A Casey Serin Primer, October 2006

OCTOBER, 2006

Casey tells his readers that he is unable to perform even basic tasks, such as opening the mail. Because of this, his chance to do a deed in lieu of foreclosure with the Angleridge Rd. property in Dallas vanishes when he does not stay in contact with the lender and they decide to do a Trustee’s Sale.

Serin appears in USA Today, with another fluff piece that reads like he and wife Galina are victims of the real estate bubble. While the story notes that “At his peak, in April, Serin had $93,000 he'd taken out of the homes as he bought them. By July, he was broke, desperate for one last deal. Now? Serin has $140,000 in credit card and credit-line debt and five houses in foreclosure.” But USA Today author Noelle Knox ignore the obvious criminality of the story and instead dissects Casey Serin’s various “mistakes.”

On his blog, Casey starts to ponder the “Moral Consequences of Bankruptcy,” implying that he has some Christian duty to pay the loans. His readers agree, and he starts calling them haters.

At this stage, Casey picks up a new mentor, who he refers to as his “local Rich Dad.” It’s the father of a high school friend who Casey says is nearly god-like in his ability to make money in down real estate markets. As Casey photographs himself in front of Rich Dad’s building that he’ll be working out of, astute readers find that the building is home to Secure Tomorrow Asset Protection, owned by Paul Prestwich.

Casey is on NPR in a foreclosure segment. NPR has long since pulled the link.

Serin’s Burdett Way property in Sacramento is approved for short sale by the lender. Serin purchased the property in January, 2006 for $295,000 (100% financing and some sweet cash-back at close, thanks to an appraisal of $315,000.) The bank says they will short-sell for $248,000 but the ‘investor’ buyer Casey has lined up will only go to $200,000.

Casey’s readers are urging him to get at job, put tenants into the properties to at least hold back some of the bleeding. He whines incessantly about how none of this will make a difference. Critics shift into becoming haterz.

He then makes the mistake of telling his readers that he lost out on a job that would have paid him $35/hour, temp-to-hire, because he dicked around with the potential employer. Or, in Casey-speak, “So I told them I’m going to take a couple of weeks to wrap up my real estate deals and I would let them know as soon as I can start working full time.” By the time he gets back to them, they’ve already filled the job.

Serin then says that he has borrowed $3,000 from a friend to “launch a comeback.” To date, only a small fraction of this money has been paid back to said friend.

Casey Serin appears in the San Francisco Chronicle, in yet another failed media attempt to get to the meat of the Casey Serin foreclosure story.

Casey Serin posts his “hardship letter” that he is sending out to his creditors. The contents of the letter will become a repeated theme of lies and backtracking--namely that Casey Serin tells his lenders he is insolvent, but in many other posts references various sources of income: consulting and blog monetization from Google AdSense, to name a couple.

Casey Seirn’s sense of entitlement starts to show through, and this is where Serin’s otherwise sympathetic audience starts to turn on him. Blog posts state “Lenders Keep Bugging Me,” and “Yes, I Lied On My Loans!” His tone infuriates the vast majority of readers.

Salt Lake City mortgage lender Nigel Swaby issues a series of paid press releases, saying that “Aspiring Web Journalist Lands Real Estate Story of the Year.” Nigel Swaby is oblivious to the fact that other major news outlets have already covered the Casey Serin story.

By the end of the month, he will have appeared on Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad TV” with the help of blog reader RLinkBiz. This relationship will quickly sour, as PRLinkBiz has her own self-serving reasons for facilitating Casey. Casey signs a contract that basically hands over most of the rights to his “story,” then, like every other contract he signs, whines that he wants to back out of it, then eventually ignores it.

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