Identity Theft Scam

Possible Attempted Identity Theft Scam
Case No. 09-0797

On Monday, September 21, 2009, a realtor called the police department after checking a vacant house on Orange Grove Avenue with a for sale sign in the front yard. The realtor found a note posted on the front door addressed to UPS and Fed Ex, telling them to leave the packages on the porch for the Nelson family, who was in the process of moving in.

Suspects also placed items (i.e.: tennis shoes next to the front door, a welcome mat at the front door, a child’s bike helmet in a flower bed near the front door) throughout the exterior of the home to make it appear that someone may be living at the home. The realtor said that she has never heard of the Nelson family and the house has not been sold or leased.

This fits the method of identity thieves who arrange for delivery of goods obtained through fraudulent means.

If you see anything similar in your neighborhood, please immediately telephone the police department.


Hasmick Hartunian
Desk Officer # 132
Sierra Madre Police Dept
hhartunian@cityofsierramadre.com
626-355-1414 Main #
626-355-5468 Fax #

Extend the Housing Tax Credit....

Economists: Extend the Housing Tax Credit More than 40 percent of all home buyers in 2009 will qualify for the federal tax credit, costing the government about $15 billion, twice the original estimate, but most housing experts applaud the policy and favor expanding it.Now the decision is up to Congress.Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com, believes that the credit should be expanded to all homebuyers, even investors, through summer of 2010. “The risks of not doing something like this are too great,” he said. “I don’t think the coast is clear.”James Glassman of JPMorgan Chase also favors expanding the credit but continuing to limit it to first-time buyers.Industry members who are lobbying for the extension are optimistic and say they believe an extension will be approved in some form. “There will be a lot of water under the bridge, a lot of compromise, between now” and a final bill, said Richard A. Smith, chairman of the Business Roundtable’s Housing Working Group.Source: The New York Times, David Streitfeld (09/15/2009)