A Minnetonka real estate broker whose "get rich slow" investment scheme persuaded lenders to issue more than $6 million in loans based on fraudulent applications should be disciplined by the Department of Commerce, an administrative law judge decided this month.
The department had suspended Steven R. Carver's real estate licenses in July until a judge could rule on the allegations.
Carver led seminars in the mid-2000s that recruited "no money down" investors to act as buyers in rental property purchases. He inflated purchase prices and buyers received kickbacks at closing, the judge's decision said.
Carver gave false information to the state and owes $155,000 in real-estate-related judgments, the judge found.
JANE FRIEDMANN
