Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a lawsuit Monday saying Limited Liability Companies are taking advantage of a golden opportunity within the tax sale process.
Investigators noticed a pattern that revealed at least 48 property owners, mostly in Marion County, have been swindled.
Zoeller accuses the companies of convincing homeowners to sell their deeds for a few hundred dollars and walk away from their homes before the tax sale auction is complete.
"Homeowners who don't know they're entitled to the surplus can be conned into selling their title for little or nothing," Zoeller says.
Zoeller says the LLCs then turn around and claim thousands of dollars in equity profit on the homes from the auction sales.
"What we're seeing here is unbelievable. This is definitely amped up quite a bit," says Drew Carlson, Chief Financial Officer for the Marion County Auditor. Carlson says the actions are borderline criminal.
An attempt to reach an Indianapolis attorney listed on the main LLC's state-filed documents was unsuccessful.