East Side pastor Tony Caldwell sued by state of Missouri for real-estate fraud

Bishop Tony Caldwell, founder of Community Unity KC, an activist church on Kansas City’s East Side, is one of the defendants named in a lawsuit filed today by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster. The suit alleges that Caldwell and Brandon Miller, the principals of Tri-State Holdings-32 LLC, sold Kansas City-area homes purchased at delinquent tax auctions, usually in the $30,000-$40,000 range, “offering to renovate the homes, resolve the back taxes, and transfer them to new owners for an up-front payment of $500, plus additional payments of $399 per month,” according to a release from the AG’s office.

What instead happened, the suit asserts, is that at least 22 homebuyers never got the renovations they were promised by Tri-State Holdings. Koster’s suit contends that Tri-State then initiated evictions against the homebuyers based on the fact that the homes weren’t habitable — even though the reason they weren’t habitable is because Tri-State hadn’t conducted the renovations it promised. More from the release:

Tri-State’s business model was to quickly flip homes and seek new buyers to purchase homes it had already sold to other consumers who had stopped paying. Existing homeowners often found that deeds had not been recorded in their name, offering no protection from the house being resold out from under them.

“This company preyed on low-income consumers hoping to find the American dream — a home of their own at a price they could afford,” said Koster. “Instead, they found themselves in a nightmare of false promises and stolen money.”

A Jackson County judge has temporarily halted Tri-State from marketing or selling homes and evicting consumers from homes. Koster is asking for a permanent injunction and financial restitution for victims. If you’ve had predatory dealings with Tri-State Holdings-32 LLC, Brandon Miller, or Tony Caldwell, you’re encouraged to contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-392-8222. Online at ago.mo.gov.

Tri-State, Caldwell and Miller were sued by Legal Aid of Missouri last year over their real-estate business. “I am just as much of a victim in this mortgage scheme as they [the homebuyers] are,” Caldwell said at the time.