Casey Serin

Casey Serin

Casey Serin (born September 10, 1982) is a real estate speculator who, at the age of 24, became known as the "poster child for everything that went wrong in the real estate boom". Serin was born in Uzbekistan and emigrated to America in the mid-1990s. In his early twenties, Serin was working as a PHP script programmer for Pride Industries(a subsidized group that employs mentally disabled people), but he decided to quit this job with the hope of flipping houses. Beginning in October 2005 and continuing through the following year, Serin purchased eight houses in various U.S. states, and then began blogging about the process of facing foreclosure on several of the properties he was unable to sell before the borrowed money ran out. Visitors to his blog are usually surprised at his smug comments, where it's obvious he doesn't believe he has done anything wrong, and that he deserves a lifestyle which includes several luxuries he can't afford to pay.

Background

Although Serin was unemployed (with no ostensible income) when he bought most of the houses, he chose to declare on his loan applications that he was employed with a steady income. Serin has repeatedly admitted that he lied on his loan applications regarding his employment and his intention to reside in the purchased homes. He used several lenders for the various properties, and filled out the loan applications within a short time frame, so that the loans would not have sufficient time to appear during a credit check. In addition, he received cash back at closing on most of the properties -- for his California properties, Serin received more than California's legal maximum rate of 3 percent of the selling price. The cash-back money was spent on daily living costs, mortgage payments for the houses, and on various luxuries such as a Hawaiian vacation with his wife Galina. In a matter of months, the money largely ran out. Serin is now approximately 2.2 million dollars in debt, with a net worth of around negative $600,000.. An online discussion of the fraudulent nature of overstating income in stated income loan applications uses the case of Serin as a running example.

In September 2006, Serin started the blog IamFacingForeclosure.com describing his situation, with the idea of warning others how to avoid the mistakes he had made. Interest in the blog first developed among readers of blogs devoted to the United States housing bubble. His story was featured in USA Today, National Public Radio, New York Magazine, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among other mainstream media. Serin even admitted on a local TV news program that he used so-called "liar loans", received cash back illegally, and would not have been able to purchase any of the properties had he disclosed the truth on his loan applications. Because of the sheer magnitude of Serin's debt and the improbability of certain aspects of the story, many readers of his blog have wondered if Serin's story is real -- Motley Fool wrote "a part of me still wonders whether or not this wasn't just a somewhat elaborate hoax". While appearing at times to be a piece of Internet performance art (c.f. lonelygirl15) or a viral marketing campaign, public records support the overall authenticity of Serin's real estate purchases.

Many readers of the blog initially encouraged Serin to contact an attorney in the hopes of discharging at least a portion of his debt by filing bankruptcy. Serin has largely ignored this relatively sound advice, in favor of essentially ignoring the problem and letting his debt burden grow daily. Various readers of Serin's blog have estimated that the interest on his debt is growing at the rate of approximately $600 per day. Serin has been referred to as the "pied piper of financial ruin", and his plans for remedying his debt have many readers wondering if he is being overly optimistic, or if he is in denial over the gravity of his financial situation. In early 2007, Serin set his goals for returning to fiscal solvency -- he plans on amassing an even greater debt burden by attempting to purchase an apartment complex. In addition, Serin has proposed to transfer his personal debts to a shell corporation purchased with the sole aim of hiding debt, a course of action that numerous people have advised him is blatantly illegal. Serin initially conceded that there might be something "shady" about his proposal, although he has gone so far as talking to a corporate attorney about the plan.

Despite his repeated public admissions (both via the blog and on a webcam video) of lying on loan applications and committing felony mortgage fraud, Serin has not yet been arrested for these crimes -- although IP logs of the visitors to his blog have shown that the blog has been accessed by the FBI, the IRS, the SEC, various state governments and banks from which his fraudulent loans were obtained. Various readers of the blog, angry at Serin's complete inaction, have attempted to alert the relevant authorities to Serin's blog. Many people feel he should be made an example of, that he should go to jail for not working to pay back his debt. In early 2007, Serin started up two further real estate websites: ablebuyer.com and buyingapartmentbuildings.com, though the second address now directs visitors to the first.

In a March 2007 blog entry, while posting statements supporting most of his critics' charges of fraud, Serin urged readers to edit his Wikipedia page, claiming that the overall tone of the article was too negative, and offering an "alternative" version of events.

Properties owned by Serin

Date Purchased	Property	Purchase Price	Status	End Price	Comments	Cash Received At Close
3-8-2002	Salmon Falls Dr, Sacramento CA	$110,000	Sold 3-13-2003	$157,000	Serin's personal residence	$0
10-7-2005	Calla Way Sacramento CA	$360,000	Sold 1-4-06	$365,000	swapped for Burdett	$30K
1-4-2006	6842 Burdett Way, Sacramento, CA, 95823	$295,000	Foreclosed	<$247,500	No bids at bank auction	Please Fill In
2-6-2006	6021 Guadalajara Dr, Rio Rancho, NM, 87144	$497,000	NOD/NOT			P.F.I.
2-24-2006	Sonora Ave, Albuqurque, NM	$345,000	sold Jun 06
3-6-2006	1910 Muncy Dr Modesto CA, 95350	$323,000	NOD/NOT
3-10-2006	6656 10250 N, Highland UT, 84003	$360,000	Sold	$399,000	profit $12K	$18K
3-24-2006	6500 Larchmont Dr, North Highlands CA, 95660	$330,000	Foreclosed	<$216,000	No bids at bank auction
5-4-2006	9524 Angleridge Rd, Dallas, TX, 75238	$191,500	Foreclosed		Serin put $75K down.	$0

Criticism

Serin is regularly criticized on both his own blog and other blogs specifically devoted to his story. Serin has referred to these sites as "hater sites", as they include much negative comment. Some specific criticisms that have been leveled at Serin include:

• Disdain for standard university education in lieu of real estate guru seminars, for which Serin spent over $30,000, including training at the unaccredited Nouveau Riche University.
• Disdain for those with regular W-2 "wage slave" jobs, in favor of self-employed entrepreneurship.
• Not looking for full-time work, rather than living off his over-extended credit cards.
• Not declaring bankruptcy -- however, a bankruptcy attorney told Serin that he may be prosecuted for fraud if he files for bankruptcy.
• Living beyond his means -- Serin's bank statements posted to his blog showed expenses relating to dining out regularly, incurring repeated overdraft fees in the process.
• Attempting to use unethical and/or illegal methods (i.e., shell corporation) to get out of debt.
• Serin's determination to continue as a real estate investor despite his current abject failure in that field.
• Serin's refusal to live in any of the houses he purchased, possibly delaying the foreclosure process.
• Completely ignoring his current bills, and looking for more credit lines with subprime lenders like "CashCall".
• Serin's personal eccentricities: his habitually unkempt haircut, his carrying a murse (which he refers to as his "man bag"), and his obsession with juicing.
• Perceived hypocrisy about his self-proclaimed "veganism plus fish and eggs," while admitting to enjoying an occasional In-N-Out Burger.
• Inability to reconcile his purported Christian faith with his actions, particularly his failure to repay debt as well as mooching off his family and in-laws.
• Allegedly tithing $300/month with money that was essentially stolen from his lenders -- Serin refuses to reveal to which church he supposedly donates.

Pre-Foreclosure Actions

Readers of Serin's blog have searched various Internet archives in an effort to reveal more of Serin's background. Serin has been criticized over some perceived unethical incidents that have been unearthed from his past. When he was 14 years old, Serin used his father's Internet account to attempt a Usenet-based Ponzi scheme, although it is presumed that he failed to make any money from this venture. In addition, after the houses were purchased and it was clear to Serin that he was in dire straits financially, he tried e-mailing friends to ask them for money. Serin phrased the e-mails as an investment plan secured by his real estate holdings, with a promise of 24% interest, but the next week admitted he failed to mention that his real estate business was actually in trouble and that he was facing foreclosure on all of his properties.

Personal life

File:Caseyfamily.jpg

Casey with Galina (wife) and family.

Casey Konstantin Serin is married to Galina Serin (born January 2, 1983), neé Suprun. His wife does not participate in the current blog or other publicity, although publicly-available documents filed with various county offices indicate that she participated in some of the financial deals. In addition, Serin wrote on his blog that they attended real estate seminars together and has photographically documented Galina taking part in the attempted rehabilitation of their properties. They currently live with Serin's sister-in-law in West Sacramento, California.

Themes and catch phrases

Serin is very fond of using catchphrases and buzzwords on his blog, perhaps as a by-product of his preference for get-rich-quick gurus over conventional education. He frequently talks about finding "sweet deals", "repaying every dirty penny", and "falling forward". These phrases are often mentioned sarcastically in his blog's comments, generally mocking Serin's exuberant optimism. Serin also likes to end postings with a cheerful "It's all good!", even at the end of a post that otherwise describes a situation of utter financial ruin.

There are also numerous references to Jamba Juice and Macaroni Grill on his blog, which stem from an early post, in which Serin reproduced, but later withdrew, a recent bank statement. His blog's readers immediately spotted that despite his dire financial predicament, he was still a regular customer at these and other establishments. With almost no money in his checking account, Serin had incurred numerous overdraft charges, and had essentially been paying upwards of $38 for a drink that normally cost less than $5. Since then, the names of these two restaurants are repeatedly cited in attached comments -- usually with the intention of symbolizing examples of luxuries that Serin cannot realistically afford, but to which he nonetheless feels entitled.