A Casey Serin Primer, January 2007

JANUARY, 2007

Casey Serin starts the year by reevaluating his 2006 goals.

"Here are the goals that I measured and degree of success:
• Read through the Bible. Progress: 138 of 1189 chapters (12% success)
• Topical Memory System. Progress: 24 of 60 verses (40% success)
• Jog 365 miles. Progress: 48 miles (13% success)
• Drink 365 cups of freshly squeezed juice. Progress: 190 cups (52% success)
• Gain 10 lb of muscle to be 160 lb. Progress: today’s weight is 150 lb (0% success)
• Buy, fix and flip houses then use the profits to buy enough income property to net $3,000/mo passive income. Progress: $0/mo (0% success)

Other goals/intentions:

• Quit my programmer job at Pride Industries with no consumer debt to become a full time real estate investor (strong success, except the debt)
• Keep track of every dollar (very marginal success)
• Start a blog with one post per daily (moderate success)
• Hold to a loosely vegan diet - primarily plants, no dairy, exceptions: fish and occasional organic eggs/meat/honey (moderate success)
• No alcohol, processed sugar or caffeine (marginal success)
• No microwaved foods (strong success)
• A habit of hot/cold shower in the morning (strong success)
• 30 day challenge to build an early riser habit in December (very marginal success)
Of course, readers’ heads nearly exploded knowing that Casey Serin considered himself to be a “strong success” as a “full-time real estate investor.” Hating goes into overload; Serin’s critics must abandon caffeine to balance themselves out."

The property on Larchmont Dr. in Highlands, CA is approved for short-sale, with the condition that Casey sign a $50,000 promissory note to make up the difference. ($50k is becoming a repeated theme.) Casey does so, reluctantly, but many surmise that he will eventually attempt to file for bankruptcy, so what does he have to lose by signing?

Casey posts his financial spreadsheet online. This opens the door to Galina’s complicity. Far from being an ignorant wife in all of this, Galina Serin has over $26,000 in credit card debt, averaging 30.41% interest, spread over 4 Citibank cards, 3 Chase cards, an HSB card, a Macy’s card and something called “SST.”

Readers wonder, since Casey has been running his mouth so much about keeping Galina’s credit clean through the foreclosure process, why are her interest rates so high? Conversely, Casey Serin, who admits his credit was never stellar, shows interest rates from 12-15%. The spreadsheet also shows that Casey Serin is somehow a whopping $148,000 in unsecured debt.

This of course raises the ire of many. After all, Casey has already admitted that he juiced the equity out of his properties by getting sweet cash back at close. Casey is vague with his readers about the exact numbers, but is more frank in an interview with C. Robert Simpson at the Scotsman Guide.

In that article, Simpson reveals a detail no one else had unearthed: “On six of the properties, he received cash back at closing. The largest check he received was for $50,000. The cash was paid to a bogus company, controlled by a third party. It was then funneled back to Serin. In all other escrows, cash was paid to the seller, then back to Serin after closing.”

In the midst of this, Casey Serin continues to infuriate his readers, stating that his goals for 2007 include “no lying (For Sure!) 2) no money down (?) 3) work part-time (?)” He proves to be incompetent at even the most basic tasks, saying that he had to spend an entire evening opening the mail, as he’s let it build up for so long.

Oblivious to the criticism, others are crazy enough to “sponsor” Serin’s site. Casey Serin announces that “House Buyer Network” and “RealEstateInvestors.tv” The person behind these ventures is Duane LeGate, who will quickly realize what a jackass move it is to have your company associated with a multi-state felon and real estate loser like Casey Serin.

Before getting frustrated with Casey and dropping him like a hot piece of poo, Duane does manage to engage in some schoolyard sniping with Serin. PRlinkBiz makes a reappearance when Casey tries to get her to void their contract, and she files a DMCA complaint over his posting the Rich Dad TV segment on his website. Normally passive Casey is feeling gutsier than normal with LeGate behind him, and the two of them trade online barbs with PRlinkBiz and her partner, Joy O’Day.

The mail keeps stacking up, and Casey starts posting the details of the banal minutae that he ‘works’ so hard at everyday. What it really amounts to is nothing more than paper shuffling, as a fraction of one posts shows: “went back up to my office… and sorted hand-written notes, business cards and January receipts for later processing.”

Salt Lake City mortgage lender Nigel Swaby continues to repeatedly and publicly defend Casey Serin. Most people find it curious that a mortgage lender is publicly and vehemently defending someone who has admitted to multiple mortgage frauds. While other so-called real estate professionals quietly slip out the back door after associating with Casey Serin, Nigel Swaby plows ahead.

Rob at ExUrbanNation points out that Nigel Swaby’s comments make it clear that Casey failed to notify his lender of the earlier all-inclusive trust deed on the property at W 10250 N in Highland, UT.

This would be a big no-no, and Rob says what we’re all thinking: “Does everyone have the same bad feeling when a mortgage broker doesn't see anything wrong with wrapping a mortgage and not telling the lienholder? What if he's telling his clients this on wraps he's brokering? What if thousands of brokers are doing the same?”

This raises Nigel Swaby’s hackles, which will become another repeated theme in the Saga of Casey Serin.

Casey Serin Primer: September, 2006

Casey Serin Primer: October, 2006

Casey Serin Primer: November, 2006

Casey Serin Primer: December, 2006

Casey Serin Primer: January, 2007

Casey Serin Primer: February, 2007

Casey Serin Primer: March, 2007

Casey Serin Primer: April, 2007