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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 Supreme Court Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force Seeks Public Input

Posted on June 16, 2009
In Tallahassee, Florida, The Miami Herald reports:A Florida Supreme Court task force wants to know what borrowers, mortgage holders and lawyers have to say about their experiences in the foreclosure process. They can comment on the State Courts System Web site, court officials said Friday...

Federal Trial Of Texas Woman Charged in Alleged Loan Modification Foreclosure Rescue Scam Begins

Posted on June 16, 2009
In San Antonio, Texas, the San Antonio Express News reports:Jacquelyn Guerrero and her husband handed over their $3,000 tax refund to try to stop the impending foreclosure. Guadalupe Dominguez handed over her monthly $1,400 Social Security income and more money she borrowed...

Nevada AG Announces Indictment Of Two Charged With Theft In Connection With Alleged Loan Modification Scam

Posted on June 15, 2009
From the Office of the Nevada Attorney General:Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced [Friday] the indictments of William Vargas and Michael Sinclair, on one (1) felony count of Theft of a Person 60 Years or Older and four (4) felony counts of Theft by Material Misrepresentation, for allegedly operating a foreclosure rescue scam in Las Vegas under the business name of Federal

Massachusetts AG Obtains Temporary Restraining Orders Against Two Firms For Allegedly Soliciting Illegal Upfront Fees For Loan Modification Services

Posted on June 15, 2009
In Boston, Massachusetts, Legal Newsline reports:Attorney General Martha Coakley has obtained temporary restraining orders against a Wyoming and Florida company, and a Florida man for soliciting unlawful fees from homeowners facing foreclosure.The defendants, H...

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Minnesota Couple Sentenced In Mortgage Scam Involving Recording Phony Lien Satisfaction Before Selling Home, Pocketing Entire Sale Proceeds

Posted on June 15, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Minnesota):An Oak Grove couple was sentenced yesterday in federal court in connection with a scheme to defraud several mortgage lending companies and to obtain money from them by means of false and fraudulent pretenses...

ATIF Refuses To Issue Title Insurance On Controversial Short Sale Deals Involving Simultaneous Investor "Flips"

Posted on June 15, 2009
In Tampa, Florida, The Tampa Tribune reports:It may now be a bit tougher for investors to flip short sales for big profits. Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund(1) notified its 6,000 member attorneys [last] week that it will not insure deals made with a popular ? but controversial ? method for closing flips of short sales...

Philadelphia Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Pilot Program Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

Posted on June 15, 2009
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports:State Rep. Michael McGeehan watched in amazement last Thursday as a group of lawyers, housing counselors, homeowners and court personnel whirred around City Hall Courtroom 676 as part of the city?s foreclosure conciliation conference program...

California 90-Day Foreclosure "Moratorium" Begins Today

Posted on June 15, 2009
The Sacramento Bee reports:Lots of questions this morning on the real meaning of California's new 90-day foreclosure moratorium beginning today - which got plenty of attention on national TV yesterday. Here is a link to the California Department of Corporations site and on the official regulations that spell out the program in detail...

Brooklyn Daily Eagle On Local Trial Judge

Posted on June 14, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle recently ran a profile on trial judge Arthur M. Schack of the Kings County Supreme Court, who has been noted for his stiff stance on lenders and their lawyers using sloppy paperwork when attempting to make their cases in foreclosure actions...

Massachusetts Closing Attorney To Pay $115K In Restitution, Penalties For Participating In Alleged Equity Stripping & Mortgage Fraud Schemes

Posted on June 14, 2009
From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:Attorney General Martha Coakley?s Office has entered into a judgment with Brockton attorney Valerie Hanserd resolving allegations over her role as a closing attorney in two companion lawsuits that both allege unfair practices with respect to mortgage brokering services...

San Bernardino DA Convicts Two Accused Of Using Stolen IDs To Fraudulently Pocket Loan Proceeds Secured By Unwitting Victims' Real Estate

Posted on June 14, 2009
In San Bernardino, California, the Office of the San Bernardino County District Attorney recently announced that John Foster and Howard Edwards were found guilty after a jury trial of 56 counts ranging from forgery, grand theft, filing of false instruments, identity theft, conspiracy, and money laundering in a scam where they allegedly swiped personal information from unwitting victims and used

Five Big City Mayors Urge States To Pass Philadelphia-Based Mediation Model To Stem Foreclosures

Posted on June 14, 2009
Reuters reports:Mayors from five U.S. cities called on Thursday for states to pass laws that would require mortgage lenders to negotiate with borrowers who are threatened with foreclosure. The mayors of New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis and Oakland, California, said mandatory mediation offers the best hope of stemming a national foreclosure crisis that led to an 18 percent surge in

Ohio Loan Review Specialist Uncovers Florida Straw Buyer Mortgage Fraud; Nine Charged

Posted on June 14, 2009
In Alachua County, Florida, The Gainseville Sun reports:A loan review specialist in Ohio uncovered a $2.4 million Florida mortgage fraud conspiracy allegedly led by a Marion County man with ties to Alachua County and four other Florida counties.(1) Nine people have been charged and each faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted...

South Carolina Motel Not Immune From Foreclosure Stripping As $95K In Equipment Found Missing

Posted on June 14, 2009
In Sumpter, South Carolina, WIS-TV Channel 10 reports:A foreclosed motel in Sumter County was stripped of $95,000 worth of big-ticket items. The investigation is now going to attorneys. Over a month's time, authorities say someone stole 50 air conditioner units, 94 televisions, a commercial washing machine and a satellite system from the America's Inn in the 7400 block of Myrtle Beach Highway.

County Clerk, Legal Services Firm Join To Provide Worksops To Help Foreclosure Scam Victims

Posted on June 13, 2009
In Atlantic County, New Jersey, WMGM-TV Channel 40 reports:With the current recession climate, as more homeowners fall prey to the foreclosure crisis, scam artists are working even harder to find new victims. But in Atlantic County, the clerk's office is doing its part to fight foreclosure scams and help its victims...

Foreclosed Homeowner Accused Of Booby-Trapping Former House Skips Arraignment, Heads For Parts Unknown; Bond Revoked

Posted on June 13, 2009
In Riverside, California, The Desert Sun reports:A Riverside man accused of planting fake explosive devices around a property he owned but lost in foreclosure(1) failed to make a scheduled court appearance today, prompting a judge to issue an arrest warrant...

Arizona Crackdown On Foreclosure Stripping Continues As Homeowner Indicted On Charges Of Defrauding A Secure Creditor, Criminal Damage

Posted on June 13, 2009
In Surprise, Arizona, The Arizona Republic reports:A Surprise resident suspected of stripping his foreclosed home of fixtures and other equipment was arrested Tuesday for a common crime that has been ignored too long, Surprise officials said. In late February, a neighbor called police to report that Roberto Javier Garcia, 34, was removing fixtures from his home [...

Foreclosed Homes Easy Targets For Owners, Others For Fixture Stripping, Sabotage

Posted on June 13, 2009
In Naperville, Illinois, the Naperville Sun reports:[F]rom missing air conditioning units to kitchen cabinets denuded of their hardware, from bannisters coated with fecal matter to that huge hole in the living room wall where the fireplace used to be, legions of homeowners are venting their anger on financial institutions and potential buyers by stripping their foreclosed properties of anything

City Of Minneapolis Boards Up Foreclosed House With Ex-Homeowner Still Inside

Posted on June 13, 2009
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports:On May 12, the day the city inspector came to board up his house, Ted Poetsch was eating lunch. After living all of his 53 years at 823 Penn Av. N., Poetsch had an hour left to pack his stuff and get out...

"Secret Lien" On Farm Purchase Ruins Buyers' Retirement Plans

Posted on June 12, 2009
In Dixie County, Florida, The Gainseville Sun reports the story of how the purchase of a 70-acre farm that, unbeknownst to the buyer, contained a "secret lien"(1) that was owed by the seller and that was missed by the company doing the title search, screwed up the retirement plans of the unwitting purchasers...

Virginia Couple Plea Guilty In Foreclosure Rescue Ponzi Scheme

Posted on June 12, 2009
In Richmond, Virginia, the Richmond Times Dispatch reports:A Chesterfield County couple who defrauded fellow church members and others in a Ponzi scheme pleaded guilty yesterday and agreed to repay victims more than $9.7 million. Darrell Underwood, 42, faces up to 10 years in prison and Cynthia Underwood, 41, five years when sentenced on Sept...

Disbarred Rhode Island Attorney Cops Plea To Stealing $2.5M+ In Clients' Sale/Refinancing Proceeds Intended To Satisfy Existing Liens

Posted on June 12, 2009
In Providence, Rhode Island, ABC6 reports:A disbarred Cranston attorney has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $2.5 million from clients who were refinancing or buying new homes. Pasquale Scavitti III, who handled real estate transactions, pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud...

Foreclosing Lender Dodges Major Headache; Unloads 141 Repossessed Luxury Units For $24M Cash Before Recent Discovery Of Chinese Drywall In Building

Posted on June 12, 2009
In West Palm Beach, Florida, WPBF-TV Channel 25 reports on The Whitney, a newly-constructed luxury condominium that opened in 2007, but was facing foreclosure by the lender by the end of 2008, and the health problems being complained about by a couple of the condominium residents (no word on the headaches now being felt by the foreign company who plunked down big bucks in February for the

Four South Florida Residents Charged With Illegally Dodging $100K+ In Real Estate Taxes Using Tax Breaks Granted To Dead Relatives

Posted on June 12, 2009
In Miami, Florida, The Miami Herald reports:For 18 years, Julian Grande received a special tax break for disabled homeowners from the Miami-Dade property appraiser. But Grande was more than disabled. He's been dead since 1990. Grande's daughter, Maria, is one of four people now facing criminal charges for allegedly exploiting property-tax breaks meant for relatives long dead...

California Lawmakers Seek To Crackdown On Foreclosing Banks Forcing Buyers Of Repossessed Homes To Use Title & Escrow Firms Picked By Lender

Posted on June 11, 2009
The underreported (and unprosecuted) scam currently being perpetrated by lenders looking to unload foreclosed homes whereby they force the buyers of those homes to use their (the lender's) title insurance and escrow companies(1) is now drawing attention from the California state legislature, as evidenced by this excerpt in a recent story reported by the Merced Sun Star:A bill to help California's

Alleged Scammer Leaves Friends Homeless; Becomes Fugitive, Forcing Federal Judge To Order Forfeiture Of Real Estate Posted To Secure Bail Bond

Posted on June 11, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, the New York Post reports:A former Credit Suisse broker who became a fugitive to escape trial for fraud now has two more victims -- the friends who put their homes on the line to back his $3 million bail. Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein angrily ordered prosecutors to seize $3 million in assets that were posted as bail for Julian Tzolov, 36, including a friend's

FTC Targets Loan Modification Outfit With Civil Contempt Action; Accuses Firm Of Ripping Off Homeowners Facing Foreclosure With Upfront Fees

Posted on June 11, 2009
From the Federal Trade Commission:The Federal Trade Commission has filed a civil contempt action charging a deceptive mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification operation with violating a 2001 court order.(1) Many homeowners paid the defendants up to $5,500 in advance and ultimately lost their homes to foreclosure...

Nevada Lawsuit Alleges Lender Used Deceptive & Unfair Practices, Lacked Good Faith When Making Unsustainable Home Loans; Seeks Class Action Status

Posted on June 11, 2009
In Las Vegas, Nevada, KLAS-TV Channel 8 reports:The foreclosure crisis is far from over in southern Nevada. Now a group of homeowners are fighting back against one lender. They've filed a class action lawsuit to stop foreclosures and to get restitution for those who've already lost their homes...

California Woman Loses Home To Foreclosure After Miscommunication Involving One Payment On Loan Modification Agreement

Posted on June 11, 2009
In Simi Valley, California, the Ventura County Star reports on a local homeowner who lost her home to foreclosure after a screw-up in the handling of one payment made on a loan modification agreement:[F]or [Josie] Lowe, the [foreclosure] sale came as an unexpected blow after more than a year of trying to work out a loan modification with her bank...

Bridgeport Resident Faces Loss Of Home Due To Loan Servicer Screw Up In Failing To Remit Real Estate Taxes To City

Posted on June 11, 2009
In Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Connecticut Post reports:Ever since he came to this country from Haiti, Jean Castro just wanted to live the American dream. He worked as a mechanic in Stamford before finally saving enough money to buy a house here for himself, his wife and three children...

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