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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

Cops Seek Ohio Foreclosure Rescue Operator For Allegedly Screwing Homeowners In Foreclosure; Charges Of Theft, Securing Writings By Deception Pending

Posted on August 14, 2009
In Columbus, Ohio, WBNS-TV Channel 10 reports:The alleged ringleader of an organization devoted to defrauding homeowners threatened by foreclosure was named to Crime Stoppers' most wanted list on Wednesday. Paul Hairston Jr. is being charged with theft, tampering and securing writings by deceptions, according to Crime Stoppers...

Arrest Warrant Issued For Colorado Foreclosure Rescue Operator Accused Of Selling Houses Out From Under Financially Distressed Homeowners

Posted on August 14, 2009
In Denver, Colorado, the Denver Daily News reports:A 31-year-old mortgage broker has been charged with multiple felonies after he was accused of scamming thousands of dollars from borrowers, investors and financial institutions. Kedrick McDuffie is accused of promising homeowners he could save their homes from foreclosure by having their original loans refinanced or taken over by another person.

NY AG Sues Loan Modification Firm; Outfit Runs Illegal Upfront Fee Racket Engaging In Deceptive Practices That Fails To Deliver On Promises, Says Suit

Posted on August 14, 2009
From the Office of the New York Attorney General:Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo [Thursday] announced that his office has filed a lawsuit against New York-based American Modification Agency, Inc. (?Amerimod?), one of the largest foreclosure rescue companies in the country, and its owner Salvatore Pane, Jr...

Florida Man Charged With Conning "Fiance" Into Selling Her Home, Then Bilking Her Of $300K In Sale Proceeds

Posted on August 14, 2009
In Broward County, Florida, The Miami Herald reports:Rose Marie Anglade thought she was building a life with the man of her dreams. After meeting him during a visit to Florida, she sold her home in Queens, moved her family to Miramar and began planning a wedding...

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MERS Scores Big Win As Minnesota High Court Says Sale Of Note Not An ?Assignment Of The Mortgage? Which Must Be Recorded Before Initiating Foreclosure

Posted on August 14, 2009
In St. Paul, Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports:Minnesota's Supreme Court on Thursday handed a small victory to the battered mortgage industry. In a 6-1 decision, the court ruled that state law does allow the name of a widely used electronic registry of home mortgages, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc...

California AG Orders 386 Loan Modification Outfits To Immediately Register & Post $100K Bond Or Face Prosecution

Posted on August 13, 2009
From the Office of the California Attorney General:Threatening possible criminal and civil prosecution, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. [Wednesday] ordered 386 mortgage foreclosure consultants to post $100,000 bonds and register with his office. He also ordered more than two dozen companies to justify suspicious loan modification claims made in "slick advertising," online and through the

Maryland Co-Conspirator Gets 54 Months For Role In Bogus Sale Leaseback, Foreclosure Rescue Scam; To Forfeit $2.25M In Proceeds From Criminal Acts

Posted on August 13, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Maryland):U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Earnest Lewis, age 52, of Takoma Park, Maryland, [Wednesday] to 54 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud arising from a scheme in which the conspirators offered to help financially vulnerable individuals save their homes from foreclosure,

D.C. Resident Victimized By Bogus Sale Leaseback Foreclosure Rescue; Family Home For Over A Century Lost In Scam

Posted on August 13, 2009
In Washington, D.C., Washington City Paper reports:There?s long been an O?Brien on Acker Place, and Anita O?Brien wants to keep it that way. Her great-grandfather, Lewis, purchased the redbrick rowhouse at 660 Acker?a one-block street with narrow brick sidewalks and thin trees?in 1902...

Housing Discrimination Rampant on Internet?

Posted on August 13, 2009
From a press release from the National Fair Housing Alliance:In a report released [Tuesday], the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) documents how thousands of illegal housing advertisements appear with impunity on the Internet every day. "FOR RENT: NO KIDS! How Internet Advertisements Perpetuate Discrimination" calls upon Congress to stop the flood of discriminatory housing advertisements on

Foreclosure Rescue Operators Using New Tenant Protection Law, Bogus Sale Leaseback Arrangements To Gum Up Foreclosure Process???

Posted on August 12, 2009
The Florida Asset Protection Blog reports:To better protect tenants victimized by foreclosures against their landlords Congress passed a law which required the non-occupant purchasers at foreclosure sales (such as banks) to honor existing leases on the foreclosed property provided that the lease was bona fide and the tenants were not in default...

Schizophrenic Employee Says In Suit Town Stiffed Him On Five Years Back Pay, Then Seized His $200K Property For $11K In Delinquent Real Estate Taxes

Posted on August 12, 2009
In Lewisboro, New York, the Lewisboro Ledger reports:Depending on which side you believe, Richard Egloff is either a tax scofflaw whose problems are his own fault or a schizophrenic persecuted by town officials and forced to turn over a $200,000 property to pay for $11,000 in back taxes...

Ex-Michigan Resident Charged With Five Felonies In Alleged Foreclosure Rescue Racket Nabbed In Texas

Posted on August 12, 2009
In Lansing, Michigan, WLAJ-TV Channel 3 reports:A former Lansing resident faced fraud charges Monday. State police and Attorney General Mike Cox said he's part of a half million dollar mortgage scheme. Officials say Jeffrey Barry was arrested today in Texas, where he's now living...

Las Vegas Man Charged With Forging Quit Claim Deed To Home Into His Own Name; Transfer Dated Nine Months After Owner's Death

Posted on August 12, 2009
In Las Vegas, Nevada, KLAS-TV Channel 8 reports:[Calvin] Wynn proclaims he is innocent of six felony charges relating to a real estate transaction in 2006. According to records, Morris Rozet, the 30-year resident of a southeast Las Vegas home, quit claimed his property to Wynn...

Damage To Credit Rating A Consideration For High-Score, Non-Delinquent Homeowners When Seeking Loan Modifications

Posted on August 12, 2009
Homeowners who are current on their mortgage loan but nevertheless are seeking to modify their loans to lower their house payments may wish to consider the prospect of how badly their credit scores will be creamed if they go through with a loan modification, based on a recent story on Credit...

Connecticut AG Accuses Two Outfits Of "Lawyer Renting" While Peddling Loan Modifications; Group May Also Have Operations In Florida, Six Other States

Posted on August 11, 2009
From the Office of the Connecticut Attorney General:Attorney General Richard Blumenthal [Monday] issued an urgent warning to consumers about two foreclosure rescue companies allegedly masquerading as a law firm in Connecticut. Blumenthal's office is investigating and preparing action against the companies and coordinating with the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel (OCDC), which has filed a

Collapsing Short Sales Contribute To Continuing Flow Of Foreclosures

Posted on August 11, 2009
USA Today reports:Scores of homeowners who thought they'd cut a deal with their banks to sell their houses for less than their unpaid mortgages are seeing those agreements fall apart months later, contributing to the mounting foreclosures that threaten the housing market's recovery...

Seller's Failure To Resolve Foreclosure Spells Disaster For Would-Be Rent To Own Homebuyer; Family Booted Despite Making Repairs, Prompt Rent Payments

Posted on August 11, 2009
In Syracuse, New York, The Post Standard reports:When they moved in last fall, April and Boliver Marshall thought their family had found the American Dream. "Everyone had been saying, no, you'll never be a homeowner -- and then, finally, I was," April Marshall recalled...

Foreclosure Eviction Forces Couple, Four Kids, Two Elderly Foster Care Clients From Rented Home; Out $2.5K Security Deposit, Cost Of Home Improvements

Posted on August 11, 2009
In Eugene, Oregon, The Register Guard reports:Three months into a year long lease, renters Al and Rene Ako had to pack up their children and two elderly foster care clients and move. They had to move out of a house in the Ferry Street Bridge area of Eugene even through they had paid their rent on schedule and otherwise held up their end of the landlord-tenant bargain...

Foreclosure Forces Four Washington Seniors From Assisted Living Adult Home

Posted on August 11, 2009
In Marysville, Washington, HeraldNet.com reports:One adult family home has been closed by foreclosure and the state Department of Social and Health Services has warned residents at a second nearby adult family home that theirs could face a similar fate...

Maryland Homeowner Accuses Wells Of "Unclean Hands" In Federal Suit Seeking To Undo Toxic Mortgage Loan

Posted on August 10, 2009
In Greenbelt, Maryland, The Business Gazette reports:A Bowie couple is suing Wells Fargo bank, alleging the bank should have known they could not afford the second mortgage they agreed to for their home. [...] According to court documents, the Bahs have asked for "legal and equitable relief as may be appropriate," though lawyers hope that will include a chance to renegotiate with the lender...

Fannie Backs Down On Plans To Use Online Auction To Dump $29M Mortgage Portfolio Secured By Rundown Bronx Bldgs; Will Search For Responsible Landlord

Posted on August 10, 2009
In The Bronx, New York, Crain's New York Business reports:In the face of pressure from Sen. Charles Schumer, city housing officials and tenant advocates, Fannie Mae decided to cancel an online auction of 19 Bronx apartment buildings that had fallen into foreclosure...

Florida Suit Claiming Homeowner Facing Foreclosure Paid Inflated Fees To Reinstate Mortgage Certified As Class Action

Posted on August 10, 2009
In West Palm Beach, Florida, the Palm Beach Post reports:Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull [Thursday] certified as a class action a lawsuit against an attorney, along with his law firm, who collected foreclosure-related fees from Wells Fargo mortgage holders...

Failure To Establish Chain Of Title, Prove Debt Sinks Creditor As Consumer Challenges Credit Card Claim In Collection Lawsuit

Posted on August 10, 2009
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:Jenny Vo of South Philadelphia ekes by as a manicurist and single mother raising two sons. So when a debt collector told her in February 2008 she owed $14,237.38 on her credit card, she was stunned...

Monkees' Wife Cops Plea In NYC Rent Subsidy Ripoff; Pays 137,000 "Bananas" For "Get Out Of Jail Free Card" After Initially Hit w/ Grand Larceny Charge

Posted on August 10, 2009
In New York City, the New York Post reports:Hey, hey, I'm a housing cheat! The wife of Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz was arrested [Thursday] on charges she ripped off an affordable housing program. Investigators said Donna Quinter, 54, had illegally gotten her paws on $136,866 in government rental subsidies aimed at providing affordable housing for the middle class over a five-year period...

Minnesota Suit Seeks To Slam Brakes On Foreclosures Until Feds Implement Better Procedures In Program Borrowers Claim Violates Due Process Rights

Posted on August 09, 2009
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:Across the state and the nation, struggling homeowners [...] are growing frustrated with a $75 billion federal program that was supposed to ease the housing crisis by preventing so-called "avoidable foreclosures" by cutting borrowers' monthly mortgage payments...

Mortgage Servicer Forecloses On Home Despite On-Time Payments On Loan Mod Agreement, Says Texas Woman In Suit

Posted on August 09, 2009
In Galveston, Texas, The Southeast Texas Record reports:A Kemah woman alleges a mortgage processing and servicing company foreclosed her residence even though she was on time with her payments, recent court documents say. Christina Melinder accuses Ocwen Loan Servicing of breaching a loan modification agreement she entered with the Florida-based business back in February...

Plea-Copping Suspect Agrees To Testify Against Confederates In Criminal Prosecution Of Alleged Loan Modification Scammers

Posted on August 09, 2009
In Monterey County, California, The Monterey Herald reports:A preliminary hearing began Friday for a Gonzales woman and her nephew who are charged with fraud. They were arrested in August 2008 on suspicion of taking money from 55 people with empty promises of renegotiating their mortgages to avoid foreclosure...

California Men Sentenced For Using Others' I.D. To Obtain Loans, Cars; Victimized Owners Had Home Of 30+ Years Sold Out From Under Them

Posted on August 09, 2009
From the Office of the San Bernardino County, California District Attorney:Howard Edwards and John Foster were sentenced to prison for real estate fraud related crimes. Howard Edwards was sentenced to 20 years, four months and John Foster was sentenced to 10 years, four months...

Attorney Suspended For Taking, Failing To Return $308K In Client Trust Funds After Failed Foreclosure Sale Bid

Posted on August 09, 2009
In Tampa, Florida, The Tampa Tribune reports on some of the local attorneys recently sanctioned by the Florida Supreme Court for their bad behavior, including:Andrew Stuart Forman of Tampa was suspended until further order. An emergency suspension order states that Forman took $308,000 in trust to be used to bid at a foreclosure sale...

Stumbling Onto Hand Grenade The Latest Surprise For Real Estate Pair As Hazards Increase For Those Selling Foreclosed Homes

Posted on August 08, 2009
In Clarke County, Georgia, the Athens Banner Herald reports:Foreclosure specialists Mike Seger and Jackie Quig never know what they'll find when they check on a house that a bank plans to put on the market. They've come across dynamite, a pipe bomb and marijuana grow houses, but Thursday was the first time they'd stumbled onto a hand grenade...

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