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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

Murder-Suicide Suspected Involving Homeowner Facing Foreclosure; Reportedly Gave Up After Failed Attempts To Negotiate Workout With Lender

Posted on January 23, 2010
In Spencer, Massachusetts, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports:Police believe a man facing a foreclosure auction yesterday took his own life after shooting his sick wife, shooting their horse, setting fire to the home they shared and torching his pickup truck...

Condo Associations, HOAs Facing Perfect Storm?

Posted on January 22, 2010
The Providence Journal reports:The worst housing crisis and economic crash since the Great Depression have created a dangerous financial storm that threatens to destroy thousands of Shared Ownership Communities (condos, co-ops and Home Ownership Associations) across America...

Central Florida Condo Complex "Like A Ghost Town" As Almost Half Of Units In Some Stage Of Foreclosure

Posted on January 22, 2010
In Central Florida, MyFox (Channel 13) Tampa Bay reports:The Belmont condominium complex in Zephyrhills feels a lot like a ghost town. "It's such a beautiful place and it's empty. People can't enjoy it," lamented Patty Van, who was visiting friends there...

Continuing Nightmare For Residents In Condos Flooded With Foreclosures; Some HOAs Drain Cash Reserves To Avoiding Boosting Maintenance Fees

Posted on January 22, 2010
In Palm Beach County, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:Nearly 70 percent of the owners at the Kensington of Royal Palm Beach condominiums are delinquent on their association fees. At the Paradise Cove at Palm Beach Lakes, 48 percent of owners owe back dues...

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Spokane Condo Feels Financial Squeeze As Abandoned Units, Foreclosing Lenders Dodging Maintenance Fee Payments Boost Burden On Remaining Residents

Posted on January 22, 2010
In Spokane, Washington, The Seattle Times reports:Pipes freezing. Strangers changing the locks. These are difficult times at Wingate Place on the South Hill in Spokane. Two of 10 units at the condominium have been vacated by owners who could no longer make payments...

City Seeks Arrest Of Ex-Landlord Who Abandoned 16-Unit Building; Tenants Left Without Heat, Hot Water; Bidders Show No Interest At Foreclosure Sale

Posted on January 22, 2010
In Springfield, Massachusetts, The Republican reports:An Illinois-based bank has agreed to make repairs and correct code violations at [a 16-unit] apartment block on Belmont Avenue, replacing a landlord who is accused of abandoning the building and leaving tenants without heat and hot water the day before Christmas...

Tenant Troubles In Buildings Facing Foreclosure Spreading Throughout New York State

Posted on January 22, 2010
In Rockland County, New York, The Journal News reports:It's a situation that is becoming common at rental properties throughout the state owned by questionable landlords who do minimal maintenance then default on their loans, leaving the buildings in the hands of banks, and tenants with little recourse...

Predatory Equity Apartment Building Investments Bought At Height Of Bubble Spell Trouble For Thousands Of Tenants In NYC Neighborhoods

Posted on January 22, 2010
In The Bronx, New York, The New York Times reports:Here, it is not individual homes that are most under threat of foreclosure ? it is whole apartment buildings occupied by hundreds of families. And it was not the residents who took out the heavy loans ? it was investors who live far from the overleveraged properties...

NYC Hatches Plan To Help Clean Up Mess Left Behind By Predatory Equity Investors Who Overpaid For, Then Abandoned, Apartment Buildings Throughout City

Posted on January 22, 2010
In New York City, The New York Times reports:New York City has launched a new plan to rescue moderate-rent apartment buildings that were swept up by private equity firms during the financial boom, then left to deteriorate as they drifted toward foreclosure when the new owners were unable to repay their loans...

BofA, Countrywide Strike Again; Mistakenly Seize Another Home Misidentified As A Foreclosure, Says Homeowner

Posted on January 21, 2010
In New Bedford, Massachusetts, WCVB-TV Channel 5 reports:A Massachusetts couple says their son's homecoming from Iraq was spoiled when Bank of America/Countrywide foreclosed on their Florida home, which they owned free and clear, according to a lawsuit...

Now-Disbarred Attorney Gets 6 Months House Arrest, 3 Years Probation For Ripping Off Client/Foreclosing Lender Of $66K Proceeds From Public Auctions

Posted on January 21, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Indianapolis, Indiana):Brian L. Nehrig, 43, Fishers, Indiana, was sentenced to three years' probation today by U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Barker following his guilty plea to mail fraud. This case was the result of a investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation...

More On Zombie Debt Buyers

Posted on January 21, 2010
A recent press release from the Federal Trade Commission announced that it has ordered the nation?s largest consumer debt buyers (ie. zombie debt buyers) to turn over information about their practices in buying and collecting consumer debt, which the FTC intends to use for a study of the debt-buying industry...

Help Guide For Connecticut Homeowners Representing Themselves In Foreclosure

Posted on January 21, 2010
In Hartford, Connecticut, NewsTimes reports:A shortage of legal aid for the thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure has prompted one nonprofit organization to publish a guide on self-representation that might help people save their homes. The Hartford-based Connecticut Fair Housing Center(1) began mailing Tuesday its free foreclosure guide, a 72-page document that details what to expect and

Homeowner Credits Media For Help Getting Refund From Loan Modification Outfit After Fearing Ripoff

Posted on January 20, 2010
In Atlanta, Georgia, WGCL-TV reports:Beth Hall wasted no time cashing a refund check for $1,495 from the Mortgage Relief Group in Tucker. "I couldn't have done it by myself. I wasn't getting anywhere," said Hall. She received the refund only after CBS Atlanta News began asking the company the tough questions about their questionable business practices...

Mortgage Company Owners Arrested For Stealing, Using Ex-Employee, Potential Customer IDs To Obtain Secured Credit Lines

Posted on January 20, 2010
In Suffolk County, New York, the Long Island Press reports:A Massapequa couple was arrested [...] after they allegedly used the identities of two people to obtain mortgages, Suffolk police said. Angela Sutphen and her husband, Matthew Sutphen, owners of Cornerstone Bancor Mortgage Corporation on Merrick Road, used the identities of a former employee and a potential customer to obtain mortgage

Judge Faces Charges Of Forging Docs To Obtain Mortgage Loan On Home Co-Owned With Another

Posted on January 20, 2010
In Elsa, Texas, The Monitor reports:Municipal Judge Hilda Caceres has been indicted on charges that she forged a signature on a loan application, an accusation her supporters say is politically motivated. An indictment handed down in late December and unsealed [earlier this month] charges the public official with four counts of forgery and three counts of tampering with a government record...

Accounting Clerk For Mortgage Lender Gets 30 Months For Ripping Off Employer Out Of $1 Million Attributable To Loan Payoffs At Real Estate Closings

Posted on January 20, 2010
In New Orleans, Louisiana, The Associated Press reports:A Houston woman who worked for a New Orleans mortgage lender has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for stealing more than $1 million from the company. U.S. District Judge Frederick Block also on Thursday ordered 34-year-old Jodie Hoang to pay $1,017,701 in restitution to Standard Mortgage Corp...

Closing Agent Gets 35 Months In $777K Ponzi-Style Escrow Ripoff; Feds Credit 'Katrina' For Foiling Scam; Restitution To Title Underwriter Ordered

Posted on January 19, 2010
In New Orleans, Louisiana, The Times Picayune reports:Hubert Ellzey Jr. secretly bilked clients out of $777,000 before Hurricane Katrina put an end to his scheme. When the storm hit Aug. 29, 2005, all real estate closings in the New Orleans area halted for a time, upsetting the Metairie title agent's practice of converting clients' mortgage money to his personal use then covering the

Iowa Attorney Faces Charges Of Illegally Dipping Into Trust Account Cash Intended For Clients' Real Estate Transactions

Posted on January 19, 2010
In Des Moines, Iowa, The Des Moines Register reports:A Des Moines attorney has been accused of theft in a real estate fraud investigation. Kristine Corcoran Frye, 51, faces two counts of first-degree theft for allegedly pocketing some $30,000 in one real estate transaction and $58,000 in another one...

NJ Law Seeks To End Illegal "Bulldozing" Of Tenants Out Of Foreclosed Homes; F'closure Purchasers Now Required To Inform Renters Of Right To Stay Put

Posted on January 19, 2010
In Trenton, New Jersey, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:A bill passed by the New Jersey Legislature [last week] would give tenants living in foreclosed buildings a better understanding of their rights. Part of a push by Public Advocate Ronald Chen's office, the bill requires that when a property is sold at a foreclosure sale, the buyer must notify tenants of their right to stay in their homes

Indiana Man Faces Forgery, Theft Charges For Allegedly Renting HUD-Owned Homes To Would-Be Tenants; Used Craigslist To Reel In Unwitting Renters

Posted on January 19, 2010
In Indianapolis, Indiana, WRTV-TV Channel 6 reports:A man was charged with multiple counts of forgery and theft in a real estate scam that investigators said ensnared several victims in Marion and Hamilton counties. Indianapolis police Sgt. Matt Mount said Richard Swoveland, 38, used online postings of homes for sale on the Department of Housing and Urban Development Web site and listed them on

Ind. Homeowner Seeks Class Action Status In Suit Alleging Lender Declined Loan Mod Request W/out Giving Written Reason; 3rd Suit Filed By Chicago Firm

Posted on January 18, 2010
In Hammond, Indiana, the Northwest Indiana Times reports:As the Obama Administration tries to heal the sickly housing market by pressing lenders to modify loans for struggling homeowners, a Gary couple is taking their personal mortgage fight with GMAC into Hammond federal court...

Federal Judge, IRS Put Kibosh On Wells Fargo Sale Leaseback Scheme; Bank Took Improper $115M Tax Deductions On Deals Lacking Economic Substance: Court

Posted on January 18, 2010
USA Today reported last week on another way that a sale leaseback transaction can be employed in an abusive manner. Were it not for the Federal judge slamming the door shut on this attemped scam by recharacterizing the transactions as an attempt to buy tax deductions in exchange for an upfront fee, the victims of this type of sale leaseback ripoff would have been the American taxpayers...

2nd Mortgage Holders Accused Of Illegal Arm-Twisting By Squeezing "Off-Closing Statement" Cash From Agents, Buyers When Approving Short Sale Payoffs

Posted on January 18, 2010
CNBC Real Estate Reporter Diana Olick reports:Just as regulators, lawmakers and all forms of financial oversight boards are talking about new regulations to guard against mortgage fraud and another mortgage meltdown, there appears to be yet a new mortgage fraud out there today, allegedly perpetuated by agents of, yes, the big banks...

Fair Housing Attorney Welcomes, Encourages Feds In Effort To Pursue Alleged "Ghetto Loans" Peddlers Engaging In "Reverse Redlining"

Posted on January 18, 2010
The New York Times reports on the recent decision by the U.S. Justice Department to increase its focus on discrimination in the area of home loan originations. The following excerpt describes the efforts of one Washington, D.C. civil rights attorney who is currently pursing a large, high profile lender accused of reverse redlining in originating home mortgages on behalf of two cities:John Relman,

Fight Against Rent Skimming Condo Investors Advances As Recent Florida Court Ruling Permits Blanket Receivership W/out Need To File Foreclosure Action

Posted on January 18, 2010
In Miami, Florida, the South Florida Business Review reports:South Florida businesses and attorneys are developing new tools for homeowner associations struggling with unpaid fees and foreclosures. The latest developments are a legal precedent that allows associations to collect rents immediately when a landlord fails to pay association fees, and a property management company that advances loans

California Bumps Up Homestead Exemption Protection For Homeowners Against Forced Sale By Judgment Creditors

Posted on January 17, 2010
In California, the Sierra Sun reports on, among others, the following change in California law:Assembly Bill 1046 [Section 2] increases homestead exemptions for homeowners across the board by $25,000 each, so the exemption for a single person is now $75,000, for a married couple it is $100,000 and for the disabled and the elderly, it is $175,000...

Feds To Scrutinize Lenders For Evidence Of "Ghetto Loans" Peddling, Reverse Redlining In Home Loan Originations

Posted on January 17, 2010
Reuters reports:The U.S. Justice Department has set up a new unit to pursue home lending discrimination and already has more than three dozen cases pending, a senior department official said on Thursday. The unit will target "unscrupulous" mortgage brokers and so-called redlining cases in which lenders charge more or refuse to loan money in certain areas like poorer neighborhoods or to lower

Residents In 26-Story Landmark Miami Condo Face Boot Over Condemnation Order Due To Rotten Windows; Cost To Replace Could Force Some Into Foreclosure

Posted on January 17, 2010
In Miami, Florida, The Miami Herald reports:Shortly before the Christmas holidays, residents of Miami's landmark Palm Bay Towers condo -- a bastion of privilege where the monthly maintenance fee exceeds most folks' mortgage payment -- found a letter taped to their doors outlining what one unit owner later called 'extremely unpleasant' news: The city had condemned the building...

Would-Be Renter Stumbles Into Home Hijacking Scam; DA's Fraud Investigator: "These Crooks Are Really Brazen"

Posted on January 17, 2010
In Vallejo, California, the Vallejo Times Herald reports:The tip-off, Jennifer Casey said, was when her e-mailed application to rent the Vallejo property was approved within 20 minutes of sending it. "He never asked for a Social Security number, or bank account numbers, but he did ask for references...

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