![]() ![]() Under Ohio law, the surpluses are held by the Common Pleas clerk of court and can be requested through a motion filed with the court. Many homeowners are unaware that when they are foreclosed upon and the property is sold at auction, any money left over after creditors are paid belongs to them. The Dispatch series also highlighted questionable practices that lead to homeowners unwittingly signing away their rights to the surpluses from the sale of their homes. ![]() More: Coronavirus compounds challenges faced by Ohio’s poor "We're glad this has come to a head and he's going to have to pay the piper," Barkan said. Neal Barkan, a Columbus lawyer who is representing Linebarger in a civil lawsuit against Renier, expressed relief at the announcement of an indictment. Not until he was contacted by The Dispatch in July 2019 did Linebarger, a retired auto worker, discover that the sheriff's auction of his Northeast Side home yielded a surplus and that someone else had claimed it in his name. Levell Holdings was the owner of an Ellery Drive house where Linebarger's check had been sent in response to a motion filed with the Franklin County Common Pleas Court. ![]() The Dispatch found that Renier was listed as the owner of Levell Holdings in articles of organization filed with the Ohio secretary of state's office in February 2017. One of The Dispatch stories detailed how a $38,636 check made out to foreclosed homeowner Thurgood Linebarger in February 2019 was endorsed in his name and marked "Pay to the order of Levell Holdings LLC." The sheriff's investigation determined that, in addition to the crimes committed against the foreclosed homeowner cited in the Dispatch story, Renier cheated others by forging quit-claims deeds for four properties, costing the five victims a combined $401,700, Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said. The series prompted an investigation of Renier by the Franklin County sheriff's office. A Columbus man whose company was identified in a Dispatch investigation as obtaining and cashing a $38,000 check that belonged to a foreclosed homeowner was indicted Tuesday for that case and other alleged schemes that cost victims more than $400,000.Ĭarl Levell Renier, 48, faces a 36-count indictment that includes a charge of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and multiple felony counts of identity fraud, forgery, money laundering, tampering with records, theft and crimes against the elderly, the Franklin County prosecutor's office announced.įoreclosed & Fleeced, an award-winning Dispatch investigative series, reported in August 2019 about how some foreclosed homeowners are cheated out of surplus funds that remain after the sheriff sales of their properties. ![]()
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