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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

Ex-Met, Red Sox 1st Sacker Snags Control Of 14 Dilapidated Bronx Apt. Houses In Foreclosure Limbo As Fannie Dumps Delinquent Debt Secured By 416 Units

Posted on December 03, 2009
In The Bronx, New York, Crain's New York Business reports:A collection of 14 deteriorating South Bronx apartment buildings have been snapped up by a real estate development company led by former New York Met first baseman Maurice ?Mo? Vaughn in a foreclosure auction, the city announced Wednesday...

Now-Disbarred Closing Attorney For Alleged Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Operator Dodges Add'l Prison Time On State Court Charges

Posted on December 03, 2009
In Worcester, Massachusetts, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports:Disbarred Oxford lawyer Raymond A. Desautels III, who was sentenced last month to 2-1/2 years in federal prison on wire fraud charges, was sentenced [...] to a concurrent term of 2 years to 2 years and a day in state prison on charges related to what prosecutors said was an elaborate mortgage fraud scheme orchestrated by

New Rule Now Mandates Foreclosing Lenders To Advise New Jersey Tenants Of Their Legal Right To Stay Put

Posted on December 03, 2009
In Northern New Jersey, The Record reports:New Jersey tenants whose landlords fall into foreclosure have a right to stay in their homes ? and lenders must tell them that, under a new rule adopted by the New Jersey Supreme Court. [...] Under the rule, before lenders obtain a final foreclosure judgment, they must inform tenants living in the property that they have the right to stay...

Short Sale Flipping: Today?s Equivalent Of California Gold Rush?

Posted on December 02, 2009
The Washington Independent reports:With home prices continuing to fall and more foreclosures yet to come, it?s clear that tough times remain for a housing market recovery. And to add to the troubles, another threat to any rebound is emerging: mortgage fraud...

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Feds To Lean On Loan Servicers With "SWAT Teams" In Attempt To Get More Mortgage Modifications

Posted on December 02, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports:The Treasury Department announced plans Monday to beef up its foreclosure-prevention effort by pressuring mortgage companies to complete more loan modifications. [...] The Treasury said Monday that it would send "SWAT teams" to the largest mortgage servicing companies and talk twice a day with mortgage executives to boost their success rates...

Feds Issue "Guidance" To Speed Up Short Sales, Other Loan Mod Efforts In Effort To Tamp Down Foreclosures

Posted on December 02, 2009
Reuters reports:The U.S. Treasury on Monday set long-awaited guidance on a plan for mortgage companies to speed "short sales" of homes and other loan modification alternatives to stem a rising tide of foreclosures.***Among requirements, mortgage servicers have 10 days to approve or disapprove a request for short sale, and when done the transaction must fully release the borrower from the debt...

Ohio AG Files Civil Suits Against Two Firms For Allegedly Running Upfront Fee Loan Modification Rackets

Posted on December 02, 2009
From the Office of the Ohio Attorney General:Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray [...] sued two companies that allegedly targeted then ripped off homeowners threatened by foreclosure.(1) The lawsuits are part of a national sweep on foreclosure rescue scams announced this afternoon by the Federal Trade Commission...

One Underwater Homeowner's Experience With A Short Sale Flipping Operator

Posted on December 01, 2009
In Seneca, South Carolina, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:DAN EGGER MAY HAVE LOST HIS job and is now underwater on his $500,000 mortgage, but the 41-year-old former telecommunications salesman is not desperate. A resident of Seneca, a small city in the northwest corner of South Carolina, Egger said he was approached by a real estate investment firm earlier this month that wanted to flip his

Recent NY Court Foreclosure Ruling Wiping Out Mortgage Debt Not Expected To "Open The Floodgates" Against Lenders

Posted on December 01, 2009
In Suffolk County, New York, Newsday reports:A Suffolk judge's decision to wipe out the mortgage debt of a foreclosed-upon East Patchogue couple may send a message to predatory subprime lenders that unless they work to save their customers' homes, they stand to lose everything, some real estate attorneys said...

Debt Collection Law Firm Faces Hot Water For Dragging Wrong Person Into Court; Resists Judge's "Suggestion" To Compensate Victim For Lost Day's Pay

Posted on December 01, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, The New York Times reports:Conducting a digital dragnet, [debt collection firms] troll through commercial databases searching for debtors. Because of the vast sloppiness and fraud involved, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo has shut down two of the collection firms and is suing 35 law firms tied to the business...

Right Of Redemption Creates 6-Month Period Of Legal Limbo For Vacant Minnesota Foreclosures, Forcing Cities To Step In With Maintenance Effort

Posted on December 01, 2009
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:Redemption -- in Minnesota, usually a six-month period following a sheriff's sale during which the people who owned the house can buy it back -- poses a problem for cities. If a home winds up vacant or vandalized during that time, the homeowner and bank often deny responsibility, putting the burden of fixing it on the city...

Government Will Attempt To Shame The Shameless Into Increasing Permanent Loan Modifications

Posted on November 30, 2009
The New York Times reports:The Obama administration to[day] plans to announce a campaign to pressure mortgage companies to reduce payments for many more troubled homeowners, as evidence mounts that a $75 billion taxpayer-financed effort aimed at stemming foreclosures is foundering...

Far More Underwater Homeowners Should Stiff Their Lenders, Pack Their Bags & Take A Hike, Says Study

Posted on November 30, 2009
ABC News reports:Millions of Americans, whose homes are now worth significantly less than their mortgage, could be making an expensive mistake by continuing to try and pay their loan off when they should, instead, be walking away. In fact, owners are willing to keep piling money into a losing investment simply because they're ashamed to foreclose, according to a controversial new study...

Central Florida Chief Judge Ramps Up Court Foreclosure Mediation Effort

Posted on November 30, 2009
In Central Florida, The Tampa Tribune reports:Pasco homeowners in foreclosure could have more of a chance to keep their homes if a court system emphasis on mediation succeeds. The push began last month when Chief Judge Thomas McGrady signed an administrative order adding more prominent language about mediation into paperwork homeowners receive when they're served with foreclosure lawsuits...

More Heat For Foreclosing Lender That Bought IndyMac Mortgages For Failing To Offer Loan Modifications

Posted on November 30, 2009
In Southern California, the Pasadena Star News reports:A group of nearly 30 homeowners converged on the Pasadena offices of OneWest Bank [last] week to protest the bank's alleged refusal to modify their mortgage loans. The homeowners [obtained] their mortgage loans from IndyMac Bank, which failed last year and was seized by federal regulators...

Electric Co-Op Stiffed By Short Sellers Of Vacant Homes Refuses To Turn On Lights For Buyer Inspections; Makes Deals Tougher To Close

Posted on November 29, 2009
In Hudson, Florida, The Suncoast News reports:Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative policies could pull the plug on potential short sales of vacant homes, a West Pasco real estate leader fears. A gray area exists when a homeowner abandons a home but the bank hasn't officially foreclosed on the property, a WREC spokesman counters...

Senior "$CAMS" Detection Project Focuses On Identifying Nursing Home Residents With Past Due Accounts In Effort To Stamp Out Elder Financial Abuse

Posted on November 29, 2009
From the Office of the Michigan Attorney General:Attorney General Mike Cox [...] announced criminal charges against six individuals accused of financially exploiting senior citizens. The charges are a result of Project $CAMS (Stop Crimes Against Michigan Seniors), an initiative to protect nursing home residents from scams, misappropriated resources and embezzlement...

MD AG Wins "Rescue" Scam Civil Suit; Settles w/ Lenders Who Financed Bogus Sale Leasebacks, Saves Homes For Some, Clips Closing Agent For $100K

Posted on October 01, 2009
In Baltimore, Maryland, The Real Estate Wonk Blog in The Baltimore Sun reports:Stop me if you've heard this one before: Borrower needs help. Borrower goes to foreclosure-rescue business to get help. Borrower signs documents to get or start the process of getting the mortgage refinanced, only to discover later that the foreclosure-rescue specialists were really getting the home signed over to them

Include Arkansas Supreme Court On List Of Legal Authorities Having A Problem With MERS' Business Model

Posted on October 01, 2009
Attorney Kathleen E. Kraft, with the Washington, D.C. law firm Thompson Coburn LLP, writes:On March 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Arkansas determined that Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (?MERS?) was not a necessary party to a foreclosure action involving the foreclosure of a junior mortgage, where MERS was not the true beneficiary of the senior deed of trust nor was specifically

Cops: Wife Used Improperly Notarized POA In Sale Leaseback Of Home Without Hubby's Consent; Subsequent Use Of "Rubber" Rent Checks Gets Them The Boot

Posted on October 01, 2009
In Bantam, Connecticut, The Register News reports:A Bethlehem woman is facing criminal charges for allegedly selling her marital home without her husband?s knowledge. Shelley Ciriello, 55, [...] is scheduled to appear in Bantam Superior Court Oct. 5.***Ciriello reportedly sold the house to Lurlyn Seigler of Boston, Mass...

Stranger Pays Back Taxes On Nursing Home-Bound 92-Year Old Alzheimers Patient's Vacant House, Then Rents It Out In Attempt To Lay Claim To Property

Posted on October 01, 2009
In Boise, Idaho, the Idaho Statesman reports:On May 16, 2007, David Foldesi walked into the Ada County Courthouse and paid $8,875.62 in delinquent property taxes on [92-year old Marcella] Boylan's house. Both Boylan and her husband, Dudley, who died in 2005, had faced serious health problems - and the costs added up...

FBI Probe Forces Shutdown Of Loan Modification Racket?

Posted on October 01, 2009
ProPublica earlier this week published a follow-up to a story (see Why Authorities Haven?t Stopped the Foreclosure ?Rescue? Boom) which focused on the antics of one loan modification outfit, Southern California-based 21st Century Legal Services (also known as Fidelity National Legal Services):As we reported, four states obtained court injunctions barring the company from operating there, but

Indiana Cop Cops Plea To Ripping Off Now-Deceased 89-Year Old Alzheimer's Victim Of Home, Cash

Posted on September 30, 2009
In Gary, Indiana, the Post Tribune reports:Gary police Sgt. Joshua Wiley admitted he stole money and a home from his former neighbor who suffered from Alzheimer's disease and dementia and has agreed to repay $116,765 to the woman's estate. On the day his jury trial was scheduled to begin, Wiley pleaded guilty [...

Ontario Man Admits To Defrauding Elderly Parents; Looted Bank Account, Used Forged POA To Pilfer Profits From Sale Of Home

Posted on September 30, 2009
In Peterborough, Ontario, The Peterborough Examiner reports:A 44-year-old man pleaded guilty [...] to defrauding his parents of about $140,000 in a series of crimes that involved forging a power of attorney, selling his parents' home behind their back and racking up thousands of dollars in credit card debt in his father's name...

Sacramento Feds Bag Two In Alleged Mortgage Scam Targeting Cambodian Immigrants; Home Buyers Left With Unaffordable House Payments, Facing Foreclosure

Posted on September 30, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Sacramento, California):United States Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced [...] that a criminal complaint was filed this morning charging IRENE SOTIRIADIS, 23, and HELEN SOTIRIADIS, 49, both of Manteca, with conducting a mortgage fraud scheme from March 2006 through November 2007 that caused losses to lenders estimated at approximately $5 million...

Scammer Stripped Of House & Vehicle, Gets 36 Months; Abused POA In $250K+ Ripoff Of Dementia-Suffering Senior

Posted on September 30, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Covington, Kentucky):The United States Attorney?s Office and the Postal Inspection Service jointly announced [...] that a Ludlow, Ky. man was sentenced yesterday to 36 months in prison for financially exploiting a wealthy elderly woman out of more than $250,000...

Blanket Receiverships Coming To Florida's Treasure Coast?

Posted on September 30, 2009
In Stuart, Florida, TC Palm reports on another financially strapped condominium association being screwed over by rent skimming, deadbeat landlords who are pocketing rents paid to them by their tenants and refusing to pay the monthly maintenance fees for their units:The Whitemarsh Reserve Homeowner?s Association in Martin County is now facing this grim scenario with some of its owners, who are

Struggling SW Florida Condominium Association Seeks Blanket Receivership Appointment In Effort To Stay Afloat

Posted on September 30, 2009
In Naples, Florida, the Naples Daily News reports:Some renters and foreclosed-on squatters at South Bay Plantation in East Naples may soon find red stickers on their front doors, warning that a receiver has been appointed for the struggling property and they have 48 hours to call...

Mass AG Obtains Indictments Against Foreclosure Rescue Operators Alleging Equity Stripping Ripoffs That Defrauded Homeowners, Banks, Investors

Posted on September 29, 2009
From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:Attorney General Martha Coakley?s Office announces that a Worcester County Grand Jury returned indictments [...] against an Oxford man, a real estate lawyer, a real estate paralegal and a notary public for their roles in a complex scheme in which fraudulent documents were used to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in numerous real estate

Connecticut Law Now Bans Upfront Fees, Requires Licensing & Bonding When Offering Loan Modification Services; Maximum Mod Fee Limited To $500

Posted on September 29, 2009
In Hartford, Connecticut, The Day reports:For the first time in Connecticut, firms and individuals offering debt relief they negotiate with a consumer's creditors will need to be licensed and will be prohibited from charging upfront fees.(1) A new law that goes into effect Thursday is designed to stop a growing number of scams by so-called ?debt negotiators? who fraudulently claim to help

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