State regulators said they are trying to gather information about recent business transactions by a former Anchorage real estate agent and they want to talk to anyone who might have been involved in them.

The focus of their query is David Dowd, formerly of Northern Trust Real Estate and later Realty Executives, who surrendered his real estate license in 2007 while under investigation by the state for alleged fraud and misrepresentations in local real estate deals. At the time, Dowd wasn't charged with fraud but an administrative law judge opined that he had deceived some of his clients and the judge awarded money to compensate them.

Dowd said last week that he surrendered his license because he was "tired of fighting" the allegations, which he believes were groundless, and because his real estate deals were falling apart. Dowd now works for a real estate investment club called Investors Realty Exchange, which says in its literature that it helps link investors with local real estate through networking and education but says it doesn't negotiate property purchases. State regulators said they want to know if Dowd is contacting people to get them to invest in real estate, which might require him to have a state-issued broker-dealer license.

Dowd said that he doesn't see any purpose for an investigation. "They are just grasping at straws," he said.

In recent years, the state's seven-member Real Estate Commission has paid out $31,000 from its surety fund on claims related to a few of Dowd's past real estate transactions, according to the state Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. The surety fund is a pot of money replenished with real estate agents' licensing fees to the state. The money is used to compensate people who have been defrauded by licensed agents. The maximum payout is $15,000.

In July 2008, a state administrative law judge filed an order stating that a signature on a real estate document from Dowd's office terminating an agreement to purchase a 50-unit Midtown apartment building appeared to have been forged. The judge also said Dowd deceived a client about the purchase and orchestrated a related, $400,000 loan from the client to Dowd's brother-in-law, who defaulted without making a payment, according to court records. The client lost most of his net worth in the failed deal, the judge said.

The state Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing wants anyone who has invested with the Investors Realty Exchange or Dowd to contact its staff at 269-8124 or send an e-mail to Margo.Mandel@alaska.gov.

Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.

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