Attorney General Tom Horne Obtains Indictment Against Maricopa Real Estate Owner

Phoenix, AZ – March 31, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — After an audit by the Arizona Department of Real Estate (ADRE) of Maricopa Properties, LLC revealed a shortage in the company’s statutorily mandated trust account, Attorney General Tom Horne obtained an indictment against owner Dawn Anderson. Maricopa Properties is a property management company based in the City of Maricopa, Arizona. Anderson has been charged with theft, forgery, and fraud schemes and practices.

As a real estate broker engaged in the business of property management, Anderson is licensed and regulated by the ADRE. She is required by law to maintain and be responsible for a trust account containing funds belonging to the owners of the rental properties managed by her. The property owners are the legal beneficiaries of this trust account. In the most recent Broker Audit Declaration filed by Anderson with the ADRE, she indicated that the trust account was in balance, meaning that all owner money that should be in the account was in fact in the account. However the audit determined that more than $270,000 of owner funds entrusted to her was missing as of January 31, 2013.

All charges are allegations and the Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.