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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

Florida Bar To Consider Review Process For Ethics Breaches By Attorneys Bringing Foreclosure Actions Filed w/ Errors, False Statements

Posted on September 29, 2009
The Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:The state group that disciplines lawyers is debating how to deal with reports of attorneys using errors and false statements to retake property in foreclosure cases.(1) [...] A section of The Florida Bar that seeks to give everyone equal access to the courts says stories like those prompted it to push for a special committee to review any ethical violations in

New Jersey Landlord Beats Back RICO Suit Charge That Renting To Illegal Immigrants Constitutes "Harboring"

Posted on September 29, 2009
In Plainfield, New Jersey, myCentralJersey.com reports:A federal judge has denied an appeal of an earlier decision to dismiss part of a landmark lawsuit that challenged the rights of landlords to rent apartments to illegal immigrants. The suit, brought last July against the city-based Connolly Properties Inc...

Effort To Reign In Loan Modification Rackets "A Giant Game Of Whack-A-Mole"?

Posted on September 28, 2009
Pro Publica reports on the difficulties authorities around the country are having reigning in loan modification rackets, and shines light on one firm that continues peddling its services, despite a flood of homeowner complaints and a number of legal actions brought by various state authorities:In a giant game of whack-a-mole, law enforcement agencies at all levels across the country have filed

Just Showing Up Buys Financially Troubled Homeowners Three Extra Months On Sarasota's Foreclosure "Rocket Docket"

Posted on September 28, 2009
In Sarasota County, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:Florida "rocket dockets" have earned the reputation as a cold, heartless place where a lender can retake someone's home in less than two minutes. And in most cases, that's true: The judge orders the house sold in 30 days in a rapid-fire proceeding designed to speed through thousands of uncontested foreclosures clogging the court

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A Cautionary Tale On Assumed Mortgages

Posted on September 28, 2009
Ever wonder what the risks are of selling your home in a deal that allows the buyer to take over the payments on your existing mortgage?A Philadelphia Inquirer opinion columnist and editorial page editor recently detailed a personal situation involving a mortgage he had on a home that he sold back in 1994 that came back to bite him some 15 years later...

Oregon AG Indicts Mtg Broker/Loan Modification Firm Owner For Allegedly Cheating Homeowners In Foreclosure; Aggravated Theft, Forgery Among Charges

Posted on September 28, 2009
From the Oregon Department of Justice:Attorney General John Kroger [...] announced the indictment of a Salem mortgage broker on charges of mortgage fraud, aggravated theft, forgery and identity theft. It is is the first indictment by the Attorney General's Mortgage Fraud Task Force...

Kansas Supreme Court Ruling Unfavorable To MERS Getting National Attention?

Posted on September 27, 2009
In Topeka, Kansas, The Lawrence Journal World reports:Some are touting a recent Kansas Supreme Court decision as a major development in the protection of people facing foreclosures. In Landmark National Bank v. Kesler, the court ruled unanimously that Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems had no standing to bring action in a foreclosure case...

NY Times On MERS' Ruling From The Kansas Supreme Court

Posted on September 27, 2009
The New York Times reports:WITH the mortgage bust approaching Year Three, it is increasingly up to the nation?s courts to examine the dubious practices that guided the mania. A ruling that the Kansas Supreme Court issued last month(1) has done precisely that, and it has significant implications for both the mortgage industry and troubled borrowers...

N. Virginia Code Enforcement Investigators Stumble Into Massive Straw Buyer Scam That Leads Feds To Bag 20 Suspects; As Many As 200 Homes Involved

Posted on September 27, 2009
In Fairfax County, Virginia, the Daily Press reports:Mundane complaints about noise and parking problems in a Washington suburb led authorities to uncover a sweeping mortgage fraud scheme involving as many as 200 properties valued at more than $100 million, officials announced Thursday...

Minnesota AG Targets Three Outfits In Civil Suits Alleging Upfront Fee Rackets Promising Help With Credit Card Debt

Posted on September 27, 2009
From the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General:Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson [...] filed three lawsuits against separate companies that promised consumers they would lower the interest rates on their credit cards in exchange for payments of up to $1,995 but then failed to provide the promised services...

Justice Department Obtains Guilty Pleas In Cross Burning Incidents; Race-Based Harassment, Intimidation Used To Drive Families From Homes, Say Feds

Posted on September 27, 2009
In two separate incidents, the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced:.#1: Two Indiana Men Plead Guilty to Cross Burning:Richard LaShure, 41, and Aaron Latham, 20, both of Muncie, Ind., pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the civil rights of an African American family and to interfering with their housing rights by burning a cross in the family?s yard...

Cops Let Would-Be Foreclosure Stripper Off Hook; Pleads Ignorance Of The Law, Agrees To Stop, Refunds Money On Sale Of Cabinets, Yanks Craigslist Ad

Posted on September 26, 2009
In Medford, Oregon, the Mail Tribune reports:Mike Vaughan was surprised when an elderly couple was willing to pay $60 for some old kitchen cabinets from an east Medford home that is heading into foreclosure. The couple had seen an ad the 30-year-old Vaughan posted on Craigslist Wednesday that offered to sell almost every fixture in the house on Cedar Links Circle ? including the kitchen sink.

S. Florida Squatters Expand Housing Search Into High-End Neighborhoods; Family Hijacks Foreclosed Waterfront Home; Lender's Agent Caught Flat-Footed

Posted on September 26, 2009
In Coral Gables, Florida, WTVJ-TV Channel 6 reports:Miami's squatter problem has garnered national media attention over the past year and a half, as the foreclosure crisis threatened to transform the Magic City into something resembling a lawless, "Mad Max"-esque landscape...

Water Shutoff Threats Face Tenants In Financially Troubled Apartment Buildings; Notices Sent To Central Jersey Renters In 70 Units

Posted on September 26, 2009
In Plainfield, New Jersey, myCentralJersey.com reports:Notices informing tenants that their water service could be shut off in less than three weeks appeared Monday at two downtown apartment buildings managed by Connolly Properties Inc., but a company spokesman said that residents there shouldn't be concerned...

Landlord's Unpaid $100K Electric Bill Leaves Building's Tenants In The Dark, Without Refrigerators, Elevators

Posted on September 26, 2009
In Highland Park, Michigan, WJBK-TV Channel 2 reports:Residents of the Highland Towers apartments say they've paid their rent, but they're being left in the dark. It's been more than a week since power to the building was shut off. DTE Energy admits it is a horrible situation, but they say the owners of the building owe $100,000 in unpaid bills...

Another Tenant In Building In Foreclosure Faces Immediate Boot Due To Landlord's Unpaid Water Bill

Posted on September 26, 2009
In Visalia, California, the Visalia Times Delta reports:By April, [Tracy Wood] and a friend were able to save enough money for the security deposit on a two-bedroom apartment. The deposit was steep more than $2,000 but the $675-a-month rent was just the right price...

Foreclosure Stripping Alive & Well In Chicago Suburbs

Posted on September 26, 2009
In suburban Chicago, Illinois, SouthtownStar reports:Now appearing in the Southland: the amazing disappearing kitchen! It's not magic, though. It's homeowners leaving their foreclosed houses bare, stripping and selling everything they can to pay bills or stick it to the bank that's giving them the boot...

Foreclosure Stripping Among Charges Landing Oregon Man 45 Months In Jail; Ukrainian National May Now Face Deportation

Posted on September 26, 2009
In Clackamas County, Oregon, The Oregonian reports:The Damascus man who stripped his own foreclosed home of more than $50,000 worth of property was sentenced [...] to 3 years and 9 months of prison, as part of a plea bargain that included the defrauding of an electric company...

Owner In Foreclosure Loses Personal Possessions; Contents Seized & Auctioned Off As Alleged Drug Dealer Holding 3rd Mortgage Moves Into $2M+ Home

Posted on September 26, 2009
In Vancouver, British Columbia, The Vancouver Sun reports:The owner of a Shaughnessy heritage home was in tears after learning that all her worldly possessions had been seized by a bailiff and sold at auction. Gail Hewitt is also angry that the man who has taken possession of her $2-million-plus home is an accused drug dealer, Robert Luigi Poloni...

Lender's Rep Stumbles Into Indoor Pot Farm While Changing Locks At Home In Foreclosure; Cops "Bag" 60 Marijuana Plants, One Suspect

Posted on September 26, 2009
In Vero Beach, Florida, TC Palm reports:Authorities on Thursday discovered a home going into foreclosure was being used as a marijuana grow house. Eric Sotero Martinez, 26, [...] was charged with cultivation and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute...

Accused Squatter Family Claims To Be Legal Tenant; Refuses To Show Lease, Won't Pay Rent Or Leave Foreclosed $1.5M Home

Posted on September 26, 2009
In Manhattan Beach, California, the Daily Breeze reports:The buyer of a foreclosed Manhattan Beach house last owned by a former Los Angeles Clipper is suing the occupants, alleging they are refusing to leave the once $2.7 million residence or pay rent...

Slumbering Foreclosing Lenders Unable To Document Loan Ownership Beginning To Face Complete Wipeout Of Mortgage Interests Thru "Quiet Title" Actions?

Posted on September 25, 2009
A recent story in The Huffington Post on the "Produce The Note" strategy of defending against foreclosure actions contained the following tidbit:In Florida, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid attorney April Charney has been using the missing-note argument since she first identified the lenders' weakness in 2004...

Mortgage Servicer Sued For Wrongful Death For Allegedly Making Caustic Collection Calls That Lead To Delinquent Homeowner's Fatal Heart Attack

Posted on September 25, 2009
In Tampa, Florida, The Associated Press reports:A widow claims that debt collectors hounded her husband to death with as many as nine caustic calls per day, causing stress that contributed to his fatal heart attack. She's suing the Florida couple's mortgage company in a unique wrongful death case...

Veteran Fraudster Gets 97 Months For Running Realty Scams; Bogus Sale Leaseback Foreclosure Rescue Deals Among Rackets Resulting In $1M+ In Losses

Posted on September 25, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (New Jersey):A Phoenixville, Pa., man was sentenced to 97 months in prison [...] for his leadership role in operating two Ponzi schemes upon members of a Toms River church, which resulted in total losses of more than $1 million, Acting U...

Title Agent Cops Plea To Illegally Dipping Into Escrow Funds From Real Estate Closings; "Katrina" Credited For Slamming Brakes On Ponzi-Style Scam

Posted on September 25, 2009
In New Orleans, Louisiana, the Times Picayune reports:A 68-year-old Metairie man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to wire fraud for his role in a local refinancing scheme, authorities said. Hubert Edward Ellzey Jr. acknowledged that, as an independent title agent for Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company of Louisiana, he wired money from the refinanced properties to a special escrow

Title Agent Admits To Stiffing Existing Lienholders In Real Estate Closings; Pocketed Cash Due Lenders, Wrote & Sold Phony Secured Notes, Kited Checks

Posted on September 25, 2009
From the Office of the FBI (Louisville, Kentucky):Candace Hill, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, announced that Wavy Curtis Shain, age 26, of Louisville, Kentucky, pled guilty on September 18, 2009, to nine counts of wire fraud, and one count of bank fraud...

Lender Knowingly Wrote Millions Of Dollars In Crappy Loans, Abandoning Prudent Underwriting Standards, Says Mortgage Insurer In Lawsuit

Posted on September 25, 2009
In Los Angeles, California, Courthouse News Service reports:MBIA Insurance Corp. says IndyMac Bank knowingly loaned millions of dollars to borrowers who could not afford to repay the loans, leaving the stock insurance company to pay out more than $487 million on its guarantees with an expected $566 million more to come, MBIA claims in Superior Court...

Ringleader In Cash Back Mortgage Scam Gets 30 Years; Used Phony Repair Invoices, Shell Corporations To Skim $1.1M From Closing Proceeds On 34 Homes

Posted on September 25, 2009
In Denver, Colorado, The Denver Post reports:The ringleader of a multimillion-dollar mortgage-fraud ring was sentenced [...] to 30 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Uto Essien, 45, a Nigerian national, will be deported after completing his sentence...

Some In Congress Seek To Make "Produce The Note" Strategy Mandatory To Level Playing Field In Defending Against Sloppy Foreclosing Lenders, Servicers

Posted on September 24, 2009
The Huffington Post reports:Modern-day home mortgages have been so sliced and diced by rapacious financiers that some homeowners are successfully delaying -- or even blocking -- foreclosures through the simple tactic of demanding that banks produce the original mortgage note, which amazingly enough is often not so easy for them to do...

Conn. AG Puts Kibosh On Shaky "Option To Buy" Obtained By Pair From Hospitalized Dying Woman; Deal Would Have Allowed Purchase For Less Than 50% FMV

Posted on September 24, 2009
From the Office of the Connecticut Attorney General:Attorney General Richard Blumenthal [...] announced that his office has successfully challenged a questionable agreement to sell the home of a deceased Greenwich woman, securing at least $300,000 more for charities named in the woman's will...

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