How was my brother-in-law able to scam my father... ???

Question

Please help...

Two years ago my dad decided to sell his house to help purchase a new home with my sister Lea and her husband Doug.

My dad used part of the money he received from the sale of his home as a down payment for the new house.

Dad, mom and Lea were all able to go on title as joint tenants, however Doug was not qualified to be on the title due to his credit card debts (totalling around 22K)

This is where it gets kinda fishy....

According to my sister Lean, Doug was advised by either his lawyer or realtor that he could clear his debts by using a portion of dad's down payment to pay off all his credit cards.

But, when this was all explained to dad, he told us that he was told that the 22K would go towards "roof repairs" on the new house. No mention of clearing Doug's debts was made to him whatsoever!

A few months later, dad receives a receipt in the mail from the lawyers office stating the amount of 22K from his down payment was transferred to Dougs credit account!!

It has been over two years and still no "roof repairs" have been made. Doug however, has managed to furnish the entire house, purchase a brandnew home theatre system and also a brandnew vehichle??

All bought with his credit card, according to my sister Lea.

My question(s) is:

1) Is this legal, can this all be done without my fathers involvement?

2) Is there any type of legal action my dad can take, or is it too late since all the paperwork was finalized with the lawyer is?

3) How were the funds able to be transferred directly into Doug's credit account without my dad's knowledge?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Answer 1

Your father needs to call the lawyers office who sent him the receipt in the mail and learn about why. There are too many unknowns here. It is very weird. I have never heard of a down payment being anything other than a down payment

Answer 2

Your dad should go to the people who did the mortgage/loan/transaction and see a lawyer to find out why it happened.  Has he spoken to this son-in-law and daughter about his disagreement with this transaction?  Does he understand the terms of the agreement he signed?

Who is paying the loan/mortgage back?  Looks like son-in-law is going to run into debt again with credit cards and won't be able to pay anything to anyone.  Not even his wife.  What's Leah saying about all this?  Does she agree with scamming her dad?

Answer 3

You would have to get a look at the paperwork that transferred your Dad's 22k to Doug's account.   Your Dad may have signed some papers without thoroughly reading every sentence, every word.  It may have been just a verbal comment from Doug that the money was to go toward roof repairs.  The paperwork may have shown the money being transferred to a certain account number, but no one clearly pointed out to your Dad that this account number was Doug's credit account.

Your whole family should confront Doug about his shady dealings.  He may have manipulated your Dad legally, but certainly his behavior is unethical and immoral.  Hopefully someone else besides Doug and his lawyer were in the room when your Dad signed the papers to hear the verbal contract of using the money for roof repairs.  How could your sister Lea just sit quietly by and let Doug spend all this money on furnishings, electronics, and a new vehicle.  She had to know Doug wasn't financially solvent enough to do this on his own credit.  I think Doug took your whole family and counted on everyone being meek enough not to call him on it.

Time for everyone to grow some courage and confront Doug.  He needs to pay back all the money he "borrowed" from your Dad.  Lea, as his wife, needs to put pressure on him every day until he admits his lies and starts to pay your Dad back.