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Lease-to-own real estate company accused of 'deceptive program'

Posted at 7:18 PM, Nov 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-14 21:19:18-05

A Valley real estate company that claims to offer lease-to-own options for homebuyers, is being sued by the Arizona Attorney General.

Scottsdale based Leaseown Homes and owner Marvin Rousselow are accused of running a "deceptive program," in a civil complaint.

We first heard about the company in May 2016 after a potential buyer named Scott complained that he couldn't get a refund on a home that he thought was a bad deal. 

"It's not worth our money to have to spend more money to fix things," he said at the time.

Scott had signed a contract and paid Leaseown Homes more than $16,000 in fees. 

The company claims to help buyers with credit issues to lease homes with an option to buy after a set amount of time. But there were concerns about Rousselow's involvement.

"He really shouldn't be doing anything around real estate," said Judy Lowe, Arizona Department of Real Estate Commissioner.

She says a 2013 license revocation and a 2014 cease and desist order prohibit Rousselow from doing these deals in the first place.

It was an opinion Rousselow contested when we caught up with him last year.

At the time he said he did not believe he needed a license for the transactions.

The AG complaint calls the Leaseown program "deceptive," and says that the company gave the "false impression that they were authorized to enter into lease-to-own arrangements."

It notes that Rousselow is "not a licensed agent" and accuses the company of refusing to refund thousands of dollars in fees to people whose attempt to buy was rejected by property owners.

Rousselow referred us to his attorney about the latest allegations, however he would not provide that information and we did not find one registered with the state on his behalf.