lily
11-23-2006, 02:32 AM
It never ceases to amaze me how some people can spend so much time thinking up a scam. If they have this much brain power, why can't they get a job and earn their money legally? (http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2006/11/22/526258.html)
2 Unrepentant About Sale of Katrina Home
By WOODY BAIRD, Associated Press Writer
Wed Nov 22, 1:05 AM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A church that wanted to do something special for Hurricane
Katrina victims gave a $75,000 house, free and clear, to a couple who said
they were left homeless by the storm. But the couple turned around and sold
the place without ever moving in, and went back to New Orleans.
"Take it up with God," an unrepentant Joshua Thompson told a TV reporter
after it was learned that he and the woman he identified as his wife had
flipped the home for $88,000.
Church members said they feel their generosity was abused by scam artists.
They are no longer even sure that the couple were left homeless by Katrina
or that they were a couple at all.
"They came in humble like they really needed a new start, and our hearts
went out to them," said Jean Phillips, a real estate agent and member of the
Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ. "They actually begged for the
home."
The church was also shocked by an ungrateful interview the couple gave with
WHBQ-TV in Memphis.
"I really don't like this area," said Delores Thompson. "I really didn't,
and I didn't know anybody, so that's why I didn't move in and I sold it."
Thompson, reached at a New Orleans phone number by The Associated Press on
Tuesday, thanked the church for its generosity but said she saw nothing
wrong in selling the three-bedroom, two-bath house.
"Do I have any legal problems? What do you mean? The house was given to me,"
she said. "I have the paperwork and everything."
She refused further comment and hung up.
The church had decided that it would do something special for one
Katrina-displaced family, in addition to its other efforts to help evacuees.
The church set up a committee to find the right family and conducted several
dozen interviews.
Delores Thompson, who did most of the talking for her family, told the
committee that she had lost her job as a nurse and that her husband had lost
an import-export business in New Orleans, committee member Joy Covington
said.
The committee also heard how the family had lost its home and most of its
possessions and how the children, a 14-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy,
were eager to get back in school. The family said it wanted to resettle in
Memphis.
After the church settled on Thompson, real estate agent Phillips helped her
pick out the house she wanted, and it was bought in Thompson's name. She
took possession in February and sold it in September. Property transfer
records for the resale list her as unmarried; the papers from the original
sale list her as married.
"I feel like it was a sham or a ripoff," Covington said.
The church hasn't discussed legal action, but the members are upset because
the house could have gone to a more needy family, Covington said.
Thompson claimed she and her family were living in an apartment supplied by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but did not invite Phillips over
during the house search.
"She didn't want me coming over there," Phillips said. "She'd say, `I'll
meet you.'"
Covington's husband, Edward, said the family had been listed by FEMA as
displaced. But he said the church took Thompson's word for it that their
house was destroyed.
2 Unrepentant About Sale of Katrina Home
By WOODY BAIRD, Associated Press Writer
Wed Nov 22, 1:05 AM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A church that wanted to do something special for Hurricane
Katrina victims gave a $75,000 house, free and clear, to a couple who said
they were left homeless by the storm. But the couple turned around and sold
the place without ever moving in, and went back to New Orleans.
"Take it up with God," an unrepentant Joshua Thompson told a TV reporter
after it was learned that he and the woman he identified as his wife had
flipped the home for $88,000.
Church members said they feel their generosity was abused by scam artists.
They are no longer even sure that the couple were left homeless by Katrina
or that they were a couple at all.
"They came in humble like they really needed a new start, and our hearts
went out to them," said Jean Phillips, a real estate agent and member of the
Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ. "They actually begged for the
home."
The church was also shocked by an ungrateful interview the couple gave with
WHBQ-TV in Memphis.
"I really don't like this area," said Delores Thompson. "I really didn't,
and I didn't know anybody, so that's why I didn't move in and I sold it."
Thompson, reached at a New Orleans phone number by The Associated Press on
Tuesday, thanked the church for its generosity but said she saw nothing
wrong in selling the three-bedroom, two-bath house.
"Do I have any legal problems? What do you mean? The house was given to me,"
she said. "I have the paperwork and everything."
She refused further comment and hung up.
The church had decided that it would do something special for one
Katrina-displaced family, in addition to its other efforts to help evacuees.
The church set up a committee to find the right family and conducted several
dozen interviews.
Delores Thompson, who did most of the talking for her family, told the
committee that she had lost her job as a nurse and that her husband had lost
an import-export business in New Orleans, committee member Joy Covington
said.
The committee also heard how the family had lost its home and most of its
possessions and how the children, a 14-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy,
were eager to get back in school. The family said it wanted to resettle in
Memphis.
After the church settled on Thompson, real estate agent Phillips helped her
pick out the house she wanted, and it was bought in Thompson's name. She
took possession in February and sold it in September. Property transfer
records for the resale list her as unmarried; the papers from the original
sale list her as married.
"I feel like it was a sham or a ripoff," Covington said.
The church hasn't discussed legal action, but the members are upset because
the house could have gone to a more needy family, Covington said.
Thompson claimed she and her family were living in an apartment supplied by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but did not invite Phillips over
during the house search.
"She didn't want me coming over there," Phillips said. "She'd say, `I'll
meet you.'"
Covington's husband, Edward, said the family had been listed by FEMA as
displaced. But he said the church took Thompson's word for it that their
house was destroyed.