Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The Evans scrum gets muddy as the Banks play cash for titles

While Mississippi Valley Title and Old Republic's fraud lawsuit against attorney Charles Evans, Jr., and Chris Evans rages in the Madison County Chancery Court, many banks are filing suit in Madison and Desoto Counties seeking title to properties on which they issued mortgages averaging $620,000 per loan.

The typical lawsuit is where the bank sues a company owned or controlled by Chris or Charles Evans. In the suit, the bank requests the court give it first lien on the property and if the property is in the name of another Evans company, it also asks the court to transfer the deed to the company that gave it a lien on the property at issue. This lawsuit filed by Cadence Bank is an example of these suits. Here are the other suits:

Merchants & Farmers v. Hanover Investments and Town Park of Madison 9/11/09
First Bank (McComb) v. Madison County Bank, C E Development, and Old Agency Business Park 10/30/09
Bank of Forest v. Hanover Investments 9/16/09 Several Texas banks were subpoenaed in this action. Bankfirst and Merchants & Farmers filed motions to intervene.
Bancorp South v. Old Agency Business Park, Parkway Crossing, and Community Bank 11/3/09. What is interesting is Parkway Crossing was formerly Sleep Inn Airport. Could this be a phony company?
State Bank & Trust v. Madison Avenue Development, JCE Construction, 463 Development Co. 10/2/09
Regions v. Ridgeland Recreational 9/25/09
Omni Bank v. Highland Development Group and Madison Avenue Development 10/2/09
Community Bank v. First Bank, Bank of McComb, CE Development, 463 Development 10/28/09
Community Bank v. Old Agency Business Park, Madison Avenue Development 9/11/09

Desoto County (Copy of first page of each lawsuit):
Patriot Bank v. Woodgreen Development, Cedar Lake Investors 9/18/09
Renasant Bank v. Woodgreen Development, Twin City Commons 9/18/09
Wachovia v. Woodgreen Development, Highland of Ridgeland 9/18/09
Trustone Bank v. Woodgreen Development, Cedar Lake Investors 9/18/09
First Alliance Bank v. Woodgreen Development, Snowden Grove Investors 9/18/09
First State Bank v. Woodgreen Development, Cedar Lake Investors 9/18/09
First Security Bank v. Woodgreen Development, Brashear Heath 9/18/09
Bankplus v. Woodgreen Development, Colony Construction 9/18/09
First Trust Bank v. Woodgreen Development, Snowden Grove 9/18/09

Synopsis: Charles Evans, Jr. was an "approved attorney" for Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company, a division of Old Republic Title Insurance. MVT would issue title insurance policies based on his certifying the borrower had clear title to the property that was the subject of the loan. His brother, Jon Chris Evans, set up nearly 30 LLC's. Chris Evans purchased several pieces of prime commercial real estate in the suburbs of Jackson, Memphis, and Dallas (Madison, Desoto, Collin, and Denton Counties). Chris Evans then obtained large commercial real estate mortgages through each LLC. The loans averaged $624,000 in Mississippi and over $1 million in Texas. Over 30 banks gave Evans nearly 100 loans.

MVT filed a lawsuit in September, alleging massive fraud took place. MVT claims Charles committed fraud and that multiple banks issued loans for each property in Mississippi; the results was only one bank had valid title to property and the rest did not have title for the money they loaned to Evans. A preliminary injunction against Charles Evans was granted by the Chancellor. Chris Evans filed bankruptcy last week, which stayed all civil court proceedings against him. MVT's investigator admitted in open court the FBI contacted him. Meamwhile in Texas, nearly half of the loans issued to Chris Evans are in foreclosure proceedings. MVT's attorney called this the "biggest fraud to hit Mississippi since Worldcomm."


Related Posts:
Phony signatures & Loans to a non-existent company?
Over $74 million in loans issued in Mississippi & Texas
FBI contacted MVT, MVT lawyer calls Evans case "Biggest fraud to hit Mississippi since Worldcomm
Nearly $42 million in loans issued to Evans' brothers in Madison County (Itemized list)
Tempest in a teapot or record-breaking fraud?
Banks issued nearly $10 million to Evans brothers in Desoto County
Evans case update on court filings

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

... the results was only one bank had valid title to property and the rest did not have title for the money they loaned to Evans.

Is there any way to determine which bank actually holds the title on a given property where many banks believe they, each, hold the first?

Kingfish said...

That is why they are filing suit.

Anonymous said...

None of Evans' companies ever transferred title to any of the tracts. If Old Agency Business Park was the entity that received title to the parent tract, the title remains vested as such. The only valid liens, therefore, are the ones executed by the vested owner, whoever that happens to be. Many banks (Madison County Bank, Community Bank, Bancorpsouth, State Bank & Trust, Merchants & Farmers) are taking steps to foreclose the loans they hold against some of these smaller tracts within the parent tracts.

Anonymous said...

Once all is said and done with the banks and MVT, what consequences will the Evans brothers likely suffer?

Anonymous said...

Large fine $$$$$ and lots of jail time I hope.

Anonymous said...

November 4, 2009 12:08 PM: "Is there any way to determine which bank actually holds the title on a given property where many banks believe they, each, hold the first?"

Yes, a title examination will easily reveal that....and the smart banks have been getting title exams done by entities other than MVT.

Anonymous said...

November 4, 2009 3:04PM: I wouldn't say "easily." This is an impressive web these guys have woven, especially in one particular area. Careful platting and thorough notes are the only way to get a handle on it all - speaking from experience...

Anonymous said...

So if 5 banks all think they hold the first on the same property will all 5 file suit or will only 4 while the 5th who *knows* they hold the title stands pat?

Anonymous said...

I would think everyone would file suit, since everyone wants to be in first position in order to foreclose on a loan that either is or will soon be in default. The loans out of the entities that don't hold title are pretty much a loss, I would think. If the bank in first position (with the senior DT) forecloses, it's lights out for everyone else holding a loan on that tract. Even if any of the junior lien holders get the secured property conveyed to the entity they gave money to, their loan is still junior, and any foreclosure of the junior loan would be subject to a senior loan.

Anonymous said...

Clarification: "Lights out" as far as being able to foreclose on the junior DT.... I'd think the banks holding junior liens would still have a claim against MVT, since MVT was insuring the POSITION of their DT.

Anonymous said...

opinions are like elbows here. and worth much less. let's speculate about finding oil on any of the parcels. who gets it?

Alvin Edney said...

opinions are like elbows here. and worth much less. let's speculate about finding oil on any of the parcels. who gets it?

WOW. That was heady.

Feel free to move along if you don't care for the discussion.

KaptKangaroo said...

Well, great story. I guess we will watch it play out in the courts away from the public's prying eyes. I have to say Jackson (madison) is quite good at tossing leaves over their shit.

What's been happening on the Irby front? Noticed a number of recent sentences handed down on double manslaughter, other DUI related cases, that gave 20 years for each person, of course, they ran concurrently. And in all these cases they were PLEAS.

KF, I think you do a great job, but this one is played out, or there are higher powers that are protecting their interests. I am shocked this hasn't hit the media IN ANY STATE.

Anonymous said...

6:41...

Well, that was just plain tacky. And rude. And uncalled for. And flat out a**hole-ish. Of course, that's just my worthless opinion.
Bless your heart...

Anonymous said...

I think what KF has uncovered is just the beginning of a huge mess. It just amazes me that we haven't seen anything in the local media or national media...not to beat a dead horse, but this is not small potatoes.

Anonymous said...

KF is doing a great service. hope he sells some ads to keep this baby going

Anonymous said...

KKangaroo @ 7:42 PM---by any chance, is your last name Evans? Sure did jump on in there and shout--nothing here, keep on moving, no need to see this, move on along, nobody read any more please....

Keep going KF. Fantastic job.

Kingfish said...

Y'all can donate to. Send me an email and I'll tell you where to send checks too. ;-)

KaptKangaroo said...

KF knows I'm a long time commenter, and my post was not negative if you read it closely. I assure you I am in no way connected to anything remotely involved in the Evan's case. Just a bystander making sure, like Kingfish, certain things don't get forgotten; mainly the Irby case and the recent convictions and sentences handed down in the state. And if you took the time to read it, you would catch my toungue in cheek commentary on the lack of interest of the general media to cover such an incredible story. You sir, have what to offer, criticisms of posts you don't understand?

Kiss my Kangaroo butt.

Anonymous said...

why has the local news media stonewalled this story? I know they know it is going on.

stilettoGOP said...

TV I can see because of their time contraint for a piece. But print, I'm wondering if it's because they would have to at least TRY to somewhat put it in their own words as to not blatantly rip off KF, and the average reporter doesn't understand it enough to put it in any different terms.. so they're like, hell, JJ can have this one. ..?

but I don't know. Why is everyone silent.

Anonymous said...

It's pretty clear that KF has the T-Rex by the tail and beating hell out of that lizard.

Anonymous said...

From what I have been told, when media getting ready to run big story...they have meeting with their advertising department first. The ALMIGHTY DOLLAR rules. I figure this one will hit national and trickle down to the ball-less locals.

If you don't live and breathe real estate law/industry, you are not going to grasp the entire picture here. Can't report what you don't understand.

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid stilettoGOP hit the nail on the head about the TV media's time constraints. Also, from what I have been told nobody has been willing to go on camera and discuss this fiasco because so many entities are involved.
"Zipped lips" seems to be the theme here. I, too, find it difficult to understand why the printed news services choose not to persue this story.

BTW, Kingfish you're awesome for keeping us informed.

Anonymous said...

The problem with the other media is that they lack jackassery. You either have it or you don't and Kingfish has it in spades!

Anonymous said...

Anyone working in MS Valley Title's underwriting dept. could have taken 5 minutes and checked ANY of the LLCs out on the Secretary of State's website and seen that there was a link between the issuing agent and the alledged/purported property owner/borrower.

Also, if any reasonable person was working in underwriting, and one particular agent closed that many (probably 50-100) loans of that size IN THE SAME AREA (probably 40-50 tracts), wouldn't someone, at some point, have put on the brakes and maybe wanted to take a closer look at what was going on????? Isn't that what underwriting is for??? You can't bame the banks - they did exactly what they were supposed to do - lend money based on information obtained from a "reputable" attorney with the security of an insurance policy from the bohemoth (MVT). IMHO, Valley totally dropped the ball and is absolutely the one who should take the appropriate beating (after the Evans boys get put away in an unfortunately comfortable prison cell)...

Anonymous said...

Is there even a whiff of any possible collusion on the part of any of the (non-Evans blood) entities involved? (in other words, HTF did this go all go down w/o somebody getting a freakin' clue? or is everyone just reeeeeal stupid?))

Anonymous said...

Amongst all this "mess", one thing is clear: KF has certainly "high-jackass'd" the so called legit media (hmph, dumb lil puppies that they are, bless their hearts, ggod thing they cute when they young, etc. etc.) on this one, and I, for one, appreciate the hard worK on the part of KF for even attempting to unscramble this big stinky omelette. (Please feel free to "high-jackass" the term, although I'm sure you have already stumbled onto it, ;)

Kingfish said...

I can say Mississippi Business Journal, yes, the MBJ, has a story coming out in its new issue on Friday. As the AP carries their stuff, it will get picked up. Reporter did some good work on it.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately there is only one local paper, and it has apparently only one "investigative reporter", who apparently only reports on situations involving an African-American victim and a Caucasian protagonist. Since it seems all parties involved in the Evans fiasco are Caucasian, there is no "human interest story" here per their perspective. Move along, nothing to see, etc.

Kingfish said...

If it was your loved one, I'm sure even if 30 years later you would want someone, even a reporter, to do something if justice was truly denied.

Anonymous said...

MVT is totally to blame and liable here. If not, what's the point of title insurance? This little CYA suit is a front and a load of crud. The only service any title company provides it to check, follow, and list exceptions to the chain of title on any property. It's not like they manufacture hotdogs and do title research as a sideline! Interestingly, MVT's website doesn't seem to be online as of now. In fact, the only link I can find is this one http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2007/02/05/daily25.html?jst=b_ln_hl that talks about the former president of MVT embezzling millions from HUD and looting his employee's 401k's in 2004. That falls within a portion of the timeline shown here. Given enough time, I wouldn't be surprised if the Evans and select MVT execs are all in cahoots with shared account numbers in the Caymans. Once again, we taxpayers will be stuck with the bill in the form of an FDIC bailout or something to that effect. Why do the rest of us keep holding ourselves to a higher moral when the playing field has been redesigned to jack the honest Joes for the few unscrupulous who already know the outcome is predetermined in their favor because the mind-numbing quagmire of legal-eaze always trumps the typical trench-worker's culturally programmed short attention span. Before all is said and done, even the judge is going to wring his/her hands in the air and give bad summary judgement just to get the damn thing out of their head! Dangit, I just missed my sitcom...

Kingfish said...

It was up a few hours ago.

Anonymous said...

I think the former MVT pres that embezzled 401ks was another company in missouri, not the same as mississippi valley title INSURANCE comapny.

Anonymous said...

I don't think people are giving enough credit to the manipulative nature of the Evans' brothers. Not only that, let's not forget that they did ACTUALLY own/run one company. Gulf States Directory. Let's say MVT was reeeeeeeeeeealll stupid in hiring Charles Evans as its title attorney. Maybe there was knowledge higher up the food chain, but I think by the time it dwindled down to their employees, no one had a hot clue what was going on!

Anonymous said...

The employees for Gulf States Directory did not know what was going on and as soon as we did , the FBI were called.

The first call, they said they had other calls to take and acted completely uninterested.

The 2nd call, they kept asking have you given this info on a previous call?

They should be ashamed for not following through. IF they had, alot of small businesses would not have been duped by the 2 remaining salespeople into paying for ads that would never exist in a phone book.

Chris is still thinking he might do a website for Jackson. He states this is just bad publicity and that the bank actions will backfire on the banks.

What these two need to do is be men and accept your punishment as men and own up to what you did. You know there are multiple office employees that can verify what was done. We were all asked to do pieces of the puzzle, we just never knew what the puzzle was. This goes for past employees as well as present employees that were let go in August.

Just my opinion, but Chris? don't think they are going to let you bring the dogs to prison. And I called and they don't serve vegetarian food. They don't offer private jets back and forth that you took constantly and they don't allow you to order vegetarian dog food for those dogs you have.

Poor Poor dogs. guess they will be eating Ole Roy dog food now.



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