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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

City Of Oakland Files Five Lawsuits Accusing Lenders, Agents Of Illegal Foreclosure Evictions

Posted on March 13, 2009
In Oakland, California, KGO-TV Channel 7 reports:Oakland City Attorney John Russo said [Thursday] that his office has recently filed five lawsuits against major banks and local agents he alleges are illegally evicting tenants. At a news conference at City Hall, Russo alleged that despite repeated warnings, banks and their agents have continued to violate Oakland's "just cause" law by sending

Texas AG Announces Final Distribution Of Restitution From Loan Modification Company; Firm Takes Total Hit Of $750K

Posted on March 13, 2009
From the Office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott:Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott [yesterday] announced the conclusion of the state?s enforcement action against Foreclosure Assistance Solutions (FAS). As a result of an agreement, the Florida-based company must no longer engage in the foreclosure mitigation business in Texas and has paid more than $390,000 in restitution to 351 Texas

San Antonio Feds Set Up Hotline To Field Mortgage, Loan Modification, Foreclosure Rescue Scam Complaints From Area Homeowners

Posted on March 13, 2009
In San Antonio, Texas, WOAI-TV Channel 4 reports:A growing number of homeowners are becoming the targets of mortgage-fraud schemes, and some may not even know it until it's too late. Right now, homeowners across San Antonio are falling victim to mortgage-fraud schemes...

Nevada AG Files Criminal Charges Against Owner Of Vegas Loan Modification Firm

Posted on March 12, 2009
In Las Vegas, Nevada, KLAS-TV Channel 8 reports:Jack Ferm was arrested on felony charges Wednesday morning after a hearing in District Court. He is the head of mortgage rescue company, the U.S. Justice Foundation, which was ordered to close last week...

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Nevada State Bar Accuses Loan Modification Firm Of Unlicensed Practice Of Law As Hundreds Of Their Lawsuits Move Thru State, Federal Courts

Posted on March 12, 2009
In Las Vegas, Nevada, KLAS-TV Channel 8 reports:First it was a federal judge, and now the State Bar of Nevada is taking action against a local mortgage rescue company. The bar seeks to stop the U.S. Justice Foundation and its president from practicing law without a license...

NJ AG Files Civil RICO Charges Against Alleged Flippers; Accused Of Using Unwitting Investors To Pocket Big Profits, Leaving Them Holding The Bag

Posted on March 12, 2009
In Northern New Jersey, WABC-TV Channel 7 reports:There are major developments in an Eyewitness News investigation. The New Jersey Attorney General's office is filing civil RICO (racketeering) charges against a disbarred lawyer and his son, accusing them in a widespread investment scheme...

Homeowner Paying Cash For New Home Faces Threat Of Foreclosure As Builder Accused Of Stiffing Contractors

Posted on March 12, 2009
In Phoenix, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:Some Valley homeowners are facing foreclosure even though they've paid their mortgages in full, thanks to a lien placed on the property by a contractor. Retired homeowner Danny Riggs paid cash for his home, but builder Brown Family Communities failed to pay the contractors who installed the windows, plumbing, drywall and air conditioning as well as

Analysis Of Recently Enacted California Foreclosure Prevention Act

Posted on March 12, 2009
An article on mondaq.com provides a legal analysis of the California Foreclosure Prevention Act (the "Act"), which was enacted by the state Legislature, and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on February 20, 2009.The bill (ABX2 7) was established as Chapter 5 of the 2009-2010 statutes...

200+ South Florida Property Owners Accused Of Screwing City, County Out Of $22M In Unpaid Property Taxes With Bogus Homestead Claims

Posted on March 12, 2009
In Sunrise, Florida, WFOR-TV Channel 4 reports:The City of Sunrise and the Broward Property Appraiser's office have joined forces in a crackdown on people illegally claiming homestead exemptions for their properties. And now some 237 homeowners will be receiving bills that total nearly $22 million...

Broken Sewer Pipe In Aparment Complex In Foreclosure Making Life Uncomfortable For Tenants; Landlord Unavailable For Comment

Posted on March 12, 2009
In Mesa, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:?We?re dealing with poop. Sorry to say that, but we?re dealing with poop,? said Mike McWilliams. The Mesa man is talking about a problem that?s been plaguing his apartment complex for two months. [...] Since January, raw sewage has spilled out of a pipe next to his apartment...

Oregon Lawmakers To Consider Legalizing The Shift Of The Financial Loss Of Home Equity Thefts Through Use Of Fraudulent POAs Onto The Victim

Posted on March 12, 2009
A 2007 story in California's Contra Costa Times on the California Power of Attorney Act and the ripoff of the elderly using powers of attorney begins as follows:AN OAKLAND WOMAN steals $200,000 from her sick 73-year-old mother's bank account. She blows most of it at Cache Creek Casino...

Florida Cities Can Force Condominium, Apartment Complexes To Hire Security, Says State AG

Posted on March 12, 2009
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:Is your condominium association ready to fight crime?More importantly, can it afford to hire at least one professional security guard? It soon could have no choice. Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum ruled last month that cities in this state have the authority to force condo associations and apartment complexes to hire security guards...

Banking Industry Advocates Pushing Proposed Bill That Could Encourage More Home Equity Thefts Thru Forged POAs

Posted on March 11, 2009
A hearing in the Oregon House Judiciary Committee is scheduled for this Friday, March 13 in which advocates for the banking industry might be quietly attempting to get away with a fast one by forcing through a proposed bill, based on a model uniform act (Uniform Power of Attorney Act), that could lead to an increase in home equity heists in connection with the use (and abuse) of powers of

Homeowner Facing Foreclosure Out $10K, Faces Eviction Despite Hiring Loan Modification Firm & Attorney Accused Of Leaving 2,000 Cases Unattended

Posted on March 11, 2009
In Bakersfield, California, KGET-TV Channel 17 reports:A local family says they are victims of a foreclosure scam. They came to 17News because, they say, the lawyer they paid $10,000 to help them took the money and did nothing.***''We had to pay $1,500 a month,'' [homeowner Eddy Herrera] said...

Attorney Agrees To Refund Upfront Fees For Failed Loan Modification Attempts Under Threat Of Bad Media Publicity, State Bar Complaints

Posted on March 11, 2009
In Newark, California, KGO-TV Channel 7 reports on the experiences of three local homeowners seeking to have their home loans modified with an area law firm:[Mika] Baba says she's regretted getting into [her home] loan almost from the beginning and has been unable to renegotiate it...

Burden On Homeowner To Initiate Lawsuit To Employ "Produce The Note" Strategy In Non-Judicial Foreclosure States

Posted on March 11, 2009
In Atlanta, Georgia, WXIA-TV Channel 11 reports:With foreclosures all over the country reaching record levels, more and more people are beginning to fight back with three words that hit lenders like a fist: "Produce the note." "If a lender cannot produce the note," said bankruptcy attorney Howard Rothbloom, "it's no different than a person going to the bank trying to cash a lost check...

Florida Supreme Court Forms Statewide Task Force To Relieve Foreclosure Backlog

Posted on March 11, 2009
The Miami Herald reports:To sandbag the flood of foreclosures pouring into the state's underfunded court system, the Florida Supreme Court announced the formation of a statewide task force on Monday that will look for solutions to the docket backlog while ensuring borrowers and lenders are treated fairly...

Developer Accused Of Renting Out Long Island Mansion In Foreclosure To Unwitting Tenant; Renter Out $70K, Left Holding The Bag

Posted on March 11, 2009
In Bridgehampton, New York, the New York Post reports:The forecast calls for a summer bummer for a Florida woman who claims her dream Hamptons vacation plans have become a nightmare. Carole Via says a rich developer took her $56,000 deposit for a Bridgehampton mansion although it was to be auctioned off before the season began...

California Caretaker Charged With Draining Equity From 84-Year Old Woman's Home, Leaving Her Underwater & Facing Foreclosure

Posted on March 11, 2009
In Huntington Beach, California, the Los Angeles Times reports:The live-in caretaker of an 84-year-old Huntington Beach woman allegedly took out fraudulent loans in her name, bilking the older woman out of about $200,000 and putting the woman's home in danger of foreclosure, authorities said Tuesday...

Mandatory Mediation Available On Request For Indianapolis-Area Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Posted on March 11, 2009
In Indianapolis, Indiana, The Indianapolis Star reports:Marion Superior Court has passed a new local rule that allows homeowners facing foreclosure in civil court the option of settlement conferences, or mediation, with their financial lenders. The conferences are mandatory for lenders if the borrower responds to a notice from the court...

Free Legal Advice Hotline For Birmingham-Area Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Posted on March 11, 2009
In Birmingham, Alabama, The Birmingham News reports:Homeowners facing foreclosure in the Birmingham area can get free legal advice starting today under a hot line set up by the Alabama State Bar and Legal Services Alabama. The toll-free hot line (1-877-393-2333) will connect homeowners to a legal aid lawyer...

New York Foreclosure Rescue Operator Back In The News

Posted on March 10, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, The New York Times reports:In 2005, [Waver Brickhouse] fell behind on her mortgage payments and turned to a so-called rescue firm, which, court papers allege, tricked her into signing away the deed to her Brooklyn home. She says the company, Home Savers Consulting, secretly sold her home, with the help of a mortgage from IndyMac Federal Bank, and ran up huge new debts...

Brooklyn DA's Office Joins Other Prosecutors With New Unit Specializing In Real Estate Crimes

Posted on March 10, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, The New York Times reports:With an array of real estate crimes, ranging from deed forgery to mortgage fraud schemes, adding to foreclosure rates in Brooklyn neighborhoods, the borough?s district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, says the time has come for a specialized unit to investigate and prosecute them...

Businessman Comes Clean In Court In Attempt To Swipe 141 Acres Of Farmland By Forging Dying Man's Will

Posted on March 10, 2009
In County Wexford, Ireland, Independent.ie reports:A WEALTHY businessman-turned-whistleblower cried [Friday] as he told a court how he and two other men forged the will of a bachelor farmer as he lay dying in hospital. Charlie O'Leary (50), of The Haggard, Ramsgrange, Co Wexford, whose conscience eventually got the better of him, pleaded guilty to forging a document purporting to be the will of

Lender Unwilling To Foreclose Offers To Cancel Delinquent Home Mortgage To Dodge Prosecution In Upstate NY Building Code Case

Posted on March 10, 2009
In Lockport, New York, the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal reports:[I]n another ongoing case, an attorney for M&T Bank said the bank is willing to forgive its mortgage on 34 Pound St., in order to avoid prosecution on seven code charges there. Attorney Thomas Frederick said the bank is still owed $34,000 by David and Andrea Woods, the former occupants, but it willing [sic] to wipe out the mortgage

3 Sentenced In Upfront Fee Loan Modification Scam; Prosecution Of 2 More Pending, 3 Others On The Lam

Posted on March 10, 2009
In Southern California, the San Diego Union Tribune reports:After pleading guilty to loan-modification fraud, three people connected with a company that scammed hundreds of distressed homeowners in Southern California have received sentences ranging from probation to six years in prison...

Landlord With Arizona Buildings In Foreclosure Faces Same Problem In Georgia; Tenants Face Water Shutoffs, Accumulating Trash

Posted on March 10, 2009
In Norcross, Georgia, WXIA-TV Channel 11 reports:Dozens of residents at a Norcross apartment complex are on edge, even though mounds of garbage piled at their front door have been hauled away. Plenty of problems remain at the Steeplechase Apartments on Singleton Road, now that the complex is a target for foreclosure...

400 Sale Leasebacks Are Disguised Equitable Mortgages, Says AZ AG In Invoking State Consumer Fraud Act, TILA In Suit Against Foreclosure Rescue Firm

Posted on March 09, 2009
From the Office of Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard:Attorney General Terry Goddard [Thursday] announced that he has filed a lawsuit against an alleged foreclosure rescue operation believed to have defrauded approximately 400 Arizonans of their homes...

Appeals Court Reverses $3M+ Jury Award To Equity Stripping Victims; Homeowners Forced To "Settle" For Triple Damages Under State Consumer Fraud Act

Posted on March 09, 2009
In a 2004 case, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed a $3+ million jury verdict (which included $1.5 million in punitive damages) in favor of a Colorado couple who were victimized in a foreclosure rescue scam. In its ruling, the appellate court found that the damages awarded by the jury on six separate claims were duplicative...

Prosecutors Looking Into Conduct Of Colorado Man In Alleged Foreclosure Rescue Scam

Posted on March 09, 2009
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, KKTV Channel 11 reports on a local homeowner facing foreclosure who claims that, based on false representations, she unwittingly signed her home over to an area foreclosure rescue operator. The operator allegedly has since rented out the home, is pocketing the rent, and is stiffing the mortgage lender out of its loan payments...

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