AUBURN — Police are cautioning renters of a real estate scheme believed to have already ensnared at least a dozen people across Androscoggin County.

Investigators from the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department say a local man has been reviewing deed records, newspaper ads and Craigslist posts to find properties that are slated for foreclosure.

The man then approaches the homeowner with a proposed deal to ease the financial burden of foreclosure. Police say the man will offer the homeowner between $200 and $1,000 to relinquish their claim on the property by signing a quitclaim deed.

“The way it’s presented, the person leads the homeowner to believe that the homeowner is absolved of financial responsibility,” said Detective Thomas Slivinski, “and that the homeowner is free and clear of the residence.”

The agreement is typically signed in front of a notary, police say. Once it is signed, the man behind the scheme will then rent the home to tenants, even though he doesn’t legally own it. He will collect rent and occasionally perform repairs.

“The problem comes along,” Slivinski said, “when the mortgage holding bank finally gets around to starting foreclosure proceedings by way of a sheriff’s deputy arriving at the residence to serve notice on the original debtor/owner – who has subsequently moved on, in some cases four years prior.”

Slivinski said that once banks begin to foreclose on the homes in question, trouble begins for the homeowners who thought they were free and clear via the quitclaim deed. Some, police said, face interest and penalties thousands of dollars beyond the value of the property.

Police say the people who rent apartments from the man are forced to leave the property – one woman said she rented a home from a man on Beech Street in Lisbon in April only to be informed by a police officer in June that her family was not living there legally.

Shortly after, a foreclosure letter arrived and the family was ordered to vacate the home by Aug. 1.

The woman reported that she had given a security deposit along with first and last month’s rent to the man who claimed to own the property. She has since reported her experience to the district attorney’s office.

Police said other tenants and families have suffered similar fates in a variety of towns, including Greene, Turner, Leeds and Livermore.

In 2015, a Lewiston man wrote a check for $1,750 to rent a property on Lower Street in Turner. When he arrived to move in, he learned that the home had been rented to somebody else and that the man who took his check did not own the property.

That man, Eddie Greyfox Burgess, has been fighting to get his money back for two years. On Wednesday, he was able to recoup $1,200, but only by filing a civil order of arrest against the man to compel him to appear in court.

“Not everybody is willing to go to that extreme,” Burgess said Wednesday.

Burgess said he plans further action against the man he insists has bilked tens of thousands of dollars from several homeowners, many of them elderly, while also scamming younger couples who are looking to rent homes so they can start families.

One such couple, Burgess said, was moving to Lewiston from Ohio with the intention of adopting two children. After renting a home in Lewiston and sinking thousands of dollars into repairs, they learned that the man they had rented from did not own the building.

That family was also in court on Wednesday.

Police are investigating the man they say has operated the scheme for several years, although he is not being named while the probe continues. The Attorney General’s Office became involved in the investigation last month. As of Wednesday afternoon, no charges had been filed.

The accused man, 66 years old, is represented by a Lewiston law firm and has denied wrongdoing.

Burgess said he has been working with other victims of the scheme as they prepare to take legal action to recoup money lost. He plans to host a local event to gather victims of the scheme along with lawyers, politicians and lawmakers.

Police, meanwhile, advise homeowners to research potential buyers well before entering quitclaim agreements.

“This warning is not meant to cast aspersions upon local Realtors or investors who buy and flip houses,” Slivinski said, “as they follow the law and have ethics.”

After renting a home in Lewiston and sinking thousands of dollars into repairs, Cameron Churchill Caouette and his family learned that the man they had rented from did not own the building.

Caouette was also in court Wednesday. He complained Wednesday night that there are no laws in place to protect people from the kind of scam he fell for. The man behind the real estate scheme was allowed to continue, he said, because of legal loopholes.

“He takes advantage of people,” Caouette said. “He’s a con man. He knows the game and he’s been playing it.”

Anyone with information about the scheme is asked to call Detective Thomas Slivinski at 207-753-2567.

Those interested in Burgess’ event is invited to contact him at 207-520-1683 or at [email protected].

What is a quitclaim deed?

According to realtor.com, “unlike a warranty or grant deed, a quitclaim deed doesn’t confirm the grantor owns the property. It simply states that if a grantor has an ownership claim, they agree to quit it and give it to the grantee. When a grantee accepts a quitclaim deed, they accept the risk that the grantor may not actually own the property. A quitclaim deed’s main benefit? It prevents a grantor from later claiming an interest in the property — they’ve relinquished any interest in writing.”