It's a Wonderful Life

From the Tampa Tribune via TBO.com we have A Dozen Houses, A Dozen Headaches.

On their wedding day, Lee and Rebecca Womack turned off their cell phones so they wouldn't hear the creditors calling.

Months before, the Tennessee couple who had never owned a home purchased 12 dilapidated rental properties in central Tampa, sight unseen. They paid $1.5 million. With $14,600 a month in mortgage payments and only three tenants, they were running out of money.

The couple postponed their honeymoon, moved to Tampa and have spent the first five months of their marriage trying to keep from going bankrupt.

Blinded by what they saw as an opportunity to make a lot of money, the pair ignored signs of trouble and entered into one risky deal after another - with the guidance of a felon.

"We see now that we made big mistakes," Rebecca Womack, 27, said, standing in one of the vacant rental homes. It has been burglarized three times and the mortgage is two months late. "Now our financial lives are ruined."

The couple blame Lee Womack's older brother, 33-year-old Billy Womack, owner of Tampa-based Womack Property & Asset Management. He pitched the investment proposal to them in February and encouraged them to buy 12 homes in 43 days. The plan was to fix them up, rent them and sell later.

They say they didn't know that Billy Womack talked sellers into accepting a lower price and bumping up the recorded sales price by an average of $30,000. The difference went to his company, documents show. He distributed some of it to the Womacks to help with improvements and mortgage payments.

The main players in the transactions are pointing fingers at Billy Womack. He blames the couple for not understanding the deal and other professionals for not warning him.

It all started with family and the dream of making money.

The couple say they were skeptical of the brother's proposal but were encouraged by family members to help him. Billy Womack had recently served eight months in jail for operating an Ecstasy lab in his Lakeland home. He pleaded guilty to five counts of possession of Ecstasy with the intent to distribute. He had just started his real estate company and was trying to turn his life around.

The couple agreed to be his first investors.

Billy Womack has no real estate license. His company puts property transactions together and helps clients manage investment homes.

"We just want out," Rebecca Womack said. "I don't care about making money anymore. If we could get out of this, we could start over. But I don't think that's going to happen

This is such an amazing tale. Family, felony and fraud, deceipt, deception, dope and "dopes", honeymoon, hearth and happiness. All in a warm and cozy little package!

Just the right antidote to the seasonal stomach-churning, haul-me-before-the-porcelain-goddess-already It's a Wonderful Life.