Reporter Falls Victim Of Scam He Investigated [VIDEO]

I've always thought reporters were a little brighter than the rest of us. Maybe it was that they had to research the stories they presented. You don't think that they're likely to fall victim to scams that the rest of us might. But that's exactly what happened to one Las Vegas TV reporter.

To be fair, vetran investigator George Knapp fell victim to a problem so common that one Las Vegas attorney notes that 9-out of-10 foreclosure filings are done incorrectly, leaving the purchaser of a foreclosed home in danger of losing the house when the paperwork finally gets fixed.

Hard economic times in Vegas has lead to thousands of homes being foreclosed, then sold. Indeed, Las Vegas has been called the foreclosure capital of America. More than 10 % of Las Vegas homes received a default notice in 2010. When the foreclosures became official, some unscrupulous mortgage companies wrote fake papers, in hopes of reselling the houses when their then-current owners defaulted. In other cases, incompetence led to incorrect paperwork.

Here's a quick explanation, along with the moment when Knapp revealed on live TV that he was part of his own story:

[huffingtonpost.com]

State attorneys-general across the country are trying to work out a deal with national mortgage companies believed to be part of the fraud. But one state hit hard by the scam, California, has dropped out of those talks, leading to speculation that it may pursue the matter in ccourt.

Lesson learned? In any major purchase, make sure the paperwork is correct, and properly filed.

(HuffingtonPost.com)