United States v. Michael Robert Laykin, United States of America v. Dennis Lee Crain

Michael Laykin and Dennis Crain appeal from their convictions following a jury trial on one count of equity skimming in violation of 12 U.S.C. § 1709-2 (1980), and one count of conspiracy to commit equity skimming. We affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The T.L. Corporation was incorporated on June 28, 1985. Robert Terry was the principal incorporator and the “T” in T.L. Corporation; Laykin was the president, secretary and treasurer of the company and the “L”. In the summer following the incorporation of T.L. Corporation, the company began to seek and acquire single-family homes in the Las Vegas area. Using the Century 21 office owned by Robert Terry and the services of Crain, an independent agent operating from the office, T.L. Corporation purchased over 100 homes. Crain was the principal agent for identifying properties for purchase and Laykin negotiated most of the purchases.

T.L. Corporation utilized essentially the same technique for effecting each purchase. In general, it bought homes with existing mortgages and simply agreed to make the payments. If the seller had any equity in the property, the corporation would give him a note for the amount of the equity, secured by a deed of…