The Home Equity Theft Reporter: Real Estate & Property Law

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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

NACA's "Predators Tour" Targets Financial Giants As Activists Protest At CEOs' Homes; Dump Furniture On Front Lawn

Posted on February 09, 2009
In Greenwich, Connecticut, the Stamford Times reports: Between 350 and 400 people, most of them members, staff or volunteers for the [Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America], converged outside the Greenwich home of William Frey, manager of Greenwich Financial Services, at around 1 p...

NYC Attorney Found Guilty For Role In Illegal Flipping, Foreclosure Rescue Scam; Acted As Title Agent; Accused Of Keeping Lenders In The Dark

Posted on February 09, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, the New York Law Journal reports: The bogus world of a Brooklyn, N.Y., attorney who built a profitable business on title insurance while earning high fees on real estate closings came crashing down on Friday as a federal jury convicted him in a subprime mortgage scam...

Sixth Defendant Falls In Maryland-Based Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Scheme; Worked As Loan Processor, Acted As Straw Buyer

Posted on February 09, 2009
From the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland: Chandra Jones, age 31, of Lanham, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme that falsely promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes and repair their damaged credit, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J.

NJ Class Action Accuses Closing Agent, Title Insurers Of Clipping Homeowners With Inflated Recording Fees

Posted on February 09, 2009
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: Title insurance companies and their agents charged thousands of New Jersey home buyers more than allowed by law to record deeds and mortgages, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in New Jersey. Hundreds of thousands of buyers would be reimbursed if the suit, filed last month, succeeds, Esther Berezofsky, a lawyer in the Cherry Hill office of Williams,

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Foreclosure Eviction Of Residential Tenants "Almost Always Illegal In New Jersey," Says State Public Advocate

Posted on February 08, 2009
In Trenton, New Jersey, Ronald K. Chen, the Public Advocate for the State of New Jersey reminds state residents of the rights of tenants in foreclosed residential property in New Jersey. He writes in the Asbury Park Press: [A]t the Department of the Public Advocate, we have learned that tenants who rent properties that are subject to foreclosure are being kicked out of their homes when the bank

Pennsylvania Woman Cops Plea To Pocketing Refinance Proceeds After Forging Legal Documents On Property Owned By Estranged Hubby, Mother In Law

Posted on February 08, 2009
In Norristown, Pennsylvania, The Times Herald reports: A 41-year-old Conshohocken woman pleaded guilty to forging her estranged husband and mother-in-law?s names on mortgage applications and other legal documents. Andrea Lamazza took out three separate mortgages worth a total of $446,350 between 2002 and 2005 without the knowledge of her husband, Kenneth Lamazza, and his mother, Sarah Lamazza,

Rochester Landlord Accused Of Stiffing City, Tenants

Posted on February 08, 2009
In Rochester, New York, WHEC-TV Channel 10 reports: The city of Rochester is facing a $32-million dollar shortfall this year but I-Team 10 has discovered one way the city could shave half a million from that number. If one of the landlords in the city would pay his taxes that money could aid the shortfall...

Florida Man Fearing Foreclosure Arrested For Operating Indoor Pot Farm In His Home

Posted on February 08, 2009
Buried at the end of an unrelated story in Florida Today is this blurb about an apparently financially strapped Palm Bay, Florida homeowner: [L]ast week, a recently laid-off delivery man was arrested on cultivation charges after police discovered 57 small marijuana plants in his home...

Elderly Texas Woman's Home Accidentally Sold Out From Under Her; Bank Admits, Straightens Out Error

Posted on February 08, 2009
In North Texas, WFAA-TV reports on an 88-year old woman behind on her mortgage payments and threatened with foreclosure. With the help of her son, she was able to obtain a payment plan with the lender, Wahington Mutual/Chase, back in December. Despite the arrangement, the lender allowed the home to be sold at a foreclosure sale anyway, albeit accidentally...

Miami Community Activist Continues "Vacant Home-Finding" Service For Homeless

Posted on February 07, 2009
In Miami, Florida, WTVJ-TV Channel 6 reports: With the number of foreclosures continuing to rise in South Florida, squatting has become a growing trend among the area's homeless. "I had to squat because nobody gave a squat," said 'Mary.' We're calling her 'Mary' and concealing her identity because she's a squatter...

Ohio Town Stuck Holding $11K Demolition Bill After Tearing Down Arson-Damaged Home Currently In Foreclosure

Posted on February 07, 2009
In Sylvania Township, Ohio, The Toledo Blade reports: More than two years after it partially burned in a suspicious fire, a derelict and decaying house [...] was torn down last week ? to neighbors? delight. [Township trustees] reiterated that the path to demolition was a tortuous one, complicated by the arson investigation, an insurance company?s resulting refusal to pay for repairs, and a

Vacant Home Unexpectedly Torn Down Without Demolition Permit Four Days Before Foreclosure Sale; Owner Faces $5K Fine

Posted on February 07, 2009
In Monsey, New York, The Journal News reports: A heap of wooden shards and the scarred trunks of cedar trees were all that remained of a house at 1 Carlton Road. Two residents of the neighborhood called The Journal News on Monday, concerned that the house had been knocked down at dusk on Sunday without a permit and before natural gas service was terminated...

Hotel In Foreclosure Shuts Down, Putting Possible Kibosh On Couple's Wedding Plans, $5,500 Deposit; 130 Now On Unemployment Line

Posted on February 07, 2009
In Hood River, Oregon, The Oregonian reports: Michelle Oleson got engaged in Venice, Italy, found the Columbia Gorge Hotel on the Internet and fell for the romantic getaway when she visited with her fiance. The 28-year-old accountant, a Beaverton native who works in Beverly Hills, Calif...

Emergency Water Shutoffs By Public Works Officials On Upswing As Bursting Frozen Pipes In Vacant, Abandoned Homes Create Havoc

Posted on February 07, 2009
In Worcester, Massachusetts, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports: Annoyed public works officials say the winter freeze has them conducting more emergency water shut-offs because of burst pipes at vacant or abandoned homes, many of them in the foreclosure process...

Connection Between Fires & Frozen Pipes

Posted on February 07, 2009
Stories illustrating the connection between fires and water pipes freezing up from the extreme cold weather are coming in from around the country. Here are a few: Wheeling, West Virginia: Wheeling firefighters said a man trying to fix frozen pipes ended up setting his home on fire Monday morning in Elm Grove...

Beware Of Finacially Shaky Auto Dealers Failing To Pay Off Car Loans On Trade-Ins

Posted on February 07, 2009
The Associated Press reports: The national wave of auto dealership closures has come crashing down on thousands of people who are on the hook for used-car loans that dealers were supposed to absolve.When a car buyer still owes money on a vehicle he is trading in, the dealer promises to pay off the outstanding loan, then resells the vehicle...

Real Estate Agent Discovers "Bomb-Like" Device In Foreclosed Home

Posted on February 07, 2009
In Macon County, North Carolina, WLOS -TV Channel 13 reports: A real estate agent makes a startling discovery inside a foreclosed Macon County home. Dave Rowland with Prudential Realty found a bomb-like device and a box labeled "High Explosives" in the home on Silver Spruce Lane...

Detroit-Area Sheriff To Seek Declaratory Judgment & Stay Of Future Foreclosure Sales; Says Action Is Supported By Federal Law

Posted on February 06, 2009
In a letter to the editor of the Detroit Free Press, Wayne County Sheriff Warren C. Evans responds to an editorial attacking him for calling an immediate halt to all foreclosure sales in Detroit and the rest of Wayne County, Michigan. Among other things, Sheriff Evans states: [M]y office will be seeking a declaratory judgment and a stay of future foreclosure sales in the courts based on my

Bust Made In Fort Myers-Area Alleged Mortgage Fraud/Rent To Own Scam; Homes Let Go To Foreclosure; Tenants Get Boot, Straw Buyers Left Holding The Bag

Posted on February 06, 2009
In Miami, Florida, The News Press reports that, according to Miami-Dade police, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have arrested Paul Bosnyak, who is suspected of being involved in an alleged real estate fraud conspiracy with a number of others, and with the company Alternative Home Financing, Inc...

Philly Scores $275K For Foreclosure Diversion Program

Posted on February 06, 2009
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Daily News reports: Hailing it as a model for the rest of the country, Mayor Nutter said [this week] that the city had raised $275,000 in private funds to aid the city's mortgage-foreclosure- prevention program...

Stiffed Sub Sues Contractor For Unpaid Work At New Development; Slaps Liens, Seeks Foreclosure On Residents' Homes

Posted on February 06, 2009
In Pingree Grove, Illinois, The Courier News reports: A subcontractor is suing not only developer DRH Cambridge Homes for improvements made at its Carillon subdivision, but also home�owners, according to a lawsuit filed with the Kane County Circuit Clerk's Office...

Miami Lender Getting Clobbered Financing Failed Condo Conversions; Foreclosures Will Leave It Holding 500+ Unsold Units

Posted on February 06, 2009
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the South Florida Business Journal reports: A foreclosure auction has been scheduled for the 109 unsold units in the Crescent Cove condominium community in Coral Springs. Miami-based Ocean Bank won an $11.8 million foreclosure judgment against condo converter Coral Lake 260, an affiliate of Coral Gables-based BH Capital, [...

Failed Condo Conversion Leaves 35 Buyers Stranded As Remaining Unsold Apartments In 162-Unit Building Fall To Foreclosure

Posted on February 06, 2009
In Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Kenosha News reports: When Angela and Adam Haut moved from California to Kenosha two years ago, they were thrilled to find the world of Midwestern property values. ?We were excited that we could finally buy our own home,? Angela said...

Scaramento Cops Probe Possible Rent Scam Involving Foreclosed Home In Gated Community

Posted on February 06, 2009
In Sacramento, California, The Sacramento Bee reports: Sacramento police are investigating a possible scam involving the rental of foreclosed homes to unsuspecting victims. [...] The home on Clubside Lane had been abandoned and bank owned for about two years, neighbors said,(1) but a couple moved in over the weekend...

Judge Allows Foreclosure To Proceed On Now-Deceased Man's Property Despite His Forgery Of Wife's Signature On Loan Documents

Posted on February 05, 2009
In Polk County, Iowa, the Des Moines Register reports: A Polk County judge has delivered a legal setback to the widow of Ed Boesen. Judge Douglas Staskal ruled last week to allow Freedom Financial Bank to foreclose on property [...] in Ankeny to collect on a $232,000 loan obtained by Ed Boesen...

Ohio High Court Voids Mortgage Obtained By Man On Property Swindled From Mom; Unwitting Lender Burned By Lack Of Diligence

Posted on February 05, 2009
In Columbus, Ohio, the Youngstown Vindicator reports: The Ohio Supreme Court sided with the estate of a Trumbull County woman whose son had defaulted on a mortgage he obtained on property that was not rightly his. According to court documents, Dale Ellis fraudulently obtained quit-claim deeds about a decade ago on six lots from his mother, who had agreed to give him only one...

Lack Of Proper Notice A Problem In Foreclosure Sales Of Property Over Delinquent Real Estate Taxes?

Posted on February 05, 2009
A 2007 article appearing in The Florida Bar Journal addresses the problem of lack of proper notice to a homeowner in the context of a foreclosure for failure to pay real estate taxes. The author makes this observation: [T]wo recent decisions(1) applying due process protection to tax deed sales have imposed more stringent notice requirements than have prevailed in prior years, tilting the playing

Lenders Lax In Maintaining Foreclosed Properties As Tenants Struggle In Rotting Homes

Posted on February 05, 2009
In Boston, Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reports: Despite a year-old city ordinance designed to keep foreclosed properties from falling into disrepair, many lenders who have taken over properties are absentee landlords. That leaves [...] tenants [....

Tenants In Financially Trobuled Apartment Building Ordered To Leave Immediately As Bursting Frozen Pipes Create Safety Hazard

Posted on February 05, 2009
In Pekin, Illinois, the Pekin Daily Times reports on tenants in a local 16-unit building getting a surprise 24-hour notice to vacate their apartments: [T]he latest issue arose when a frozen pipe burst, flooding the basement with water that eventually reached electrical panels, according to city code enforcement officer Ron Sieh...

Suspect Bagged In Alleged Real Estate Scam Leaving 75-Year Old South Carolina Woman Out $15K, Facing Foreclosure; More Victims Possible

Posted on February 05, 2009
In Moncks Corner, South Carolina, WCIV-TV Channel 4 reports: A man is arrested for scamming a 75-year-old out of more than $15,000, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff?s Office. Rufus Rivers of Ladson was arrested Tuesday, after deputies say he convinced the elderly woman the money would be used to pay her mortgage...

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