Authorities said the pair would have foreclosed homes they didn't own re-keyed so they could sell them to victims.
CAMDEN -- Authorities are seeking additional victims of an alleged real estate scheme in which a mother and son pretended to be real estate agents in order to rent or sell foreclosed properties throughout South Jersey.
The Camden County Prosecutors Office said 51-year-old Lisa Smith, of Philadelphia, and her 28-year-old son Kristian "Frank" Edmonds, of Sicklerville, are facing theft and burglary charges in connection to more than 20 cases in which victims were defrauded after trying to obtain lodgings or buy homes in Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties.
Smith and Edmonds are accused of using keys from real estate lockboxes or having new keys made so they could access foreclosed properties, which they had no legal rights to, in order to make money off unsuspecting buyers or prospective tenants.
To hide their scheme, authorities said Smith and Edmonds would have utilities turned back on illegally or remove winterization stickers on the homes. In one case, authorities said, new residents moved into one residence only to discover all of the home's plumbing was removed.
In April 2015, Smith also allegedly posed as a real estate agent and presented a fake purchase agreement in order to secure one $27,500 check and one $18,000 check from a victim in exchange for two separate foreclosed properties in Sicklerville and Camden. The victim in that case never gained access to the home or received repayment.
Later that year, authorities said Smith accepted $3,000 from a victim who wanted to rent a foreclosed property in Sicklerville's Avandle West Development, despite the fact Smith, who also goes by the name Lisa Edmonds, was unauthorized to rent it.
The burglary charges stem from Smith -- whose real estate licenses and eligibility for a broker's license were revoked for the rest of her life in March 2010 -- and Edmond separately accessing properties in Woodlynne and Winslow Township, respectively, without permission.
The pair operated under a number of names including Sterling Realty Investments, which is based in Philadelphia and had its business license revoked in 2009 for not filing reports, and Washington Township-based Real Estate Queens Realtors, which has no record of any state business filings.
Two other businesses the two were affiliated with, Angel Home Savers LLC and Breeze Capital Consulting Group LLC, are located in Collingswood.
Authorities are asking anyone who might have been victimized by Smith and Edmond or their companies to contact Camden County Prosecutor's Office Detective Grace Clodfelter at 856-225-8479 or email ccpotips@ccprosecutor.org.
Michelle Caffrey may be reached at mcaffrey@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShellyCaffrey. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.