The Home Equity Theft Reporter: Real Estate & Property Law

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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

Couple Says They Followed All Bank Instructions Given At Lender-Sponsored, Traveling Loan Modification "Carnival Show" & Are Still Facing Foreclosure

Posted on May 25, 2010
In Phoenix, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:A Valley couple is about to lose their home to foreclosure and they claim their bank scammed them. Keven and Linda Harper, of Phoenix, said they were strung along by Wells Fargo Bank and promised a loan modification that never happened...

"Cheat Sheet" Lays Out The "Who's & What For's" Regarding Ongoing Probes Into Banks & Their Business Activities

Posted on May 25, 2010
ProPublica reports:Here?s our attempt to lay out exactly what?s known about which banks are being investigated by whom and for what.(1) We?re going to keep updating this page, so please send us stories or details we?ve missed.For more, see Bank Investigations Cheat Sheet...

Bank Conduct, Witness Credibility The Focus Of Contempt Ruling Sanctioning Wells For Giving Ch.13 Couple The Jerk-Around After Finishing Payback Plan

Posted on May 24, 2010
In Houston, Texas, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jeff Bohm recently found Wells Fargo in civil contempt for its seemingly egregious conduct in failing to correct errors in its bookkeeping records with regard to the payment history on a home mortgage loan of a homeowner-couple...

Court: "Promissory Estoppel" Could Make Lender?s Verbal Agreement To Halt F'closure Sale Enforceable, Even Absent Consideration For Promise To Stall

Posted on May 24, 2010
Lexology reports:The latest case following the mortgage meltdown underscores the need for lenders to be deliberate and clear in both their external and internal communications. In Garcia v. World Savings, FSB, 183 Cal. App. 4th 1031 (2010), the appellate court determined that the lender?s verbal agreement with the borrower to postpone a foreclosure sale could be enforceable, even absent

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Legalized, Court-Sanctioned Scam Allows For Vulnerable "Senior-Snatching" In Kidnapping, Ripoff Racket Of The Elderly In Arizona???

Posted on May 24, 2010
In Phoenix, Arizona, KNXV-TV Channel 15 reports:Many people move to Arizona for the weather and recreation because it's considered a haven for retirees who want to live out their golden years. But something else is happening here - something haunting...

100+ Victims Of Sale Leaseback Foreclosure Rescue Operators Get Stiffed; Scammers Left Such A Convoluted Mess That Judge Unable To Order Restitution

Posted on May 24, 2010
In Southern California, The Orange County Register reports:The perpetrators of a mortgage fraud scheme involving an ex-Huntington Harbour resident left such a convoluted mess behind that a federal judge was unable to order restitution for the victims, who prosecutors say number more than 100...

Pair Dodges Jail, Get Probation For Participation In San Diego-Area Foreclosure Rescue Scam That Conned 22 Homeowners To Sign Over 34 Home Titles

Posted on May 24, 2010
In San Diego, California, The San Diego Union Tribune reports:A husband and wife who took part in a foreclosure-rescue scam in San Diego were placed on probation for three years [] and ordered to surrender their real estate licenses. Benjamin and Gloria Hebron pleaded guilty last month to felony charges including rent skimming and deceitful practices by a foreclosure consultant...

F'closure Rescue Hit Parade Continues As Sacramento Feds Slam Four; Charges Describe Sale Leaseback Peddling, Equity Stripping, Rent Skimming Racket

Posted on May 23, 2010
In Sacramento, California, The Redding Record Searchlight reports:Three Redding residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury on mail fraud, money laundering and other charges, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney?s Office announced Friday. Darrin Arthur Johnston, 45, Todd Allen Smith, 47, and Cheryl Ann Hitomi Peterson, 47, were indicted in what prosecutors described as a ?foreclosure

Judge Hammers Mastermind In San Diego-Area Foreclosure Rescue Racket That Ran Land Grant & Sale Leaseback Scams On 400-500 Victims w/ 46 Years In Pen

Posted on May 23, 2010
In San Diego, California, The San Diego Union Tribune reports:A man prosecutors described as the ring leader of a real estate fraud scheme that defrauded hundreds of San Diego County residents out of more than $2 million was sentenced Friday to 46 years in prison...

33 Months For Midwest Man In Scam Targeting Homeowners In Foreclosure; Filed Phony Liens To Pilfer Proceeds From Fraudulently Financed Sales, Say Feds

Posted on May 23, 2010
In St. Louis, Missouri, the St. Louis Business Journal reports:[S]t. Louis real estate broker [Randall Penberthy Jr.] was sentenced to 33 months in prison Wednesday for a $500,000 bank fraud scam, the U.S. attorney?s office said.***Between late 2006 and October 2007, Penberthy recruited investors to buy residential real estate directly from distressed property sellers whose homes were in danger

California AG Charges Nine In Alleged Loan Modification Racket That Ripped Off At Least $2.3M From 1500+ Homeowners

Posted on May 23, 2010
From the Office of the California Attorney General:Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. [] announced that nine men engaged in a Southern California boiler room, tricked out in high-roller style with a roulette wheel and other casino equipment, have been charged with 97 criminal counts for stealing at least $2...

Sacramento Man Used Unwitting Attorney's Name On Website To Run Foreclosure Rescue Racket, Say Cops

Posted on May 23, 2010
In Marin County, California, the Contra Costa Times reports:A Sacramento man was arrested [] on suspicion of using a Mill Valley lawyer's name to scam homeowners facing foreclosure, authorities said. Nicolas Moscouplos was taken into custody after a search warrant was served at his Sacramento office, said Supervising Inspector Carl Chapman of the Marin County District Attorney's Office...

Nevada Regulator Belts Two Unlicensed Loan Modification Outfits With $40K In Fines, Plus Legal Fees, Probe Costs

Posted on May 23, 2010
Buried at the end of a recent story in the Las Vegas Review Journal on recent administrative enforcement actions taken by the State of Nevada Mortgage Lending Division is the following excerpt on two loan modification outfits hit with cease and desisit orders:Issued a cease-and-desist order to Las Vegas-based Homekeepers RSVP, formerly doing business as Homekeepers LLC, for performing unlicensed

Condo Converter Accused Of Unloading Sub-Par Structure On Unwitting Apartment Buyers As Rampant Unit Foreclosures Now Threaten To Sink 96-Unit Complex

Posted on May 22, 2010
In Largo, Florida, The St. Petersburg Times reports:To most people, Brittany's Place in Largo looked no different than the hundreds of other blandly attractive apartment complexes built in Florida in the 1970s and '80s.To four Miami men, it looked like gold...

City Council To Enforce Ban On "Mother-In-Law" Vacation Rentals, Cutting Source Of Income For Some Homeowners During Area's Busiest Time Of Year

Posted on May 22, 2010
In Port Townsend, Washington, the Olympic Peninsula Daily News reports:The City Council directed its staff to enforce a ban on the use of so-called mother-in-law units as short-term vacation rentals, even though it will cause many of these operations to cancel reservations during the busiest time of the year...

Landlord Allegedly Facing Foreclosure Fatally Shoots Tenant For Non-Payment Of Rent, Cops Suspect

Posted on May 22, 2010
In North Miami Beach, Florida, WFOR-TV Channel 4 reports:A North Miami Beach man was shot to death Monday afternoon when he didn't pay his rent, police say. The alleged murderer is the man's landlord, Julian Gonzalez. The victim is 25-year-old Vladimir Santos...

Report: Over 200,000 California Tenants Affected By Foreclosure In 2009

Posted on May 22, 2010
In San Francisco, California, Beyond Chron reports:Tenants Together, California's statewide organization for renters' rights, released its new 2010 Report: California Tenants in the Foreclosure Crisis []. The report, a follow-up to Tenants Together's 2009 tenant foreclosure report, highlights recent foreclosure-related developments affecting tenants, quantifies the impact of home foreclosures on

Woman Gets 4 Years For Forging Checks That Left Unwitting Elderly Landlord Facing Foreclosure

Posted on May 22, 2010
In Vista, California, KGTV-TV Channel 10 reports:A woman who wrote checks to herself from her landlord's account, temporarily forcing the victim's two homes into foreclosure, was sentenced Monday to four years in state prison. Jacqueline Mastrodimos, 39, pleaded guilty last October to four counts of passing forged checks...

Bronx DA Charges Pair With Pocketing $30K In Rent From Building In City Program Enabling Tenants To Buy Their Units In Co-Op Conversion

Posted on May 22, 2010
In The Bronx, New York, The Village Voice reports:Two tenant leaders of a city-owned Bronx building were charged by the Bronx DA [] with stealing thousands of dollars from the building's bank account. Arlether Middleton and Twana Rose served as the president and secretary of a tenants' association in a building that was part of a city program that enables low-income tenants to buy their

Tenants Deal With Uncertainty In Chicago Apartment Buildings Facing Foreclosure; Residents In 20,000+ Rental Units Affected In 2009: Report

Posted on May 22, 2010
In Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reports:More than 125 apartment buildings in Chicago on average went into foreclosure each week of 2009, affecting tenants living in almost 21,000 rental units, according to a new report. The study, by the nonprofit Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing, found that lenders began foreclosure proceedings against owners of 6,560 multiunit rental buildings

Lenders Now Liable For Refunding Chicago Renters' Security Deposits On Tenant-Occupied Foreclosures

Posted on May 22, 2010
In Chicago, Illinois, Chicago Breaking News Center reports:Thousands of apartment dwellers who stand to lose security deposits because of building foreclosures would get their money back under an ordinance the City Council approved [earlier this month]...

Developer To Dump Title To Over-Half-Empty, 500 Unit Complex Onto Foreclosing Lender; Repairs To Exposed Wiring, Pipes, Etc. To Start Immediately

Posted on May 22, 2010
In Cherry Hill, New Jersey, KYW Newsradio 1060 reports:Residents of a high-rise apartment complex in Cherry Hill, NJ are hoping that an out-of-court agreement will jump-start renovations that have been left half-done for years. A foreclosure hearing [...

Media Heat Continues For The Alleged Foreclosure Mill Rackets In Florida

Posted on May 21, 2010
On Florida's Treasure Coast, TC Palm weighs in with their story on the recent announcement by the office of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum of their probe into one of the state?s largest assembly line, foreclosure mill law firms for allegedly cranking out fabricated legal papers on an "as needed" basis used to speed up foreclosures...

Mother/Daughter Duo Face Charges In Alleged Rent Skimming Racket Screwing 30+ Now-F'closed Homeowners & Would-Be Buyers Under Bogus Rent-To-Own Deals

Posted on May 21, 2010
In Bakersfield, California, The Bakersfield Californian reports:A mother and daughter charged with a major scam that bilked at least 32 people out of 18 homes valued at more than $2.3 million are in jail in lieu of posting $1 million bail each, according to records in Kern County Superior Court...

Deceased Iraq Vet's Widow Gets Loan Modification Jerk-Around; Says Select Portfolio Yanked Approved Loan Mod, Claiming An Error In Processing

Posted on May 21, 2010
In Amboy, Washington, KATU-TV Channel 2 reports:No one seems to have a definitive answer for her. She has heard a variety of excuses, and dealt with months of what she says are stall tactics. But the bottom line is, the wife of a slain local soldier is about to lose her home...

Another Homeowner Faces Foreclosure Despite Having Made All Payments; Allegedly Delinquent Mortgage Is Owed By Previous Property Owner

Posted on May 21, 2010
Buried in a recent story in First Coast News is the following excerpt on a Northern Florida resident who faces foreclosure on a home he bought two years ago, despite the fact that he's made all his payments:Tom Bloomer is a Camden County businessman on the wrong end of inaccurate foreclosure documents...

Bookkeeping Error Leads To Loss Of Home To Foreclosure Despite No Missed Payments; Ocwen Then Backpedals, Rescinds Sale After Local Media Intervenes

Posted on May 21, 2010
In Houston, Texas, KTRK Channel 13 reports:[O]ne couple found themselves facing eviction, through no fault of their own, until Action 13 Consumer reporter Jeff Ehling got involved. The family made their payments but mistakes were made by the mortgage company that lead to foreclosure and could of had a family out in the streets had we not gotten involved...

BofA Pocketed Insurance Proceeds From Gas Explosion, Then Attempts Foreclosure On Home Anyway, Says Now-Deceased Homeowner's Son In Lawsuit

Posted on May 21, 2010
In Houston, Texas, My Fox Channel 26 reports:Last October a natural gas leak explosion rocked the house in the 56 hundred block of Nightingale. "There was a natural gas leak at the house next door to Miss Miles home" the family's attorney Daniel Horowitz said...

"Bogus Assignee" & "Bad Bene" Used As Innocent Placeholders, Regrets Error, Says LPS CEO In Response To Media Report; Addresses Dubious Notarizations

Posted on May 21, 2010
Jeff Carbiener, president and CEO of Lender Processing Services in Jacksonville , Florida writes in The Florida Times Union:LPS is very involved in the Jacksonville community and highly values its role and reputation as a good corporate citizen. Therefore, I believe it is vitally important to provide clarification to the May 14 article in The Florida Times-Union, "Florida Investigating 'Bogus'

NYC To Bill Collectors, Zombie Debt Buyers: "Produce The Paperwork!" When Demanding Delinquent Debt Repayments

Posted on May 20, 2010
In New York City, the New York Post reports:Debt collectors here will have to provide documentary proof that the people they're pursuing owe the money they're demanding, under new consumer-protection rules announced [this week]. "Collectors are increasingly pursuing debt that New Yorkers don't owe...

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