Kansas Legal Services secures justice for local resident in fraud case

Kansas Legal Services (KLS), a statewide non-profit corporation, is devoted to helpinglow-income Kansans meet their basic needs through the provision of important legal and mediation services. Last year, KLS served more than 18,500 persons in all 105 counties through two mediation offices and 11 legal services offices across the state.

KLS has served Pittsburg and the surrounding area for over 30 years. The office serves nine counties — Allen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson, and Woodson.

Between 2020 and 2022, KLS attorneys and paralegals served1,623 clients in matters pertaining to housing, collections, income maintenance, child support, and protection from domestic violence.

KLS attorneys assist people who live in households with annual incomes at or below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines – $14,713 for an individual; $30,313 for a family of four. Clients represent diverse ethnicities and age groups, residing in rural, suburban, and urban locales.

Clients include the working poor, veterans, homeowners and renters, families with children, farmers, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Women account for 70% of clients.

Case particulars

The client was a 60-year-old woman who lives in senior housing in Montgomery County.

She owns a home in her community that she is unable to live in due to its condition. She really needed to sell it before it deteriorated further. In 2021, she was approached by an individual who she thought was going to help her sell her home. He had her sign what she believed to be a listing agreement. The document was never retained. After signing, the client was paid $20.

The individual then filed an Affidavit and Memorandum of Real Estate Purchase Agreement with the Mongomery County Register of Deeds. The filed affidavit stated that a Wyoming LLC now had a contractual interest in the client’s real estate and that the cloud on client’s house title could not be cleared without a release from the Wyoming LLC.

The affidavit also said that copies of all the various agreements could be obtainedby contacting the Wyoming LLC. The Wyoming LLC was in good standing in Wyoming but was not registered as an out of state business with the Kansas Secretary of State.

The client had heard nothing in two years despite her efforts. She contacted a local realtor who told her he could not help her sell her house until problems caused by the filing of the affidavit had been released.

It was at this point when she contacted KLS in late summer of 2023. Senior Attorney Dennis Depew became involved.

After talking with the client, Depew went to the Montgomery County Register of Deeds, where he obtained a copy of the affidavit that had been filed regarding the client’s house.

The Register of Deeds reported that there had been other such affidavits filed connected with the Wyoming LLC.

Once Depew had the affidavit, he had enough information to contact the Wyoming LLC and investigate further. The LLC manager responded quickly and offered immediately to release the LLC’s interest in the real estate. Depew also sought out the individual who had filed the affidavit and, after considerable effort, they signed the release and the matter was resolved.

To say that this situation raises red flags for property owners in Southeast Kansas is an understatement. The client thought she was signing a listing agreement, but instead signed a sales contract to the individual for the sum of $20, who then assigned an interest= in the sales contract to the Wyoming LLC, who isn’t licensed to do business in Kansas.

The entire situation has SCAM written all over it. How many other Kansans are unaware that the title to their homes is or could be clouded by schemes like this?

If you suspect that you could have been a victim of a similar scheme, please call the Pittsburg KLS office at 620-232-1330. Other helpful information may be obtained by going to the Kansas Real Estate Commission website at krec.ks.gov and/or the Consumer Protection Division of the Kansas Attorney General’s website at ag.ks.gov/in-your-corner-kansas.