Nixon sues area business owners for alleged land tax fraud

Kansas City Business Journal

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon is suing five Kansas City-area business owners, alleging that they deceived more than 50 people who had property sold on the steps of the Jackson County Courthouse in land tax sales.

In a release Friday, Nixon said the victims were duped into signing papers that resulted in them receiving pennies on the dollar for the excess proceeds from the sales. The victims, some of whom are elderly or ill, lost at least $375,000 combined, Nixon said.

Nixon filed the lawsuits in Jackson County Circuit Court against:

• Edward Pendleton of Kansas City and his business, Kansas City-based Equity Recovery Co.

• Gregg Kugler and Ronald Blum, both of Kansas City, and their Kansas City-based business, re Vitalized

• Cyrus Contractor of Lenexa and his Lenexa-based business, National Recovery Title and Property Clearing House

• Victor Kearns Jr. of Shawnee and his Shawnee-based business, Land Title Services

Nixon is asking the court to stop the defendants and their businesses "from making misrepresentations or failing to tell consumers critical information in order to defraud them in connections with the land tax sales."

"The victims in these cases don't realize what they're signing away," Nixon said in the release. "The defendants have taken advantage of that confusion and purposely don't tell the consumers they may be entitled to the excess proceeds. We're going to court to put a stop to these practices and to recover consumers' money."

Click Here to Read Full Article