

“This new proposal was done extremely well,” Supervisor Kevin Jeffriessaid of the report submitted by the D.A.’s office last week to justify thelarger fee.

“The district attorney is making a very compelling case,” addedSupervisor Marion Ashley. “He’s justified in doing this.”

The fees are imposed whenever an individual or business records a deedof trust, a notice of default, notice of trustee sale, affidavit, lien, leaseor quitclaim deed, as well as other documents filed with the Office of theAssessor-Clerk-Recorder.

Revenue generated from the fees is deposited into the Real EstateProsecution Trust Fund, from which the D.A.’s office withdraws money as needed — restricted for investigations and prosecutions of mortgage and foreclosure-related scams.

The assessor’s office receives a relatively small portion of the moneyto cover costs associated with mailing “courtesy notices” that alerthomeowners whenever a document has been filed that impacts his or her property.

The $10 filing fee will generate an estimated $5 million a year,compared to around $2.8 million from the $6-per-document assessment, accordingto Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Larry Ward.

In his report, Zellerbach noted that the Real Estate Fraud Unit “has nodocument examiner … no computer forensic examiner” and no forensicaccountant on staff, leaving seven prosecutors and a paralegal to plow throughreams of documents and data.

According to Zellerbach, the D.A.’s office received more than 2,400 realestate fraud complaints during the 2011-12 fiscal year, Because of limitedresources, only 94 have led to investigations, he said.

The process of going through mounds of potential evidence delaysprosecutions, the county’s top prosecutor said. Of the 60 investigationsconducted in 2010-11, only a dozen resulted in criminal prosecutions.

“Keeping up with the fraudsters in a county of almost 2.3 millionpeople is not possible under these current budget constraints,” Zellerbachwrote in the report.

According to the D.A., having a larger pool of funds to tap will enablethe agency to establish anti-fraud units in Murrieta and Indio, add threeinvestigators to the Riverside office, and hire “crucial accounting personnelto analyze and prepare financial records and forensic audits.”

Many investigations stem from schemes and scams perpetrated by crooksseeking to exploit distressed property owners desperate for alternatives tolosing their homes to foreclosure, but also include victims of so-called “rent-skimming” and loan scams, according to Zellerbach.

Both the Southwest Riverside County Association of Realtors and theInland Valley Association of Realtors backed the fee hikes.