Also from the Sacramento Area:
Eight of the last nine valley pot houses raided by federal authorities are owned by a single group of real estate agents and family members.
An analysis of property records by News10 following drug raids on January 12 and February 7 reveals the link.
Real estate broker Norberto Gaerlan and sales agents Gina Gaerlan Monterola and Yile Xu of American Homes in Union City along with other Gaerlan and Monterola family members own or have owned eight pot houses in Lathrop, Tracy and Modesto.
and what could have tipped one of the property owners off?
Xu told investigators the property manager paid all the owners with cash delivered in individual plastic bags.
Ha Ha.
Maybe they thought: Hmm… I wonder why they always pay me in cash in these used plastic bags with fine grass clippings… Maybe they’re all doing yard work for a living, and that’s why their income is 100K per year. Well, I guess everybody’s rich in California.
Gives new meaning to the occupation field on the renter’s form when they state “grass cutting”.
If there is any question as to the depth and breadth of real estate speculation in California by real estate agents themselves… you might want to reconsider that notion.
The day after they made these busts, I heard from a realtor friend that they had all been sold by the same group. Apparently, this was common knowledge for the realtors.
(She’s a nice lady and I am just glad that hers is a second income. Talk about entering a job market at the wrong time…)