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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

Orange County DA Slams Suspect With Multiple Felony Charges In Alleged Vacant Home-Hijacking, Title-Swiping, Rent-Pocketing Racket

Posted on June 06, 2010
In Orange County, California, the San Clemente Times reports:According to a June 4, 2010 Orange County District Attorney?s press release, Blair Christopher Hanloh, 46, of Long Beach was charged with grand theft for stealing more than $3.5 million in a fraudulent real estate scheme, renting out houses in Dana Point, San Clemente and Anaheim...

Loan Modification Scam Awareness Events Featured During Nat'l "NeighborWorks Week"

Posted on June 06, 2010
In Dover, New Jersey, the Daily Record reports:The Housing Partnership will fight loan modification scams in Dover by distributing Loan Scam Alert literature to 2,000 households in Dover. The event is one of more than 150 loan modification scam awareness events held during national NeighborWorks Week, June 5 to 12...

Failure To Note Lien On Title Certificate On Mobile Home & Land Refinancing Transaction Sinks Lender In Homeowners' Bankruptcy Proceeding

Posted on June 06, 2010
The following facts have been taken from a recent ruling by a U.S Bankruptcy Court in London, Kentucky:Debtors borrowed $67,500.00 from a mortgage lender, pledging their real estate and a 1998 Southern 28' x 52' double-wide mobile home. This transaction was to refinance the Debtors' mobile home and land...

Attorney Who Put Client Facing F'closure Into Bankruptcy w/out His Knowledge Temporarily Banned From Filing New Cases, Ordered To Pay New Counsel $10K

Posted on June 06, 2010
In White Plains, New York, The Journal News reports:A White Plains lawyer who was accused of putting a client in bankruptcy court without authorization has agreed to a ban from filing new bankruptcy cases. Christopher Cabanillas also agreed to have attorneys at his firm receive training on bankruptcy court filing procedures...

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Ex-Lawyer Gets 18 Months For Ripping Off Client Facing Foreclosure Seeking Bankruptcy Help

Posted on June 06, 2010
In Billings, Montana, the Billings Gazette reports:A former lawyer who admitted stealing money from his bankruptcy clients will be going to federal prison for a year and a half. Marvin Earl ?Toby?? Alback, 62, of Billings, offered little explanation during his sentencing hearing [] for why he stole about $17,000 from two clients for his personal use...

New Florida Law Allows HOAs To Grab Tenants' Rent From Maintenance Fee-Delinquent, Landlord-Owned Units Without Need To Go To Court

Posted on June 05, 2010
In Tallahassee, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law a measure Tuesday that will allow Florida's beleaguered condominium associations to go after up to twice the amount of delinquent dues owed them. Condo associations had previously been limited to six months' worth in most cases...

Residents In 76-Unit, Foreclosure-Plagued Condo Complex Temporarily Dodge The Boot Over Unpaid Water Bill; Get 30 Days To Cough Up $4,500

Posted on June 05, 2010
In Margate, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:Dozens of residents at the Atlantic Palms condominium complex are getting a reprieve ? even though it may be for just one month ? from being evicted over an unpaid city utility bill. With a 3-2 vote, Margate city commissioners Wednesday night agreed not to turn off the complex's water service for 30 more days, expecting residents to

Condo Resident Pays Price For Neighbor's F'closure Walkaway; Leak In Empty Unit Spurs Mold Problem; Told To Take A Hike After Calling Owner, Bank, HOA

Posted on June 05, 2010
In Fort Myers, Florida, WINK News reports:A new foreclosure crisis: damage left behind putting other homes at risk of foreclosure, too. Jan Swanson thought she'd live in her home the rest of her life. But a few weeks ago, she discovered something unsettling: a bad smell...

"Chocolate Factory" Apartment A Mold-Plagued, Toxic Rat Hole, Says Couple In $1M Suit; Persistent Breathing Problems, Toddler's Rashes Among Claims

Posted on June 05, 2010
In Brooklyn, New York, the New York Post reports:This was no sweet deal. A couple paying nearly $3,000 a month to live in the posh Chocolate Factory development overlooking the Brooklyn Navy Yard says their so-called luxury apartment is plagued with toxic mold and vermin -- and building management refuses to do anything about it...

City Gives Dozens Of Families Immediate Boot From Deteriorating Rental Complex In Foreclosure, Then Condems Premises For Dilapidated Conditions

Posted on June 05, 2010
In Tucson, Arizona, KVOA-TV reports:Dozens of Tucson families are forced to find a new place to live after an entire apartment complex is suddenly shut down. It's the Vista Sierra Apartments on Ft. Lowell, and it's not only shut down, but the city quickly condemned it...

Failed Attempt At Evading Local Rent Control Law By Booting Tenants Paying Below-Market Rates Leaves Bay-Area Landlord's Empire On Thin Ice

Posted on June 05, 2010
In San Francisco, California, the San Francisco Bay Guardian reports:Nearly four years after City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed suit against Frank and Walter Lembi and their dizzying array of companies affiliated with CitiApartments for "an outrageous pattern of corporate lawlessness," the powerful and notorious San Francisco landlords have watched their empire crumble...

Jury Hammers Real Estate Broker In Scam Using Unwitting Straw Buyers, Stolen Identities To Fleece Lenders Of $17.5M+

Posted on June 05, 2010
From the Office of the Orange County, California District Attorney:[R]eal estate broker [Kathy Chen, 49, of Westminster,] was convicted [] of conspiring with her boyfriend and his brother to commit $17.5 million in real estate fraud by purchasing 35 properties using stolen identities and intentionally defaulting on loans in order to steal the loan money...

Two Attorneys Placed On Inactive Status As Cal. State Bar Alleges Lawyer-Renting Racket, Upfront Fee Loan Modification Ripoffs In Seperate Actions

Posted on June 04, 2010
In San Francisco, California, Metropolitan News Enterprise reports:The State Bar Court has ordered attorneys Eric D. Johnson of Los Angeles and Mark A. Shoemaker of Long Beach placed on involuntary inactive enrollment over accusations of loan modification misconduct, the State Bar said yesterday...

Arizona AG Files Suit Against Firm For Allegedly Deceptive Loan Modification Services; Says Victims May Number In The Thousands

Posted on June 04, 2010
From the Office of the Arizona Attorney General:Attorney General Terry Goddard has filed a lawsuit against Discount Mortgage Relief and Mortgage Relief, LLC, (DMR/MR), based in Scottsdale, and its owners for engaging in allegedly deceptive loan modification services...

NY Man Gets 7 Yrs For Swiping $6M In Escrow Cash Due To Existing Lien Holders In R/E Deals; Ran F'closure Bailout Racket Targeting Strapped Homeowners

Posted on June 04, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (New York City):PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced [] that IRSHAD RAMZAN, a/k/a "Tony," a former mortgage broker who supervised the operations of Queens-based Platinum Funding, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his roles in a scheme to steal over $6 million in the proceeds of home mortgage loans

Feds Tack On Five Individuals, Firms To List Of Targets In Ongoing Civil Suit Against Alleged Foreclosure Rescue Racket Peddling Forensic Audits

Posted on June 04, 2010
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced:The Federal Trade Commission has named several new defendants and added new charges concerning so-called ?forensic audits? to its lawsuit against an operation that allegedly bilked homeowners who were trying to lower their mortgage payments...

State's Attorney Targets Foreclosure Rescue Rackets With Dedicated Unit In Prince George's County

Posted on June 04, 2010
In Upper Marlboro, Maryland, WUSA-TV Channel 9 reports:Foreclosures are robbing people of their American dream. Mortgage fraud is such a big player in these losses that Maryland created a criminal unit, housed in Prince George's County, just to track down these housing predators...

Foreclosure Scam Prevention Day Coming Up In Chattanooga

Posted on June 04, 2010
In Chattanooga, Tennessee, WDEF-TV Channel 12 reports:Each day, an average of six Chattanooga homeowners face foreclosure. As the number of homeowners who need help keeping their homes increases, so does the number of foreclosure prevention scams. To arm area homeowners with information to prevent them from becoming victims of foreclosure scams, Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE) will kick

Operator Of Loan Modification Racket Cops Plea; Admits To Clipping 300+ Homeowners Seeking Foreclosure Help Out Of Over $900K, Say San Diego Feds

Posted on June 03, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (San Diego, California):Glenn Steven Rosofsky pleaded guilty [] to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, one count of money laundering, and one count of filing a false tax return, announced Karen P...

TX Nat'l Guard To Help Officer, Wife In Effort To Reclaim Title To F'closed Free & Clear $300K Home Sold Over $800 HOA Debt While Away On Active Duty

Posted on June 03, 2010
In Frisco, Texas, WFAA-TV published a follow-up story on its report on servicemember Capt. Michael Clauer and his wife, May, who recently lost their free and clear home in a foreclosure sale over unpaid fees of $800 owed to their homeowners' association while he was away on active duty in Iraq...

Resistance Against Sloppy Lenders, Foreclosure Mills Mounts As More Homeowners Retain Legal Help To Challenge Legal Actions & Live "Rent Free"

Posted on June 03, 2010
Buried in a recent story in The New York Times is this excerpt on the effort of one Central Florida attorney in connection with providing foreclosure defense representation to homeowners facing the loss of their homes:[Attorney Mark P. Stopa] sends out letters ? 1,700 in a recent week ? to Floridians who have had a foreclosure suit filed against them by a lender...

Mess Caused By Sloppy Lenders, Foreclosure Mills Deepens In Florida As Ambiguity In Recent State High Court Ruling Adds Confusion To Legal Process

Posted on June 02, 2010
In Central Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:An attempt to fix the sloppy legal work plaguing thousands of foreclosure cases in Florida has been ineffective, and has now caused a legal mess of its own. The Florida Supreme Court got tough on attorneys for banks and lenders in February, responding to stories of homeowners losing their property based on shoddy or incomplete paperwork...

Use Of "Homemade Mortgage Modifications" Reduces Some Borrowers' House Payments To $0; "Free Rent" Approach To Loan Obligations May Be On Upswing

Posted on June 02, 2010
In St. Petersburg, Florida, The New York Times reports:A growing number of the people whose homes are in foreclosure are refusing to slink away in shame. They are fashioning a sort of homemade mortgage modification, one that brings their payments all the way down to zero...

Improper Mortgage Assignment By Now-Defunct Originating Lender Could Lead To Free Home For Delinquent Borrower, Says Foreclosure Defense Attorney

Posted on June 02, 2010
In Fayetteville, Arkansas, The City Wire reports:The Legal Aid [of Arkansas] folks held [a] seminar in April in hopes of training attorneys interested in joining the effort to defend against foreclosures. First and foremost, seminar attendees learned that the worst mistake someone facing foreclosure can make is to take no action...

Michigan Man Faces Larceny Charges In Alleged Ripoff Disguised As Loan Modification Help

Posted on June 01, 2010
In Washtenaw County, Michigan, AnnArbor.com reports:He offered to help struggling homeowners save their Saline homes from foreclosure, but authorities say all Bryan Crevier delivered were empty promises and widespread fraud. Crevier, 48, is charged with multiple counts of larceny for allegedly swindling nearly $10,000 from three Saline women within a few months in 2008...

Treasure Coast Duo Face Add'l Charges In Alleged Home Hijacking Racket; Took Control Of Vacant Homes In Foreclosure, Rented Them To Unwitting Tenants

Posted on June 01, 2010
In Port St. Lucie, Florida, TC Palm reports:Two men arrested earlier this year after investigators linked them to a scheme in which a home was rented to a family without the homeowners? knowledge now each face more than a dozen additional charges, according to recently released records and a detective...

Philly Court Provides Online Forms For Victimized Homeowners Seeking To Undo Effect Of Forged Documents In Home Title Ripoffs

Posted on June 01, 2010
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the use of forged documents to rip off people's houses is apparently serious enough that the local court system has made available online a "fraudulent conveyance, quiet title" packet, a 22-page set of forms and instructions enabling area homeowners to initiate quiet title lawsuits without an attorney to properly restore the title to their homes in their names...

Ocwen Throws In The Towel; Gives Back Title To Home To Owner After Foreclosing Despite Debt Being Fully Paid Off

Posted on May 31, 2010
In Greenfield, Indiana, WRTV-TV Channel 3 reports:A woman who said she had no idea that her house had been put up for foreclosure even though the mortgage was paid off is relieved that a loan servicing company has backed off after years of struggle.***The Army veteran said she didn't know that Florida-based Ocwen Financial Corporation had sought foreclosure...

BofA Continues Out-Of-Control Seizing Of "Mortgage-Less" Homes; Refuses To Correct Screw-Up Until Media Intervenes

Posted on May 31, 2010
In Tuolumne, California, KCRA-TV Channel 3 reports:Nancy Willmes paid cash for her Tuolumne home in 2001. So she was quite surprised when Bank of America send her a notice of default on the property in February. "I honestly felt like Bank of America was trying to steal my property," Willmes said...

Lenders To Find Themselves In Crosshairs Over Premature, Illegal Evictions Of Foreclosed Homeowners

Posted on May 31, 2010
In Chicago, Illinois, Chicago Public Radio reports:[Sam] Frazier's house had been sold at a foreclosure auction just the day before he was locked out of it. But in Illinois, that sale doesn't automatically transfer ownership of a house. A judge still has to issue an order that confirms the sale was done properly, and also to say how much longer the homeowner may continue to live there -- usually

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