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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

Mastermind In "Land Patent" Foreclosure Rescue Scam Gets 20+ Years; Conned Victims Into Believing That They Could Save Homes By Declaring Sovereignty

Posted on February 28, 2011
In San Diego, California, KGTV Channel 10 reports:The "brains" behind a scam in which hundreds of homeowners were falsely told that "land patents" would protect their properties from foreclosure was sentenced Friday to 20 years and four months in state prison...

Church Pastor Cops Guilty Plea In Home Equity Ripoff; Conned Home-Selling Senior Into Holding Unrecorded Mortgage, Then Pocketed $420K Refi Proceeds

Posted on February 28, 2011
In Ventura County, California, the Camarillo Acorn reports:A Camarillo man who is the pastor of a Christian church in Ventura has pleaded guilty to three felony charges, including stealing the home equity of a Ventura man in his 80s. Alonzo Gene McCowan, 50, pastor of Solid Rock Christian Center, pleaded guilty Feb...

California Regulator Continues Filing Record Number Of Enforcement Actions Against Upfront Fee Loan Modification Rackets

Posted on February 28, 2011
In Sacramento, California, the Centre Daily Times reports:The California State Department of Real Estate (DRE) warns consumers to be wary of promises for loan modification and mortgage relief as scammers continue to prey on vulnerable, financially stressed homeowners...

Fannie Tags Foreclosure Mill With Lawsuit Demanding Immediate Turnover Of 15,000+ Case Files; Fears "Irreperable Harm" If Process Is Delayed

Posted on February 27, 2011
In Broward County, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:Fannie Mae, the nation's largest provider of mortgage funding, has asked a Broward County judge to order the Fort Lauderdale law firm it fired this month to turn over its case files.As part of a lawsuit filed by Fannie Mae on Feb...

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MERS & Its Deep-Pocketed Mortgage Lender Backers May Be On Hook For $200M+ For Massachusetts-Related Unrecorded Assignments

Posted on February 27, 2011
The Docket, the news blog of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, reports:The Mortgage Electronic Registration System, better known as MERS, perhaps one of the most recognizable players in the foreclosure mess, may owe the commonwealth hundreds of millions of dollars...

Sacramento Feds Squeeze Guilty Plea From Foreclosure Rescue Peddler Who Abused Bankruptcy Process To Fraudulently Delay Trustees' Sales

Posted on February 27, 2011
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Sacramento, California):United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced [last week] that CharlesC. Jamison, 30, of Rancho Cordova, pleaded guilty this week to bankruptcy fraud charges. [...] According to court documents, Jamison engaged in a scheme to, for a fee, use the bankruptcy process to fraudulently delay foreclosures pending on the residential

Chicago Feds Squeeze Attorney With Dubious Past For Allegedly Screwing Over Clients Who Sought Help Saving Their Homes From Foreclosure

Posted on February 27, 2011
In Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reports:A Chicago attorney who has been in trouble before now has been indicted for allegedly defrauding clients who sought his help in saving their homes from foreclosure.Philip Igoe, 61, promised clients facing foreclosure that he could help them by filing bankruptcy petitions or through loan modifications with lenders, according to the U...

Florida AG Adds Another Foreclosure Mill To Its Target List In Ongoing Probe Into Allegedly Sloppy, Fraudulent Filings

Posted on February 27, 2011
The Tampa Tribune reports:The Florida Attorney General's Office opened a formal investigation this week into another south Florida foreclosure law firm it says presented false and misleading court documents. The firm, Ben-Ezra & Katz, is based in and processes thousands of foreclosures for lenders...

Cops Hunt Man For Allegedly Scamming Two Unwitting Families In Rent Ripoff Involving Vacant Home In Foreclosure

Posted on February 26, 2011
In Marietta, Georgia, WSB-TV Channel 2 reports:Two Cobb County families are searching for a man who collected thousands of dollars for a rented home and disappeared. It turns out the two-story Marietta home was in foreclosure. Local investigators have since joined the hunt for the man...

Southern California Attorney Arrested For Threatening "Armed Confrontation" In Defending Client From Losing Home To Purportedly Illegal Foreclosure

Posted on February 26, 2011
In La Costa, California, KGTV Channel 10 reports:A local attorney known for going to extreme measures to save his clients' homes was arrested on Wednesday and an exclusive video obtained by 10News reveals the threat that led to one of the attorney's arrests...

Ongoing Nevada AG Criminal Probe Has 200+ Possible Foreclosure Rescue, Loan Modification Rackets On Prosecutorial Radar

Posted on February 26, 2011
In Carson City, Nevada, the Las Vegas Sun reports:More than 200 companies are under criminal investigation for mortgage fraud with ties to such things as identity theft and prostitution, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto says. Edith Cartwright of the attorney general?s office said many of those companies have 50 to 100 complaints against them...

Plumber Allegedly Pocketing $5K From Homeowner W/out Doing Any Work Is No 'Civil Matter'; DA Treats Transaction As Home Improvement Trust Fund Ripoff

Posted on February 26, 2011
From the Office of the Rockland County, New York District Attorney:Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe [] announced that Jerry Cioffi (DOB 02/21/69) of [...] Thiells, New York has been charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class "D" Felony...

Rockland County DA: Phony Mortgage Broker Clipped Couple For $26K For Purported Assistance In Getting Loan To Buy Home

Posted on February 26, 2011
From the Office of the Rockland County, New York District Attorney:Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe today announced that Andre Tolentino (DOB 10/17/58) of 8 Whitewood Drive, New City, New York has been charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class "D" Felony...

Wisconsin Appeals Court OKs Debt Recovery Approach For Foreclosing Lender Holding Two Mortgages On Same Property, Despite Waiving Deficiency Rights

Posted on February 26, 2011
The State Bar of Wisconsin News reports:A foreclosing party [in Wisconsin] can cut short a mortgagor?s right to redeem property from 12 months to six if the foreclosing party waives a right to seek a deficiency judgment. When two mortgages exist, foreclosing on one and seeking money damages on the other won?t impact the foreclosing party?s rights to a six-month redemption period...

Buying 'Inexpensive' Foreclosed Homes May Come Loaded With Major Hidden Costs

Posted on February 26, 2011
In Charlotte, North Carolina, WSOC-TV Channel 9 reports:A lot of people are looking to cash in by buying foreclosed homes, but some of those foreclosed homes may not be such a good deal. Action Nine Reporter Don Griffin rode along with a professional home inspector...

Realtor With Vacant Foreclosed Home For Sale Walks In On Unexpected 'Show'

Posted on February 26, 2011
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, KRQE-TV Channel 13 reports:A local realtor who was trying to show a home over the weekend said she walked into a show she did not want to see. Police said April Espinosa was inside the Southwest Albuquerque home having sex with an unnamed man...

Lawsuit: Home Foreclosed Out From Under Metro Detroit Couple Despite Being Told By Mortgage Servicer That Loan Modification Process Was Ongoing

Posted on February 25, 2011
In Detroit, Michigan, Bloomberg reports:Chuck and Alicia Krantz fell behind on their mortgage payments last year and sought to modify the loan to save their three-bedroom ranch home in Westland, Michigan, just outside Detroit, from foreclosure.Two payments in April brought them current, they said in a lawsuit filed in Detroit federal court...

AZ Bill To Declare F'closures Void When Bank Fails To Produce Full Chain Of Title Advances; Sponsor In Current Tussle w/ Servicer Over TILA Rescission

Posted on February 25, 2011
In Phoenix, Arizona, Bloomberg reports:Arizona may become the first state to require lenders to prove they have the right to foreclose by providing a complete list of any previous owners of the mortgage, under a bill passed yesterday by its Senate.The legislation, which is headed to the House after being approved 28-2 in the Republican-dominated Senate, would allow foreclosure sales to be voided

Some 'Rocket Docket' Judges Remain Unabashed In Their Cluelessness As They Continue To Bulldoze Home Foreclosure Cases Through System

Posted on February 25, 2011
From an op-ed column appearing in The News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida):Local judges have made some disturbing comments recently regarding foreclosure cases and people fighting in court to save their homes. The comments appeared Sunday and Tuesday in stories in The News-Press about the case of Linda Bassett, who claims the bank trying to foreclose on her house has used fraudulent documents, and

Head Of Western New York Foreclosure Mill Responds To Critics

Posted on February 25, 2011
The New York Law Journal recently ran a lengthy profile on the Buffalo-based foreclosure mill, Steven J. Baum, P.C. The story lists the various attacks that this outfit has been the target of, as well as Baum's response to his various critics.For the story, see Firm Dominates Foreclosures, but Faces Growing Criticism.

BofA Stiffs Couple On Loan Modification Request, Forcing Them To Vacate Premises; Then Refuses To Complete 3-Year Old Foreclosure Process

Posted on February 25, 2011
In Las Vegas, Nevada, KTNV-TV Channel 13 reports:Linda and Mike Cirillo are seeing their old house for the first time in years. "Wow!" Linda says as she walks up to the front door. "They've been here." The "they" she's talking about is Bank of America...

Appeals Court Reinstates 'Fair Debt' Suit Accusing Foreclosure Mill Of Attempted Fee Gouging In Mortgage Payoff Letters Sent To Homeowner's Attorney

Posted on February 24, 2011
A Federal Court of Appeals just reinstated a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey homeowner seeking class action status that accuses the law firm representing a foreclosing lender of sending the homeowner's attorney mortgage payoff letters that included charges that, according to the lawsuit, were unauthorized by the loan agreement and were otherwise not allowed by law...

Woman Accused Of Running $50M Mortgage Fraud, Rent-To-Own Racket Extradited Back To Virginia After Fleeing To Turkey; Most Homes Ended In Foreclosure

Posted on February 24, 2011
In Loudon County, Virginia, the Washington Examiner reports:An Ashburn woman who fled the United States amid accusations of running a $50 million mortgage fraud scheme has been extradited back to Virginia to face charges of money laundering and making false statements...

GC Tagged For Grand Larceny In Alleged $50K Scam; DA Invokes NYS Lien Law, Treats Payments Pocketed For Home Improvements As Trust Fund Ripoff

Posted on February 24, 2011
From the Office of the Rockland County, New York District Attorney:Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe [] announced that John J. DiGiacomo (DOB 08/27/58) of [...] New City, New York has been charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class "D" Felony...

Cops Pinch Former Councilman On Deed Theft Charges; Allegedly Forged & Notarized Title Conveyance To Unwitting Owners' Property

Posted on February 24, 2011
In Russell County, Alabama, the Montgomery Advertiser reports:Authorities say a longtime member of the Phenix City Council has turned himself in to authorities on for�gery and perjury charges. WTVM-TV reported that 70-year-old Arthur Sumbry Sr. turned himself in to the Russell County Sheriff's Office Friday after being indicted by a grand jury...

Fee Gouging Allegations At Center Of Lawsuit Against Loan Servicer; Multiple Late Charges For Single Late Payment Among Sleazy Practices: Complaint

Posted on February 24, 2011
In Winfield, West Virginia, The West Virginia Record reports:A Putnam County man is suing Nationstar Mortgage after he claims it unlawfully charged him law payment fees that exceeded the maximum amount set forth in his loan agreement.In December 2003, David J...

California Appeals Court: Homeowner Can't File Lawsuit To Stop Foreclosure Process Based On Claim That Noteholder Did Not Authorize It

Posted on February 23, 2011
In Southern California, Metropolitan News Enterprise reports:A defaulting mortgagee may not bring a declaratory action challenging the noteholder?s right to initiate a non-judicial foreclosure through a nominee, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled Friday...

Wells Fargo Dodges Sheriff's Sale Of Its Office Furniture As Bank, Judgment-Holding Philadelphia Homeowner Resolve Legal Dispute

Posted on February 23, 2011
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:Wells Fargo, the banking Goliath, apparently met its David in Philadelphia music promoter Patrick Rodgers. On Monday, Rodgers declared victory and put away his sling. When we first met Rodgers a week ago, he was a man with a complaint about Wells Fargo Home Mortgage...

Miami Trial Judge Puts Squeeze On Foot-Dragging Lenders With Old Foreclosure Cases That Clutter Judicial System

Posted on February 23, 2011
Buried in a recent Bloomberg story is this excerpt on Miami trial judge Israel Reyes:Judge Israel Reyes is giving the biggest U.S. banks a choice: Wrap up the home foreclosure cases clogging his Miami court, or dismiss them and walk away. Most are walking away, Bloomberg News? David McLaughlin reports...

Lawsuit: Foreclosure Defense Racket Did Nothing But File An "Ill-Assembled Compilation Of Plagiarized Pleadings" That Operators Have "Bastardized"

Posted on February 23, 2011
In Marietta, Georgia, Courthouse News Service reports:A homeowner claims Home Savers USA and the two people who run it defrauded him of $2,000 and one of them forged his name on an "utterly incoherent" federal complaint, which they promised would save his home from foreclosure...

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