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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

Calgary Woman Faces Sentencing For Using POA To Sell, Rip Off Proceeds Of, Hospitalized Disabled Cousin's Home & Vehicle

Posted on September 19, 2009
In Calgary, Alberta, the Calgary Herald reports:A city woman, ordered by the court last year to repay $180,000 after she bilked her disabled cousin of all his valuable assets, now faces jail time. Joy Marie Barkley, 54, was scheduled to be sentenced [...

Mom Accuses Bankrupt Daughter Of Wiping Out Life Savings, Using Unwittingly Signed Deed To Sell Home & Pocket Proceeds

Posted on September 19, 2009
In Nashville, Tennessee, NashvillePost.com reports:Donna Jones, a former employee of admitted embezzler and Ponzi scheme operator Michael J. Park of Brentwood, appeared before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court [last week]. [...] As to claims by Jones that she had not transferred assets in the last three years, that [...

Use Of Phony POA To Sell Murdered Retiree's $1M Home, Loot Bank Accounts Among Charges Facing Slay Suspects

Posted on September 19, 2009
In Palm Springs, California, The Desert Sun reports:Five men accused in the stabbing death of a Palm Springs retiree to steal his identity and his financial assets today were ordered to stand trial on murder and other charges. Kaushal Niroula, 27, San Francisco attorney David Replogle, 60, Miguel Bustamante, 26, Daniel Garcia, 26, and Craig McCarthy, 29, face charges of murder, conspiracy to

In-Home Health Care Aide Facing Foreclosure Sentenced For Ripping Off $15K From 93-Year Old Patient

Posted on September 19, 2009
In Martinez, California, the Contra Costa Times reports:An Oakley woman has been sentenced to jail and probation for stealing more than $15,000 from an 93-year-old Rossmoor woman who employed her to provide in-home care. Teresa Bryant pleaded no contest [...

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Financially Strapped Real Estate Operators Charged With Torching Their $1M Home; Roof Collapse Nearly Kills Firefighters

Posted on September 19, 2009
In Tracy, California, the Tracy Press reports:A husband and wife are suspected of burning down their $1 million home in Tracy last summer ? a blaze that almost killed several firefighters. Police [...] arrested 31-year-old William ?Billy? Tipton Jr. and issued an arrest warrant for his wife, 37-year-old Frayba Tipton, on suspicion of arson, forgery and insurance fraud...

Washington Man Gets Two Months For Abusing POA, Leaving Mentally Impaired 78-Year Old Woman Homeless

Posted on September 19, 2009
In Kitsap County, Washington, the Kitsap Sun reports:A Bremerton man has been sentenced to two months in jail for a mortgage theft scheme that left an elderly woman without a home, according to documents filed in Kitsap County Superior Court. Tony Thomas, 55, pleaded guilty to second-degree theft Sept...

Sentencing Continues For Participants In Maryland-Based Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Scams Peddling Bogus Sale Leaseback Arrangements

Posted on September 18, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Maryland):U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Richard Allison, age 38, of Camp Springs, Maryland, an attorney and employee of the U.S. Census Bureau, [...] to 18 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme(1) which falsely promised to help

Maryland Accountant Cops Plea To Ripping Off $1M+ From Escrow Account, Then Torching Offices Of Employer/Law Firm After Getting Canned

Posted on September 18, 2009
In Dundalk, Maryland, WBAL-TV Channel 11 reports:Federal prosecutors said a former accountant for a Dundalk real estate law firm pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1 million and burning the firm's offices. George Perez, 33, of Dundalk pleaded guilty Wednesday to theft and arson charges...

92-Year Old Victim Of Alleged C. Florida House Swindle Gives Emotional Testimony In Criminal Trial; Says She Unwittingly Signed Deed To Her Home

Posted on September 18, 2009
In New Port Richey, Florida, The Tampa Tribune reports:Time has taken away some of Eloise Mudway's physical and mental abilities. She has difficulty recalling names, dates and times; struggles to hear and gets around only with the help of a wheelchair...

Minister Gets Four Years For Fraudulently Obtaining Mortgage Loan

Posted on September 18, 2009
In Fairview Heights, Illinois, the Belleville News Democrat reports:A metro-east minister was sentenced [last week] to four years in prison for federal mortgage loan fraud after he made fraudulent transactions to get a loan on a home in an exclusive Maryville neighborhood...

Tenants Stripped Of Community Privileges As Rent Skimming Landlord Pockets Cash, Stiffs Condo Association Out Of $10K+ In Monthly Maintenance Fees

Posted on September 18, 2009
In West Palm Beach, Florida, WPBF-TV Channel 25 reports:The home has everything Xavier Melendez could want for his young family. "Really quiet, really peaceful," he said about the West Palm Beach community. He finds the rent fair and he said he paid it faithfully for two years...

Illinois AG Brings Civil Suit Alleging Deceptive Practices In Equity Stripping, Home Repair Scam That Duped 36 Chicago Homeowners

Posted on September 17, 2009
In Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reports:The Illinois attorney general's office filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court on Tuesday against a Chicago man and five home repair and mortgage companies for allegedly defrauding 36 Chicago homeowners, including two who lost homes to foreclosure...

Miami Man Gets 88 Months For Role In Impersonating Unwitting Homeowners & Ripping Off Their HELOC Accounts

Posted on September 17, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Alexandria, Virginia):Henry ?Uche? Obilo, age 30, of Miami, Fl., was sentenced to 88 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role as a leader in a home equity line of credit fraud scheme(1) that has been linked to more than $36 million in attempted fraud and almost $11 million in actual losses...

NC AG On Loan Modification Foreclosure Rescue Scammers: "These Creeps Are Out There, Crawling Out From Under Rocks & Taking People's Money"

Posted on September 17, 2009
In Greenville, North Carolina, The Daily Reflector reports:State Attorney General Roy Cooper on Tuesday warned local homeowners and business leaders to be wary of home mortgage assistance scams, one of several topics he covered at a luncheon hosted by the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce at the Brook Valley Country Club...

Trial Begins For Central Florida Couple Accused Of Swiping Home Out From Under Elderly Widow Who Unwittingly Signed Deed

Posted on September 17, 2009
In New Port Richey, Florida, The Suncoast News reports:Prosecutors call it a case of deceit, deception and greed. Defense attorneys say it's simply a case of an elderly woman who spent her way into financial ruin and had to be rescued. Who's right?A jury will answer that question during the trial of Joseph and Cynthia Clancy, who are accused of bilking Eloise Mudway, now 92, out of her house and

Kansas Supreme Court Leaves MERS, 2nd Mortgage Holder Holding The Bag; Says Neither Is Entitled To Notice Of Foreclosure Action By First Mortgagee

Posted on September 16, 2009
Housing Wire reports:A ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court determined Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS)(1) was not a ?necessary party? in a mortgage foreclosure proceeding initiated by a first lien holder. [...] The court?s ruling involves a case where MERS was listed as the mortgagee of a second-lien mortgage originated by Millenia Mortgage Corp...

Vegas Man Claims "Adverse Possession" In Attempt To Justify Hijacking, Then Renting, Vacant Home In Foreclosure

Posted on September 16, 2009
In Las Vegas, Nevada, KTNV-TV Channel 13 reports:The foreclosure captial of the country is becoming a hot bed for scam artists, but one family in the Valley is taking action to try to take back its home from a man who may have rented it out illegally...

Bogus Loan Fees, Failure To Act In Good Faith Among Allegations In Elderly Ohio Couple's Attempt To Fight Foreclosure Of Home Of 40+ Years

Posted on September 16, 2009
In Stark County, Ohio, The Canton Repository reports:A mediator has been asked to resolve a foreclosure dispute that has come close to chasing a North Canton couple in their mid-80s from their home. Stark County Common Pleas Court Judge Taryn Heath referred a foreclosure against William and Bette Hammen to the Community Mediation Center...

Queens Co-Op Board Of Directors Accused Of Taking Out $12M In Mortgages On Building Without Unit Owners' Consent

Posted on September 16, 2009
In Elmhurst, New York, the New York Daily News reports:Shareholders of an Elmhurst co-op are locked in a legal tug of war with its board of directors, accusing it of taking out $12 million in mortgages without their knowledge. Shareholders of the Continental, at 87-10 51st Ave...

Wells Fargo Cans Squatting Senior VP For Using $12M Beachfront REO As Party House

Posted on September 15, 2009
In Malibu, California, The Los Angeles Times reports:Moving to contain a public relations mess, Wells Fargo & Co. fired a top executive accused of using a bank-owned Malibu beach house to entertain her family and friends. Cheronda Guyton, a senior vice president responsible for commercial foreclosed properties, broke company rules barring personal use of bank property, Wells Fargo said in a

Home Lost To Foreclosure Despite Loan Servicer's Failure To Complete HAMP Review, Says New Hampshire Couple

Posted on September 15, 2009
In Franklin, New Hampshire, New Hampshire Public Radio reports:About a month ago, homeowners Sharon Gagnon and her husband were facing foreclosure. But they sought help from a HUD certified housing counselor, and got a modification with Chase Bank under the federal Making Home Affordable Program...

Punishing Attorneys Offering Bogus Loan Modification Help To Financially Strapped Homeowners A Priority For Incoming State Bar President

Posted on September 15, 2009
In Los Angeles, California, The Los Angeles Times reports:Crooked lawyers have long besmirched the profession's image, but the scale of their involvement in the loan modification scandals plaguing California homeowners has taken an unprecedented toll, the incoming president of the State Bar of California says...

Massachusetts Regulators Asleep At Wheel During Recent Subprime Era?

Posted on September 15, 2009
In Boston, Massachusetts, New England Cable News reports:Where were Massachusetts banking regulators as the subprime mortgage crisis exploded all around them? That question is the focus of a special investigation by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting at Boston University - a collaborative effort that includes NECN, WBUR radio, The Boston Globe and Banker and Tradesman...

City Concerned About Effect On Tenants From Unwinding $5.4B Purchase Of 11,000+ Unit Apartment Complexes Gone Bad

Posted on September 15, 2009
In New York City, The New York Times reports:Three years ago, the sale of the 110 red-brick apartment buildings at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan represented the most expensive American real estate deal in history.(1) Now the buyers are running out of time and money...

Head Of Maryland-Based Foreclosure Rescue Firm Gets 78 Months For Role In Peddling Bogus Equity Stripping Sale Leasebacks To Homeowners In Foreclosure

Posted on September 14, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Maryland):U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Michael K. Lewis, age 57, of Takoma Park, Maryland today to 78 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud arising from a scheme in which he and his conspirators offered to help financially vulnerable individuals save their homes from

Texas Judge Slams Foreclosure Rescue Operator With 350 Months For Pocketing Upfront Fees In Scam Offering False Promises Of Foreclosure Help

Posted on September 14, 2009
In San Antonio, Texas, the San Antonio Express News reports:A San Antonio woman who defrauded several people out of more than $70,000 in foreclosure-rescue scams got a hard lesson Friday. After reportedly telling a victim a Spanish phrase along the lines of ?Payback's a (expletive),? Rosario Castro Divins was sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison for her scams, the comment and misbehaving in

Bond-Posting Pals Allowed To Reclaim Homes Previously Forfeited When Bailjumping Friend Fled Country As Brooklyn Federal Judge Lets Them Off The Hook

Posted on September 14, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, the New York Post reports:Pals who posted bail for a shady former Credit Suisse broker who fled to Spain are off the hook for backing the crook, a federal judge ruled [Wednesday]. Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein let Julian Tzolov's friends reclaim their homes after prosecutors agreed to seize only the broker's assets to cover his $3 million bail bond...

Brooklyn Trial Judge Known For Slamming Sloppy Lenders In Foreclosure Actions Featured On CBS Evening News

Posted on September 14, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, the CBS Evening News recently featured state trial judge Arthur M. Schack, a jurist who has developed a reputation for booting foreclosing lenders and their attorneys for sloppy, error-filled filings in foreclosure proceedings:He's rejected more than 40 of the 100-plus foreclosure filings that have crossed his desk in the last two years because of what some call "small"

Battle Against Rent Skimming Florida Condo Investors Intensifies As Blanket Receivership Court Orders Become Broader In Scope

Posted on September 14, 2009
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports on how the fight being waged by condo associations across South Florida and the state by seeking court-ordered, blanket receiverships against deadbeat investor/unit owners continues to heat up:The first blanket receivership order was petitioned by the Association Law Group and signed in March by a Miami-Dade County judge on the behalf of the Oaks at Miami

Wells Fargo Exec Spotted Squatting, Throwing Lavish Bashes At Lender-Owned, $12M Oceanfront REO Once Owned By Madoff Victims, Say Neighbors

Posted on September 13, 2009
In Malibu, California, The Los Angeles Times reports:Bernard L. Madoff's massive fraud stunned some of the wealthy denizens of Malibu Colony, especially when a couple devastated by the scheme surrendered their oceanfront home to Wells Fargo Bank. But some neighbors say the real shocker came when they saw one of the bank's top executives spending weekends in the $12-million beach house and hosting

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