'No Agent' makes no deal Kingston was a state senator when he was caught illegally buying HUD properties and renting them out. The government claimed Kingston did not make payments on the properties causing HUD, using taxpayer money, to pay off the mortgages when the properties went into foreclosure. Leo Kingston was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to federal prison and so was his wife Paulette. She is the one now seen in the commercials for 1-800-No-Agent or RAK properties. NewsChannel 4 learned that as a result of his fraud conviction Kingstonâs name was on a government list barring him from being a HUD funded landlord for low income properties. See related information: HUD's Broken System
Oklahoma City KFOR 'No Agent' makes no deal July 1, 2005,
OKLAHOMA CITY -- You may have seen commercials for a company called 1-800-No-Agent. They claim they will buy any property no matter what shape it's in. Now one Oklahoma couple says 1-800-No-Agent backed out of a deal to buy their property leaving them in a bind. When Brad Edwards began investigating, he uncovered the name of a man and woman who were in the headlines once before for alleged property fraud. The commercials for 1-800-No-Agent say they will buy houses in any shape. Joe and Loretta Easley called them about buying their house which is in need of repair. They wanted to move to tribal land to retire. They say that Trevor Shettron, with 1-800-No-Agent, wrote out a contract to buy their property. They agreed to take care of a lien on the property and give the Easleyâs $15,000. "About two days before Memorial Day they told [Mrs. Easley], on Wednesday or Thursday, that the deal would be closed and they were going to give me a week to move out. I said âokay, good.â Well we got half the stuff packed and we were ready to move out,â explains Mr. Easley. Then Joe says Trevor came back with his boss, named Leo, and the next day they backed out of the sale putting the Easleyâs in a real bind. We checked into the case and found out that 1-800-No-Agent was a RAK Properties company. It was incorporated by a man whose name was in Oklahoma headlines in the early nineties. This man was Leo Kingston. Kingston was a state senator when he was caught illegally buying HUD properties and renting them out. The government claimed Kingston did not make payments on the properties causing HUD, using taxpayer money, to pay off the mortgages when the properties went into foreclosure. Leo Kingston was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to federal prison and so was his wife Paulette. She is the one now seen in the commercials for 1-800-No-Agent or RAK properties. NewsChannel 4 learned that as a result of his fraud conviction Kingstonâs name was on a government list barring him from being a HUD funded landlord for low income properties. After NewsChannel 4 learned that Leo Kingston was barred indefinitely from ever receiving any more HUD funds, we checked at the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency and found that Rak Properties was receiving HUD money for low income housing assistance to the tune of $6,000 a month. After our enquiry the OHFA has launched an investigation. "When you're dealing with public funds there is always an accountability issue. When we find out about situations like this we immediately spring into action to find out what's going on and that's why we're cooperating with the Inspector General's office," Dennis Shockley, PH.D. of the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency says. The findings will go to the U.S. Attorney's office for possible prosecution. NewsChannel 4 tried to reach Leo Kingston at his office. "When are they in?" we asked. "Pauletteâs usually never here. Leo pops in here and there," we were told. We also tried to contact Leo Kingston at his home, but only one time did we find him and his wife at work. "Our efforts to interview Mr. Kingston have been unsuccessful; however, his attorney Mike Brogan called to say Mr. Kingston is not receing any HUD funds illegally. He says RAK Properties belong to Kingstonâs mother who is deceased and her estate has never been settled. So the money from HUD properties goes into her estate not into the hands of Leo Kingston." Will government investigators buy that story, or will they decide your tax dollars are going into the pockets of a man previously convicted of HUD property fraud? NewsChannel 4 will follow the case. Iâm Brad Edwards in your corner. We also checked with the Oklahoma City Housing Authority. That agency uses HUD money to provide housing for low income families. Officials there told us that they refused to let Leo Kingston or any of his properties to be used in their program. Copyright 2005 KFOR-TV-DT. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |