The El Paso County Attorney’s Office has turned up the heat on a mother-daughter pair who have been living rent-free in a home by filing an amended complaint against them in district court.
But Jeanette Dobbs and her daughter, Jessie, who seem well versed in the law and their legal rights, still aren’t budging from the house, which is located at 2924 Drakestone Drive in north-central Colorado Springs.
In a hand-written response filed March 9, the duo said they did not “set out to defraud ” the El Paso County Public Trustee when they wrote a $164,000 check on Nov. 20, 2007, to redeem their property.
Instead, Jeanette and Jessie Dobbs blamed the bank — E-Trade — for closing their account without authorization and they asked to be given an opportunity to pay what is owed on their property.
On Nov. 20, 2007, Jessie Dobbs wrote a $164,000 check to the public trustee’s office to redeem the house they had lost through foreclosure.
Even though the check was written on a personal account and the 75-day period for redemption had elapsed, then-public trustee Patricia Thompson accepted the check. The receipt was backdated by one day, as well as the certificate of redemption.
The daughter, Jessie, was subsequently charged by the District Attorney’s Office with fraud by check and attempting to influence a public servant, as well as fraud in an unrelated cause. As part of a plea bargain, she agreed to pay about $192,000 in restitution.
Any restitution paid in connection with the house would go back into the county general fund. But the county — and its taxpayers — have yet to see a dime.
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