Great piece!

Tower Lending closed its last two loans in March and Crisp is now using another mortgage company, Cole said. Cole said that although he remained the broker of record at Tower, he hasn't had any direct involvement with the company in recent months.

"David was running that company," Cole said. Cole declined to comment on other changes at the company formerly known as Crisp & Cole.
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First you are the broker of record and you claim no involvement? Isn't that a violation of the State Real Estate License?

after Crisp told him and five others with high salaries that Crisp could no longer pay them.

"He said, 'I can't make payroll for you guys.' So we left,

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What happened to all the fancy suits and cars and watches and Jets? Maybe you can pay them with that crap?

Gretchen ,

Was Tower Lending the mortgage holder on the wife’s property?

Thanks Gretchen.

All three are very recent also, the walls appear to be crumbling in on their "business model".

I would find it in very poor taste for TBC to do a piece on how the Crisp family is doing now. Leave David Crisp's wife and child(ren) out of it.  

Regarding today's article on Crisp and Cole Real Estate and its affiliates, this is nothing more than a local Real Estate leader having to make some tough business decisions. So the Real Estate market has gone cold in our country. So our local market is hitting 7 year lows. We all know Real Estate is cyclical. The sky is not falling, and yes the sun will rise tomorrow -- as will our Real Estate market. We still maintain the fact Kern County is one of the most affordable places to live in California.

I would put more emphasis on the individuals who were lured into sub-prime loans. These lower income families that believed in the American dream. That is the real tragedy here. If you can find Tower Lending has engaged in these types of loans, or false-pretense practices, that would be worth reading. Until then, I see no reason to personally go after David Crisp in these blogs.

My two cents... spend them however you like.

I wonder if he still has his bodyguard?

Although, i would agree with jenmktgoddess, it would be more interesting to do a story on all the people that are going to get the short end of the stick thanks to some of the over zealous real estate people.

I agree with Mattloch.  David Crisp didn't have any qualms about parading his family around when times were "good" --- I personally ran into them last year at a local gas station, with their security guard standing outside of their car with arms crossed, glaring at each & every one of us customers - as IF  we really CARED about them or posed some sort of threat!!   Give me a break!! 

And what happened to his canine unit???  He actually had  a separate car & driver for them --- the license plate read something like "CCRE K9" for Crisp & Cole Real Estate Canine Unit.  It was a nice, new car as I remember.

Oh, how the mighty fall!!!!!

Oh, and don't forget that Tower Lending was the object of a recent investigation into Crisp & Cole because they had employed an unlicensed mortgage broker/salesperson!

While I'm personally confident that David Crisp was at the helm of their partnership and all of their grand business decisions, that doesn't excuse Carl Cole's attempt to distance himself from David at such a late date.  I hope that Carl has saved enough money (as opposed to David who spent every penny he made) to spend on legal fees, which I'm sure are just around the corner.

Here today, gone tomorrow. It's only money. I bet Cole still has $$$$ and David has none.

The Californian recently had an article on a home appraiser who reported violations.  Were these accusations made against Crisp and Cole?  From what I recall the paper or the appraiser didn't list the violators.

That was an article from Gary Crabtree, an extremely reputable appraiser here in town.  And you are correct, he did not "name" the company(ies) to which he referred, but anyone in the industry knew that Crisp & Cole topped the list when it came to violations over the past three years and assumed Mr. Crabtree's article was referring to them.

And, by the way, the 10:52 p.m. anonymous blogger is incorrect --- David Crisp did, in fact, approach the media to run stories about himself and the solvency of his company.  His investors, from Las Vegas, were getting worried because they were hearing the "word on the street" about Crisp & Cole's wrongdoings, so David went to the media to create an image that would reflect on those investors.

Besides all of that though, here's a simple question:  What realtor in Bakersfield needs to have his own K-9 unit with multiple bodyguards to protect his family?????  Give me a break!!!  Something smells incredibly fishy here!!

I never like to relish in another persons defeat but this guy has been throwing it in our faces over the last few years with jet's, bodyguards,  half million dollar Mercedes, and a 14,000sq foot house with a sub terrain basketball court.  We all knew that it was coming possibly except him. I recall a graph of sales that he projected last year at the start of the downturn and literally laughed out loud. I don’t work in the real estate market but it doesn’t take a genius to know that what goes up will come down. In fact all you needed in the last few years in real estate is a hammer to knock the sign into the front lawn. The veterans like a Mary Christensen weren’t driving Ferraris because they know how the market works and they also know how to sell a house in bad times. Crisp hired high school buddies with no experience or expertise in the market frankly because you didn’t need any. Now the tables have turned and he’s stuck with a 2.5 million dollar building that sold in April and re-listing it for 4.5 million (yeah good luck with that buddy).   So start shopping the thrift stores for thousand dollar suits and I’m sure some used car lots will have some amazing deals on a few 7 series BMW’s. But that’s just my opinion….

I remember when David/Jennifer bought a house in 2002.  It was a 1500 sq ft dinger from Centex.  You don't go from there to bodyguards, planes, & mansions in that short of time without using leverage.  I believe the extreme leverage that he, his wife, & family members employed drove them all to do things that they normally wouldn't.  If you talk to any appaiser in town they will tell you of the stories of title transferring from David to Carl (or some other family member/business partner)with Tower as the lender.  The "straw buyer" is another trick that they used.  TBC detailed this in Crabtree's article.  Although they didn't name C&C, it clearly showed to the public one of their blueprint's for success.  True..........Jennifer Crisp has 3 properties in default totalling 2 million.  That's the tip of the iceberg.  If you only knew all the other "straw buyers" that they used.   

As a successful  Realtor for a huge real estate company here in Bakersfield, it just amazed me how fast the Crisp & Cole Company fell to it's feet.  Yes, I did make six digit figures over and over, the last few years, but  I never went out and was lavish as David Crisp or his employees.  I never bought a suit over $150, and still wear the same dress shoes that I bought the first day I began my career as a Realtor.  Our own broker drives a used old Lexus around town.  And I know for a fact the company whom i'm employed at sold double if not triple the homes that Crisp & Cole.  What goes up must eventually come down.  Its just impressive and mouth-dropping to see it go down from the sidelines.