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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

Chicago Homeowner In 3-Unit Condo Depletes Savings After Footing Bill To Carry Entire Building As Others Lose Title To Foreclosure, Deed Forfeiture

Posted on June 13, 2010
In Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reports:It is hard to tell whether Traci Hargrove is moving on or staying put. On one day she tends the garden at her Rogers Park three-flat, preparing to plant impatiens. But the next day she removes the drapes in her den and takes down her ceiling fans, because she fears losing her home...

NYS High Court Chief Continues Pounding The Pavement With Upstate Tour In Ongoing Push To Ensure Adequate Legal Help For Poor In Civil Cases

Posted on June 13, 2010
In Rochester, New York, the Democrat and Chronicle reports:New York's top judge stumped Thursday in Rochester on behalf of an effort to ensure adequate legal representation for the poor in civil proceedings. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman of the state Court of Appeals, who appointed a task force Wednesday to find a reliable way to pay for civil legal services, said the recession has forced hundreds

Federal Judge Gives BofA & Affiliates The Go-Ahead On Foreclosures Throughout Utah; Issues Order Dissolving State Court Directive Halting Sales

Posted on June 12, 2010
In Salt Lake City, Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune reports:A federal judge on Friday dissolved a court order that had stopped one of the country's largest banks from selling foreclosed homes in Utah. U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups, after hearing legal arguments Thursday, has granted a Bank of America request a to cancel the preliminary injunction against its trustee sales in the

Bergen County DA Charges NC Man With $550K Ripoff Of Stepmom, Leaving Her Facing Eviction Notices From Assisted Living Residence

Posted on June 12, 2010
In Bergen County, New Jersey, the Greensboro [NC] News & Record reports:A Greensboro man was arrested [] and charged with stealing about $550,000 from his stepmother in New Jersey. Vito N. Altamura, 59, [] is charged with theft by deception and theft by failing to make required disposition of property received, according to a statement from the Bergen County (N...

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Man Gets 20 Months For Use Of POA In Ripping Off Elderly Mother; State Steps In, Picks Up Nursing Home Bills To Avoid Mom's Eviction

Posted on June 12, 2010
In Denbighshire County, UK, the Daily Mail reports:A man who took out 'power of attorney' over his elderly mum's financial affairs cheated her of �86,000, a court heard []. Stephen Moss' spending spree also jeopardised his ailing mother's placement at a residential nursing home in North Wales...

Move To Cheaper Nursing Home Probable For 82-Year Old Woman After Niece's Hubby Forged POA That Lead To �200,000+ Ripoff

Posted on June 12, 2010
In St Albans, Hertfordshire (UK), The Jewish Chronicle reports:A 59-year-old man who forged a legal document to obtain thousands of pounds of his elderly relative's savings has been jailed for three years. The fraudulent document made by Malcolm Laster, of Edgware, gave him control of more than �200,000 belonging to his wife's aunt, 82-year-old Sadie Joseph...

Beauticians' Tipoff To Cops That Elderly Customer Was Urged To Refi Home Triggers Probe Leading To Scammer's Guilty Plea; Swindle Estimated At $180K+

Posted on June 12, 2010
In Montgomery County, Maryland, The Washington Post reports:The scheme got its start, Montgomery County prosecutors said [], when an 87-year-old woman pulled into a gas station 3 1/2 years ago looking for directions home. A man playing Keno, James Brian Gendimenico, offered to help, and led her and her husband to their nearby house in his own car...

Bill Collector's Recorded Threat To Blow Up Their House Over $300 Cell Phone Bill Forces Couple To Move 500+ Miles Away, Says Verizon Customer

Posted on June 12, 2010
Inside Edition reports:A New Mexico couple has been living in fear ever since receiving a terrifying phone call."I'm going to blow your [expletive deleted] house up," said the caller. The threatening call is allegedly from a debt collector calling about a $300 cell phone bill! "It was scary, very scary," says Al Burrows...

Landlord Charged With Using "911" Call & Making False Report To Cops In Attempt To Give Delinquent Renters The Boot

Posted on June 12, 2010
In North Lauderdale, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:A landlord was arrested after she tried to evict tenants from a North Lauderdale apartment by calling 911 and falsely reporting them as intruders, authorities say. Mable Henry-Morgan, 54, of West Palm Beach was taken into custody Saturday night on one count of misusing the 911 service, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office

Feds, Others Continue Bringing Attention To Increase In Short Sale "Flopping" Scams

Posted on June 11, 2010
Bloomberg News reports:Two Connecticut real estate agents found a way to profit in the U.S. housing bust: Buy low, sell fast. Their tactic was also illegal. Sergio Natera and Anna McElaney are scheduled to be sentenced in Hartford?s federal court in August after pleading guilty to fraud...

Texas Couple Files Suit Saying Insurance Company Stiffed Them On Claim For Flood Damage Caused By "Ike" Storm Surge

Posted on June 11, 2010
In Beaumont, Texas, The Southeast Texas Record reports:When their property in Bridge City was flooded by Hurricane Ike's storm surge on Sept. 13, 2008, Milton and Mary Perio believed the flood insurance they had purchased just a month before would cover their damage claim...

New Report Addresses Lack Of Enforcement Of Federal Law Protecting Tenants Against Illegal Foreclosure Evictions

Posted on June 11, 2010
The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty recently announced:Despite a federal law enacted in 2009(1) to protect renters living in foreclosed properties, many tenants across the country are still being threatened with eviction and are being forced to leave their homes on short notice...

100s Of FBI Mortgage & Foreclosure Scam Arrests To Begin Next Week???

Posted on June 11, 2010
The Financial Times reports:The Federal Bureau of Investigation is preparing a nationwide crackdown on mortgage fraud, the latest in a series of efforts to curb lending practices that contributed to the housing meltdown, according to people familiar with the matter...

Arizona AG Releases Free Video Warning Against Foreclosure Scams

Posted on June 10, 2010
From the Office of the Arizona Attorney General:Stepping up his efforts to prevent home loan rescue scams, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced the release of a free, five-and-half-minute educational video that provides useful information about home foreclosure and tips to avoid becoming a victim of scam artists...

Maryland, DC Bars Boot Attorney For Role In $35M Metropolitan Money Store Sale Leaseback, Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Ripoff

Posted on June 10, 2010
In Baltimore, Maryland, The Daily Record reports:A Camp Springs lawyer who pleaded guilty in a $35 million scheme to defraud homeowners facing foreclosure has been disbarred in Maryland. The Court of Appeals ordered Richard Wayne Allison II to be removed from the register of attorneys [] as a reciprocal sanction, following Allison?s disbarment by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ...

State Bar Boots Lawyer For Role In Combined Straw Buyer/Flipping, Rent Skimming Racket Targeting Novice Investors, Would-Be Buyers In Rent-To-Own Scam

Posted on June 10, 2010
In Providence, Rhode Island, The Providence Journal reports:Attorney Jon A. Mills, of Lincoln, has been disbarred by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. The court released an order [] authorizing the disbarment after Mills agreed to voluntarily give up his law license and cooperate with authorities in the prosecution of a wide-ranging $16-million mortgage-fraud case...

Florida Trial Judges Continue Getting Hammered In Foreclosure Cases As Appeals Court Reverses Another Screw-Up

Posted on June 10, 2010
In another, short and sweet, one paragraph ruling, a Florida appeals court, this time for the 4th appellate district, reversed a ruling, favorable to a foreclosing lender, of a state trial judge. This time, it's Broward County Circuit Court Judge Ronald J...

Appeals Court Tags Another Florida Trial Judge With "Abuse Of Discretion" In Case Involving Two Lenders Simultaneously Foreclosing On Same Mortgage

Posted on June 10, 2010
Another Florida trial court gets tagged for "abuse of discretion." This time it was Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge Mark King Leban being held accountable by Florida's 3rd District Court of Appeal. The case apparently involved a situation where two different mortgage lenders were foreclosing on the same mortgage in two separate actions occurring simultaneously in different divisions of the

"It's Like The Wild West Out There" Says Lawyer As F'closing Banks Skip Eviction Process When Snatching Homes, Grant Salvage Rights To Trash-Out Crews

Posted on June 09, 2010
In Detroit, Michigan, the Detroit Free Press reports:Some Michigan residents have returned home to find their windows broken, houses ransacked and valuables missing. Not from burglars, but overzealous mortgage lenders and their trash-out teams: unlicensed crews hired to clean out and secure property during foreclosures...

Illinois Supremes: Courts Lack Jurisdiction In F'closure Actions Against Dead Homeowners; Banks Must Name Estate's Personal Rep Before Going Forward

Posted on June 09, 2010
The Illinois Supreme Court recently decided the legal question whether a mortgagee must name a personal representative for a deceased mortgagor in a mortgage foreclosure proceeding in Illinois in order for the circuit court to acquire subject matter jurisdiction...

Home Improvement Contractor Gets 8 Months For Pocketing Customer Deposits & Failing To Deliver Promised Services

Posted on June 09, 2010
From the Office of the Santa Clara County, California District Attorney:Peter Be, age 42, was convicted of four felony counts of Diversion of Construction Funds and a misdemeanor of Contracting Without a License. Be was CEO of Beohana Solar Corporation, a company advertising for the sale and installation of solar systems...

Florida Appeals Court Reverses Another Lower Court Screw-Up; Calls Denial Of Lender's Request To Cancel F'closure Sale "A Gross Abuse Of Discretion"

Posted on June 08, 2010
A recent ruling from Florida's 5th District Court of Appeal brings continued attention to a foreclosure case emanating from Volusia County involving rubber-stamped denials of motions to cancel foreclosure sales filed by plaintiff/lenders, allowing foreclosure sales to take place, and then refusing lenders' requests to vacate the sales...

Long Foreclosure Process Makes "Free Rent" Option Appealing To Some Financially Strapped, "Underwater" Homeowners

Posted on June 08, 2010
In Grand Junction, Colorado, KJCT-TV Channel 8 reports:Foreclosure rates in Mesa County continue to be well below the national rate, but people are staying longer than ever in houses they're no longer making payments on. A look at the latest numbers shows people in foreclosed Colorado homes are staying in their houses for an average of 331 days before being forced out...

BofA Wakes Up To Realities Of Offering Sustainable, Good Faith Loan Mods; Acknowledges That "Free Rent" Option Is Huge Incentive For Many Homeowners

Posted on June 08, 2010
CNBC's Reality Check blog reports:[Recently] executives at Bank of America rolled out their new "Principal Reduction Enhancement" program, which is an earned principal forgiveness plan for borrowers behind on their mortgages and whose loans are at least 20 percent underwater in value...

DC High Court Affirms Punitive Damages Award Slamming Sale Leaseback Peddlers For $3.3M In Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Ripoff

Posted on June 07, 2010
In Washington, D.C., notorious foreclosure rescue operators Vincent Abell ($2 million), the sole owner of Modern Management Company ($1.1 million), and Calvin Baltimore ($200K) are back in the news as the District of Columbia Court of Appeals recently affirmed a jury verdict that slammed them with punitive damages of $3...

Judge Halts All BofA Mortgage Foreclosures In Utah; Says Bank Failed To Register To Do Business & Lacks Offices Within State As Required By Law

Posted on June 07, 2010
In St. George, Utah, KCSG-TV reports:A court order issued by Fifth District Court Judge James L. Shumate May 22, 2010 in St. George, Utah has stopped all foreclosure proceedings in the State of Utah by Bank of America Corporation, ; Recontrust Company, N...

Ponzi-Scheming Boyfriend's $300K+ Cash Gift Leads To Florida Woman's Loss Of Home, Despite No Knowledge Of Fraud; Used Loot To Pay Off Mortgage

Posted on June 07, 2010
The following facts have been taken from a recent ruling from the U.S. Court Of Appeals - 5th Circuit:One, Hudgins, engages in Ponzi scheme, screwing investors out of a ton of loot.Hudgins gives Florida woman (presumably his girlfriend, mistress, etc...

Florida Supremes Issue Rule Clarification Targeting Mess Created By Foreclosure Mills' Sloppy Paperwork

Posted on June 07, 2010
In Central Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:The Florida Supreme Court has reaffirmed its fight against the sloppy legal work being used to retake homes in thousands of foreclosure cases across the state.A review of Manatee and Sarasota county cases showed attorneys for banks and lenders had widely ignored a new high court rule that requires them to verify -- under penalty of perjury -

NC Appeals Court: Lender's Failure To Provide Sufficient Evidence That It Was "Holder" Of Promissory Note Precludes Foreclosure

Posted on June 07, 2010
Another trial court screw-up in a foreclosure action was recently reversed - this time by the North Carolina Court of Appeals, which ruled that a lender seeking to foreclose on a mortgage had failed to properly provide sufficient competent evidence that it was the holder of the promissory note secured by the mortgage...

Feds Slam Loan Servicers For $108M For Squeezing Delinquent Borrowers With Illegally Inflated Fees, Providing False Info In Consumer Bankruptcy Cases

Posted on June 07, 2010
The Federal Trade Commission announced:Two Countrywide mortgage servicing companies will pay $108 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they collected excessive fees from cash-strapped borrowers who were struggling to keep their homes...

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