April 6, 2008, 06:15:00PM.

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Minneapolis, MN: A fraudulent real estate ploy has inspired the city of Minneapolis to file a real estate fraud lawsuit. The city has had several complaints since T.J. Waconia purchased a total of one hundred and forty houses, remodeled them (it has been deemed that they were "flipped"), and then rented them out to the community. This is not the issue, what the issue happens to be is that TJ Waconia allegedly utilized over-inflated home appraisals to garner funds to purchase the homes as rentals.

One hundred and eight of the one hundred and forty homes that TJ Waconia purchased now sit vacant within several neighborhoods. Many of the homes are clustered, so there is more than one in certain areas.

This has caused distress to the citizens of the communities throughout Minneapolis where the homes were purchased. The citizens within the communities have said the homes have led to many bad incidences such as speeding cars, garbage being thrown into other people's yards, excessive noise, crime related incidences, and many other issues. Many of the citizens feel that the homes are all over the place and they can't quite escape the detrimental effects of the havoc they are wreaking on the community. The citizens feel the rental homes have destroyed their neighborhoods from what they once were. Several blocks throughout various communities have one of TJ Waconia's rental properties sitting on their streets.

The Minneapolis city council has expressed deep concern over the situation. The severe living condition compromise this has caused the citizens has been equated by city officials to the problems that drug dealers bring to a city's streets. Some city officials would like to see those involved with the fraud serve a prison sentence. The mayor of Minneapolis, R.T. Rybak, hopes to see the TJ Waconia homes sold quickly and equilibrium to be re-established into the communities affected by the problems. The city is seeking monetary compensation for maintenance, upkeep, and policing of the vacant properties. Citizens that have launched complaints to the city said they just want the matter brought to justice. Most are not seeking damages or any kind of monetary restitution along with the city. They just want the situation remedied in their neighborhoods. The city is being assertive in their pursuit of monetary restitution. Their hope is to keep TJ Waconia from continuing their fraudulent real estate practices throughout Minneapolis, and to hold them accountable for their unlawful actions.

The incident is said to have worsened the foreclosure situation in the Northern side of the city. Many of the TJ Waconia properties are being sold as foreclosures to get them off of their hands. As a direct result property values in the neighborhoods where the houses sit have been driven down considerably. TJ Waconia is owned by Tom Balko and John Helgason. Neither owner has been reachable to comment about the situation or the pending lawsuit.

By Delsia Hartford

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