NEWS 25 - WEHT: Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro-Family Says Evansville Real Estate Investor Left Them Out In the Cold

Family Says Evansville Real Estate Investor Left Them Out In the Cold

story by Courtney Gousman

EVANSVILLE - An Evansville couple wants to put out a warning to those hoping to live out the American Dream. 

They say they were duped by an Evansville real estate investor who was supposed to help them buy a home. They instead, say they got caught in the middle of some shady business.

NEWS 25 talked to the couple who is at risk of getting kicked out of their home and found more families may be in jeopardy. 

"This was going to be our home. It was going to be our dream."

A house on Chandler Ave. was supposed to be a new start for Sherry Smith and her family. In 2007 they were looking to buy, and they say Allan Tidwell was supposed to help them do it.

He was a mortgage broker, who worked out a contract for the couple to buy the home from him.

For three years, Smith tells me the her family made monthly payments to Tidwell.

"I found out the property was actually sold in the tax sale September," says Smith.

Smith says Tidwell hadn't paid the taxes on the home in two years. To make matters worse, Smith found out her home is now tied up in bankruptcy.

Smith learned Tidwell took a mortgage out on the home after agreeing to sell it to her family.

Now the bank is looking to take the home back, leaving the Smith family out in the cold. 

"I feel like Allan Tidwell is a crook. I feel like he's done more than just us wrong," says Smith.

NEWS 25 got Tidwell on the phone to ask him what’s going on. He refused to talk about the situation.

Since Tidwell didn't want to talk, we did some research of our own. He owns AKT Property on Kentucky.

Last year NEWS 25 talked with Tidwell, after losing his mortgage broker's license.     

We learned just last month, he filed bankruptcy on 59 of his properties.

Sixteen of his properties went up for tax sale in September, one of which was Smith's.

"The bank is going to take possession of the house and until then, they just told us to stay here and they would try to work with us," says Smith.

Smith says despite the payments made, her family has no stake in this home, since their names were not put on the title. 

Mortgage and bankruptcy experts tell NEWS 25, the best way to protect yourself during real estate transactions, is to always file your contracts with the county recorder's office, something that was not done in this case.