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Real Estate & Property Law

The Home Equity Theft Reporter

Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues.
By r morris

Post Frequency: 25.7/day

Last Entry: September 06, 2017 at 04:02:00

'Single Mom' Straw Buyer w/ Few Assets Who Bought Ten Homes That Ended In Foreclosure Cops Quick Plea, Blows Whistle On Alleged Mortgage Fraud Racket

Posted on March 13, 2011
In Tampa, Florida, the St. Petersburg Times reports:Three Tampa Bay men have been indicted in a $1.84 million mortgage fraud involving 10 properties purchased without a penny down. The indictment unsealed Tuesday stems from a 2006 St. Petersburg Times story detailing a mysterious real estate spending spree by a single mother with few assets...

Federal Court Slams Landlord For Allowing Rental Agent To Sexually Harrass Female Tenants; Conduct To Cost Defendants $197K

Posted on March 13, 2011
From the U.S. Department of Justice:A federal court in Detroit has ordered Ypsilanti, Mich., property owner and Washtenaw County Commissioner Ronnie Peterson, and his former manager Glen E. Johnson to pay a total of $82,500 in civil penalties in a sexual harassment case, the Justice Department announced []...

Cincinnati Landlord To Tussle With DOJ In Fair Housing Suit Over Charges Of Sexual Harrasment Of Female Tenants

Posted on March 13, 2011
From the U.S. Department of Justice:The Justice Department [] filed a lawsuit against Cincinnati landlord Henry E. Bailey alleging that Bailey sexually harassed female tenants at residential properties he has owned and managed in the Cincinnati metropolitan area...

City Officials Have Hands Tied In Effort To Stem Tide Of 'Sober' Homes In Pompano Beach Neighborhood, Leaving Local Residents Rankled

Posted on March 13, 2011
In Pompano Beach, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:A new type of housing arrangement known as 'sober homes' are cropping up all over the Pompano Highlands neighborhood, according to members of the Pompano Highlands Civic Improvement Association...

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Manhattan Jury Slams Phony Rental Agent For Clipping $77K+ In Upfront Deposits From Desperate NYC Tenants Seeking 'Section 8' Housing Placement

Posted on March 13, 2011
From the Office of the New York County District Attorney:Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., [] announced the conviction of JOSIE ALMONTE, 33, for perpetrating a large-scale real estate fraud scheme that targeted sixteen victims. On March 9, 2011, a jury in New York State Supreme Court found the defendant guilty of 28 counts of Grand Larceny, Scheme to Defraud, and Criminal

Mississippi Mobile Home Park Owner To Cough Up $50K To Settle Race-Based Discrimination Fair Housing Lawsuit

Posted on March 12, 2011
From the U.S. Department of Justice:The Justice Department [] announced that Mississippi property owner Indigo Investments LLC, has agreed to pay $50,000 in monetary damages and civil penalties to settle the government?s Fair Housing Act lawsuit. The government alleged that Indigo and its former employees, Barbara A...

Use Of "No Blacks" Selling Point To Cost Alabama Landlord, Two Employees $15K+ To Settle DOJ Fair Housing Discrimination Lawsuit

Posted on March 12, 2011
From the U.S. Department of Justice:The Justice Department [] announced a settlement of its lawsuit alleging that Chandi Biswas, Kenneth R. Scott and Frankie L. Roberson violated the Fair Housing Act by making discriminatory statements against African-American renters at Rolling Oaks Apartments in Clanton, Ala...

Tenant, Non-Profit To Split $30K For Settlement Of DOJ Fair Housing Racial Discrimination Suit; Feds Pocket $5K In Penalties

Posted on March 12, 2011
From the U.S. Department of Justice:The Justice Department announced [] that Orland Park, Ill., property owner Terence Flanagan has agreed to pay $35,000 in monetary damages and civil penalties to settle consolidated Fair Housing Act lawsuits against him...

W. Pennsylvania Feds Score Guilty Plea From Teen In Cross-Burning Conspiracy; Conduct Constitutes An Illegal Interference w/ Housing Rights Of Another

Posted on March 12, 2011
From the U.S. Department of Justice:Michael Francis Bealonis, of Robinson, Penn., pleaded guilty [to] a charge related to the burning of a cross in the yard of an African-American juvenile in November 2009, the Justice Department announced []. Bealonis, 19, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with the housing rights of another in federal court in Pittsburgh before Senior U...

Three Guilty Pleas, One Conviction After Louisiana Federal Court Trial In Cross-Burning Conspiracy

Posted on March 12, 2011
From the U.S. Department of Justice:The Justice Department announced that U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter accepted the guilty plea of Jeremy Matthew Moro, 33, for conspiring to burn a cross near the home of an interracial couple in Athens, La., in October 2008...

'Clean & Sober' Group Home Operator Scores $55K From Michigan Municipality In Settlement Of DOJ Fair Housing Lawsuit

Posted on March 12, 2011
From the U.S. Department of Justice:The Justice Department announced [] that Dalton Township, Mich., will pay $62,500 to settle a lawsuit alleging that the township discriminated against a group home for persons recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act...

Non-Profit Sponsor Of 'Clean & Sober' Group Homes Scores $105K In Damages From NC Town In Settlement Of Fair Housing Suit

Posted on March 12, 2011
From the U.S. Department of Justice:The Justice Department announced [] that it has settled its suit against the town of Garner, N.C., and the town?s Board of Adjustment alleging that they violated the Fair Housing Act when refused to allow up to eight men recovering from drug and alcohol addictions to live together as a reasonable accommodation...

Town Passes 45-Day Moratorium On Unlicensed Group Homes; Now Faces Fair Housing Lawsuit Threat By 'Sober Living' Facilities Operator

Posted on March 12, 2011
In San Rafael, California, the San Rafael Patch reports:City council members unanimously approved a 45-day moratorium on all unlicensed group homes despite threats of a legal challenge from an attorney representing two sober living facilities.Since the beginning of February, residents in the Forbes and Gerstle Park neighborhoods have been concerned about possible parking problems and traffic

Feds Indict One, File Six Civil Suits In Various States In Crack Down On Alleged 1st Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Scams

Posted on March 12, 2011
From the U.S. Department Of Justice:The United States has filed six lawsuits in five states to stop tax return preparers from fraudulently claiming the first-time homebuyer tax credit and the earned-income tax credit, the Justice Department announced []...

"The Eleventh Judicial Circuit Does Not Have A Rocket Docket!" Says Judge As She Dismisses Foreclosure Action, Cancels Debt Over Sloppy Paperwork

Posted on March 11, 2011
The Palm Beach Post last week obtained a copy of the 57-page transcript of a February 11, 2011 hearing in which Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Maxine Cohen Lando rips into attorney Marc A. Ben-Ezra, of the Ft. Lauderdale-based foreclosure mill Ben-Ezra & Katz, P...

AARP Sues HUD Over "Middle-Of-The-Game" Changes In Reverse Mortgage Rules

Posted on March 11, 2011
The New York Times reports:Reverse mortgages, which pay older homeowners a regular sum against the equity in their house, are supposed to shield borrowers from economic upheaval. But the popular loans have become tangled up in the real estate collapse...

Foreclosure Mill Shutdown Leaves Mess Behind For Tampa-Area Court System

Posted on March 11, 2011
In Tampa, Florida, the St. Petersburg Times reports:As many as 20,000 foreclosure cases in the Tampa Bay area have been left in limbo by the virtual collapse of the David J. Stern Law Firm, once Florida's most prolific foreclosure "mill.'' The firm's implosion gives many borrowers at least a temporary reprieve from foreclosure and means that thousands of cases could be dismissed unless lenders

Colorado Law Incentivizes Foot Dragging By County Officials When Returning Surplus Sale Proceeds To Foreclosed Homeowners After Public Auctions

Posted on March 11, 2011
In Arapahoe County, Colorado, The Denver Post reports:What [Barry] Gragert didn't know was that a defining traumatic event for him ? the loss of his Aurora home to foreclosure not long after the death of his wife two years ago ? actually had a bittersweet outcome...

Mortgage Servicer Took Loan Modifications Payments, Then Foreclosed On Her Anyway & Now Admits Screw-Up, Says Tucson Homeowner

Posted on March 11, 2011
In Tucson, Arizona, KOLD-TV Channel 13 reports:So many Tucson area homeowners are behind in their mortgage payments, and risking foreclosure, but an Oro Valley woman says her foreclosure was a shock. Up until the day her home was foreclosed on and sold, she thought everything was fine, and says she was even assured it would not happen...

Laid Off Robosigner Blows Whistle On Foreclosure Mill; Describes Boiler Room Operation Allegedly Set Up To Crank Out Docs w/ Falsified Signatures

Posted on March 10, 2011
In Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun reports:Prosecutors have launched an investigation into a complaint that more than 1,000 deeds for homes foreclosed upon in Maryland were improperly executed ? the latest development suggesting widespread problems in the way foreclosures have been handled in the state...

State Lawmaker To Push Legislation Requiring Banks To Record Chain Of Title Before Filing Connecticut Foreclosure Actions

Posted on March 10, 2011
From the Office of Connecticut State Center Anthony Musto:Amidst national reports of shoddy paperwork processing that led to suspended foreclosure proceedings at many major lenders, state Senator Anthony Musto (D-Trumbull) is pushing legislation that would require banks to perfect their legal right to property before they can file a foreclosure action...

Demands Continue For MERS To Cough Up The Cash For Unpaid Recording Fees

Posted on March 10, 2011
In New York City, WNBC-TV Channel 4 reports on some of the calls demanding that Mortgage Electronic Registration System begin coughing up the cash for the millions it may owe for fees it has avoided by failing to record assignments of mortgages when loans are sold between its members:[Southern Essex, Massachusetts Register of Deeds John] O?Brien has officially requested that Massachusetts

Utah Federal Judge Grants TRO, Trial Request Stalling Foreclosure For Pro Se Homeowner

Posted on March 10, 2011
In Salt Lake City, Utah, the Deseret News reports:A Pleasant View man is taking one of the biggest banks in the world to federal court over a failed loan modification that resulted in a foreclosure on his home. And he's doing it without an attorney.?I went to several attorneys and every attorney told me the same thing: ?You are never going to go anywhere...

10th Circuit To Hear Appeals Of Lower Court Dismissals Of Utah Wrongful Foreclosure Cases Brought By Homeowners

Posted on March 10, 2011
In Salt Lake City, Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune reports:The Utah Legislature appears poised to stifle any legislation that might help thousands of Utah homeowners facing foreclosure, punting decisions on those issues back to the courts.But federal courts in Utah, where most foreclosure lawsuits end up, have been downright cold toward homeowners seeking relief from what they claim are illegal

Feds Accuse South Florida Outfit Of Peddling Bogus Loan Modification Services

Posted on March 09, 2011
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced:As part of the Federal Trade Commission?s continuing crackdown on scams that target homeowners behind in their mortgage payments or facing foreclosure, the FTC has charged a national operation with marketing bogus loan modification services...

Cops: Fake R/E Agent Conned Elderly Couple Facing F'closure Into Signing Over Deed, Then Pockets $45K Deposit From Would-Be Buyer In Failed Sale

Posted on March 09, 2011
In Orlando, Florida, WESH-TV Channel 2 reports:One man was arrested Friday and accused of real estate fraud. Authorities with the Orange County Sheriff's Office said they believe there could be more victims. Investigators said Dave Howell, 31, had a real estate office and was taking the clients' money, but he doesn't have a real estate license...

Hidden Cost Of Buying 'Cheap' Foreclosed Home Becomes Selling Point For Builders Peddling Their Inventory

Posted on March 09, 2011
The Associated Press reports:Homebuilders trying to fight off customers' attraction to cheap foreclosures are doing more to show buyers that the good deals can come with pitfalls. [...] Many national builders are using some form of marketing to try to make that point and beat back the quiet competition from lower-priced foreclosures and short sales...

South Florida Foreclosure Mill Throws In Towel; Will Shut Down At End Of Month

Posted on March 08, 2011
In Plantation, Florida, Reuters reports:A prominent Florida lawyer accused of mishandling many foreclosure cases in that state is shutting down his foreclosure law practice at the end of the month, a regulatory filing shows.The decision by the lawyer, David Stern, was announced by DJSP Enterprises Inc, a company he once ran and which calls itself the main customer of the Law Offices of David J.

Defendants In Mortgage Payment Hijacking Scam Face New Charges Of Running Fraudulent Upfront Fee Loan Modification Ripoffs

Posted on March 08, 2011
In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Las Vegas Sun reports:Two men were arrested Friday in connection with an alleged scheme designed to steal mortgage payments from Southern Nevada homeowners, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said.Joseph Yorkus, who was out on bail from a February arrest in connection with a similar scheme, and James Bartczak, who was still in custody, were booked on new

Securitizations Hit Tax Lien Industry

Posted on March 08, 2011
The Center for Public Integrity reports:When Florida retiree Gladys Walker fell behind in paying taxes on her modest Pompano Beach home, she had no idea one of America?s biggest banks and a major Wall Street hedge fund engaged in frenzied bidding for the right to collect her debt?all $768...

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