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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

Homeowner Hit With Foreclosure Notice Despite Being Current On Loan Modification Workout; Was Encouraged By Lender's Employees To Keep Making Payments

Posted on April 10, 2010
In Portgage, Indiana, cbs2chicago reports:[Angela] Dixon was shocked because she thought she was on track to get a loan modification from her mortgage company, Texas-based Nationstar. "It just completely blindsided us," she said. "I cried, I was angry, I didn't know what happened...

Financially Strapped Idaho Couple Has Home Sold Out From Under Them, Despite Following Servicer's Loan Modification Instructions & Making Payments

Posted on April 10, 2010
In Boise, Idaho, the Idaho Statesman reports:Last April, [Zijad and Hata Rudan, refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina who moved to Idaho in 2000] applied to their loan servicer, MetLife, for a loan modification. The family said MetLife offered in May to let them pay $1,052...

Florida Trial Judge Fumbles Chance To Vacate Foreclosure Judgment Granted While Valid Forbearance Agreement In Effect; Relief Obtained On Appeal

Posted on April 09, 2010
From a recent ruling from Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal:On March 7, 2008, Aurora [Loan Services, LLC] filed a complaint against the Elliotts to foreclose on their mortgage. The Elliotts received the summons and complaint on March 11, 2008. According to their verified motion, on March 11, 2008, Lisa Elliott contacted Aurora's attorney, as directed in a letter attached to the complaint.

Ex-Attorney Gets 21 Months In Federal Slammer After Copping Plea To Escrow Funds Swindle; Pocketed R/E Closing Cash, Left Existing Liens Unpaid

Posted on April 09, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Atlanta, Georgia):TRENT EDWARD WRIGHT, 38, of Cumming, Georgia, was sentenced [...] to serve 1 year, 9 months in federal prison [and ordered to cough up $2,409,760 in victims' restitution] on a mail fraud charge involving a mortgage fraud scheme which victimized lenders and title insurance companies...

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State Regulators Probe Alleged North Texas Rent Skimming Racket That Left Dozens Of Unwitting Would-Be Home Sellers In Foreclosure

Posted on April 09, 2010
In Farmers Branch, Texas, cbs11tv.com reports:State regulators are investigating a North Texas property management business after more of the owner's previous clients came forward with fraud complaints. Rob and Pennie Higdon said they hired Matt Misczak after they ran into trouble selling their home in 2005...

Snags In Transferring Bankrupt Lender's Loans, Improper Posting Of Homeowners' House Payments Leave Thousands Under Threat Of Foreclosure

Posted on April 09, 2010
In Resaca, Georgia, WXIA-TV Channel 11 reports:Just when we thought it was over we received a cry for help from another homeowner about to lose her home. Penney Bates of Resaca, Ga was another victim of the Taylor Bean & Whitaker ["TB&W"] collapse that affected hundreds of thousands of homeowners last year...

Arizona Feds, State Law Enforcement Raid Suspected Loan Modification Racket

Posted on April 09, 2010
In Scottsdale, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:State and federal agents raided the largest loan modification company in Arizona [last week]. Authorities arrived at Discount Mortgage Relief in Scottsdale around eight in the morning. Dozens of employees were told to leave as investigators sifted through documents and files...

Loan Modification Scammer To Serve Minimum Of 12-30 Months In State Prison After Copping Plea In Upfront Fee Ripoff Targeting Homeowners In F'closure

Posted on April 08, 2010
From the Office of the Nevada Attorney General:Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced today that Jeffery Tye Brown, 50, of Henderson, has pled guilty to felony mortgage fraud in violation of NRS 205.372,(1) in connection with the operation of DB Financial Services, a foreclosure rescue business located in Henderson...

NY Feds Net Three Attorneys Among Ten Bagged In Alleged Brooklyn/Queens Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on April 08, 2010
In Brooklyn, New York, the ABA Journal reports:Three lawyers are among 10 individuals federally charged with conspiracy, bank fraud and wire fraud in an alleged $10 million New York City mortgage loan scam involving straw buyers and fraudulent documents...

BofA Hit With Class Action Suit; California Homeowners Claim Lender Stiffed Them On Reasonable Requests For Loan Mods Or Other Alternative Solutions

Posted on April 08, 2010
Consumer-rights class-action law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP announces:California homeowners sued Bank of America on Tuesday claiming the lending giant is intentionally withholding government funds intended to save homeowners from foreclosure, announces Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro...

City Of Baltimore Revives "Ghetto Loans" Lawsuit Against Wells Fargo; Refines Reverse Redlining Allegations Against Lender

Posted on April 08, 2010
In Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun reports:Lawyers for the city of Baltimore have prepared a new complaint in their reverse-redlining lawsuit against Wells Fargo, which alleges that the bank steered black borrowers into subprime loans and then foreclosed on hundreds of city houses, leading to blight and high public safety costs in low-income neighborhoods...

City Of Memphis, Shelby County Amend Lawsuit Against Alleged "Ghetto Loans" Peddler In Fair Housing Litigation

Posted on April 08, 2010
In Memphis, Tennessee, The Commercial Appeal reports:Memphis and Shelby County have filed an amendment to a federal lawsuit(1) against mortgage lender Wells Fargo, detailing for the first time how the company allegedly used ?predatory and deceptive? practices locally that targeted African-Americans for risky subprime loans...

NAACP To Drop Suit Against Wells Fargo Alleging Institutionalized, Systemic Racism In Its Subprime Mortgage Lending Practices

Posted on April 08, 2010
The Wall Street Journal reports:The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People agreed to drop a predatory-lending lawsuit against Wells Fargo & Co. in exchange for access to loan data. The pact, set to be announced on Thursday, marks a more conciliatory approach from the fourth-largest U...

Billion$ In Pooled Loans Were Defective, Ex-Citigroup?s Chief Underwriter Warned Bosses

Posted on April 08, 2010
eCreditDaily reports:Beginning in 2006, Citigroup?s chief underwriter overseeing $90 billion in loans warned the institution?s top bosses that at least 60 percent of mortgages purchased and sold were ?defective.? By 2007, as the subprime mortgage bubble would give way to a housing market collapse, Citigroup?s Consumer Lending Group was sitting on pools of subprime mortgages with a defective ratio

LPS Responds To WSJ Article On Federal Probe Into Alleged Dubious Pratices In Foreclosure Actions

Posted on April 07, 2010
From a recent press release from Lender Processing Services:Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS), a leading provider of integrated technology and services to the mortgage industry, [Monday] provided clarification to a recent article published by the Wall Street Journal...

Texas Couple Claims Lender Screw-Up In Paying Homeowners' Insurance Premiums Out Of Mortgage Escrow Funds Left Them "Naked" During "Ike" Pounding

Posted on April 07, 2010
In Jefferson County, Texas, The Southeast Rexas Record reports:A Hardin County couple claim their Dallas-based mortgage company failed to pay homeowners and windstorm insurance premiums out of the monthly mortgage payments the couple made, causing the insurance company to refuse to pay for damages the couple sustained to their property from Hurricane Ike...

C. Florida Man Charged With Recording Phony Land Documents In Alleged Vacant Home Hijacking Racket; Cops Suspect Him In At Least Four Other Scams

Posted on April 07, 2010
In Central Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports:When Andrew Brown moved into a home in Deltona, he furnished it, brought along his dog and even installed an alarm system. He changed the locks and took down the for sale signs, authorities said. There was just one problem, say Volusia County Sheriff's investigators: He didn't own the house...

Sloppy Service, Subsequent Title Transfer In Foreclosure Process Leaves Lender Holding The Bag On $111K+ Error

Posted on April 07, 2010
A recent ruling by the Indiana Court of Appeals may be of some interest to title agents and examiners (who are already in the unenviable position of being expected to insure title to homes that have a foreclosure judgment and foreclosure deed in its chain of title), and to some real estate operators (those who profitably dabble in the "trafficking" of seemingly worthless judgment liens on

South Florida "Surplus Snatcher" Hit With Grand Theft Charge In Alleged Ripoff Of Sale Proceeds Due To Foreclosed Homeowner After Public Auction

Posted on April 06, 2010
In West Palm Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:A Boynton Beach man who operates a business specializing in recovering unclaimed property and money found $60,000 for a client ? then kept the windfall for himself, state investigators say. Richard Brandt, 41, of Woodgrove Harbor Lane in Boynton Beach, has been charged with grand theft by the state Department of Financial Services, two and

Another Vulnerable Senior Falls Prey To Adult Child; Deed To Home Signed Over, POA Used To Siphon Savings From Bank Account

Posted on April 06, 2010
In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, NewsOK.com reports:Her active life contrasts starkly with two years ago when [Rose] Howard (not her real name) sat alone and locked inside her daughter?s home for six months, while her daughter ran through her $39,000 savings account...

More Financially Strapped Homeowners Claim Lender Duped Them Into Defaulting On House Payments

Posted on April 06, 2010
In Sacramento, California, Courthouse News Service reports:JPMorgan Chase instructed homeowners to stop making mortgage payments, as that was the only way to be considered for a loan modification, then repossessed their house when they followed the bank's advice, a couple claims in Federal Court...

Massive Foreclosure Logjams Stall Court's Issuance Of Property Titles To Winning Bidders At Public Auctions

Posted on April 06, 2010
In West Palm Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:Don Cameron's March 8 win in a Palm Beach County home auction is stalled somewhere on the third floor of the courthouse in stacks of foreclosure filings piled several feet overhead. He'd like to start fixing up the three-bedroom house, renovate the kitchen, maybe get it ready for a first-time home buyer hoping to cash in on the waning days

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Posted on April 05, 2010
Sunday night on C-Span's Q&A program, author Michael Lewis talks about his new book, "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine," which tells the story of several key players in the subprime mortgage crisis. The book follows those who understood what was happening to the market and were able to greatly profit in the transactions...

California Regulator Issues Advisory On Illegal Activities Associated With Short Sales

Posted on April 05, 2010
The California Department of Real Estate recently issued an advisory to real estate agents licensed by the state on short sales and some of the legal and ethical minefields to avoid when dealing in these types of transactions. Among the points addressed are the activities of unlicensed, self-described "short sale facilitators" and illegal short sale flipping...

Arizona Bankruptcy Court Halts Foreclosure Action As Lender Lacked Standing To Prosecute, Not A Party In Interest

Posted on April 05, 2010
A recent ruling by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tucson, Arizona refused to allow a foreclosing lender's request to continue with a foreclosure action on the grounds that it failed to establish that it was the real party in interest and lacked standing to prosecute the matter...

Central Florida Bankruptcy Court Halts Foreclosure Action As Lender Lacked Standing To Prosecute, Not A Party In Interest

Posted on April 05, 2010
A recent ruling by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Orlando, Florida refused to allow a foreclosing lender's request to continue with a foreclosure action on the grounds that it failed to establish that it was the real party in interest and lacked standing to prosecute the matter...

WSJ On Feds' Probe Into LPS' "Docx" Sub; Allegations Of Creation Of Bogus Paperwork & Dubious Notarizations In Foreclosure Actions Under The Spotlight

Posted on April 04, 2010
The Wall Street Journal reports:A subsidiary of a company that is a top provider of the documentation used by banks in the foreclosure process is under investigation by federal prosecutors. The prosecutors are "reviewing the business processes" of the subsidiary of Lender Processing Services Inc...

NY's Warren County Seeks To Reform Its "Surplus Snatching" Ways In Delinquent R/E Tax F'closures & Allow Ex-Property Owners To Keep Equity After Sale

Posted on April 04, 2010
In Warren County, New York, The Post Star reports:Once a county forecloses on your property, that property no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the taxpayers. So we have to wonder why Warren County supervisors are pushing so hard to give that money back...

Fake Real Estate Agent Charged With Using $80K Pocketed From Would-Be Homebuyer To Purchase Target Home In Her Own Name

Posted on April 04, 2010
In Stanislaus County, California, The Modesto Bee reports:A Ceres woman posed as a real estate agent and forged signatures to swipe $80,000 from an unsuspecting Spanish-speaking couple who thought they were buying a Modesto home, an arrest warrant says...

Philly Feds Charge Pair For Alleged Use Of Home Improvement Racket To Swindle Unwitting Owners Out Of Their Home Equity

Posted on April 04, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania):The owner of a home improvement company and a mortgage loan officer were charged today by information in a home improvement and mortgage fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney Michael L...

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