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

Tenants Screw Landlords: Renters Use Airbnb To Run Illegal Flop Houses, Subletting Homes To Travelers, Sticking Unwitting Property Owners With Huge Tab For City Fines, Legal Bills

Posted on September 06, 2017
In Miami Beach, Florida, CNBC reports:Drew Grewal faced fines of nearly half a million dollars because his Miami Beach home was being listed illegally on Airbnb.In Miami Beach ? as in New York, San Diego and many other U.S. cities ? short-term rentals of the kind facilitated by Airbnb, VRBO, Tripadvisor and others are strictly limited...

Landlord Screws Tenant: Promised "Money Off Rent" To Lease Fixer-Upper, Couple Begins Repairing Home, Then Finds Out Premises Was Earlier Condemned By Code Enforcement & Now Faces Wrecking Ball

Posted on September 06, 2017
In Bucyrus, Ohio, the Telegraph-Forum reports:Weeks of unpaid work behind them, a Bucyrus couple learned Wednesday [August 30] that they will never get to live in the house they labored to repair.The Bucyrus Board of Building Standards and Appeals met to discuss the home at 342 Wiley Street, a home they initially condemned in June...

Landlord Agrees To Pay $120K+ In Inspection & Abatement Costs, Penalties To Settle Environment Feds' Allegations Of Failing To Provide Prospective Tenants With Lead Paint Disclosure Information When Renting Apartments

Posted on September 05, 2017
In New Haven, Connecticut, the New Haven Register reports: A landlord in the city with one of the largest holdings has agreed to perform lead inspection and abatement work at three of his properties in a consent agreement with the federal Environmental Protection Agency...

Lawsuit: Potentially Thousands Of Former Tenants Were Allowed To Live In 1,100-Home Military Housing Complex Without Warning Of Serious Environmental Contamination

Posted on September 05, 2017
In Laurel Bay, South Carolina, The Beaufort Gazette reports:Potentially thousands of former Laurel Bay residents were not warned of serious environmental contamination while living at the U.S. Marines? housing complex in northern Beaufort County and are owed back rent and other damages, a lawsuit filed Thursday alleges...

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About 3/4 Of All Homes In Southern Illinois City To Be Targeted For EPA Soil Cleanup; Long-Defunct Zinc-Smelting Factory At Center Of Environmental Concern

Posted on September 04, 2017
In LaSalle, Illinois, the News Tribune reports:About 2,778 homes will need soil excavated over nearly 15 years at a federal cost of almost $113 million, according to a report on the Matthiessen and Hegeler zinc factory Superfund site in La Salle.The U...

Despite Threats Of Major Federal Budget Cuts, EPA Cleanup Continues For Arsenic & Lead-Contaminated Soil For Approx. 4,000 Evansville Neighborhood Homes; Finger Of Blame For Tainted Properties Points To Manufacturing Operations That Took Place Locally Over 100 Years Ago

Posted on September 04, 2017
In Evansville, Indiana, WKU-Radio 97.5 FM reports:The Environmental Protection Agency is about halfway through the cleanup of an Evansville site contaminated with lead and arsenic.The contaminated site is 4.5 square miles in the Jacobsville neighborhood of Evansville...

State Regulators Say Soil At Over 10,000 Homes In Southern California May Have Been Affected By Lead Emissions Drifting From Now-Shuttered Battery-Recycling Plant; Company Denies Fault, Points Finger Elsewhere

Posted on September 04, 2017
In Los Angeles, California, the Los Angeles Times reports:By this fall, California?s Department of Toxic Substances Control plans to begin removing lead-tainted soil from 2,500 residential properties near the shuttered Exide Technologies battery recycling plant in Vernon...

About 100 Residents Get The Boot On 24 Hours Notice After Multiple Uncured Code Violations Force County Fire Officials To Shut Down Financially Struggling, 7-Story Twin-Tower Complex Offering Cheap Lodging

Posted on September 03, 2017
In Temple Hills, Maryland, The Washington Post reports:About 100 people were ordered out of two squalid Temple Hills condominium buildings Tuesday [August 22], but a group of defiant residents said they are not leaving because they have nowhere to go...

Foreclosing Bank Announces Building Closure After Being Left Holding The Bag On Aging, Dilapidated, Crime-Ridden Apartments, Forcing Over 100 Poor Families To Scramble For Scarce, Affordable Housing

Posted on September 03, 2017
In New Orleans, Louisiana, The New Orleans Advocate reports:After widespread maintenance and crime issues within the Chateu Lane apartments in New Orleans East, the complex is slated to be shut down, according to a report from WWL-TV, leaving more than a hundred families out of a home...

Aging, Antiquated Structure, Multiple Building Issues Force Nursing Home Operator To Shut Down Care Home; Emotions Run High For 89 Vulnerable, Soon-To-Be Displaced Residents & 128 Employees

Posted on September 03, 2017
In Parksley, Virginia, DelmarvaNow.com reports:Riverside Health System announced Tuesday [August 22] it will close its nursing home in Parksley in October because of "multiple building issues," including recurrent flooding and a recent lightning strike that affected the fire panel...

Regional Authority OKs $235K In Free Money To Mobile Home Park Landlord For Infrastructure Upgrades In Exchange For Commitment To Allow Lot-Leasing Homeowners In 189-Pad Park To Remain Without Unreasonable Future Rent Hikes

Posted on September 02, 2017
In Corcoran, Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports:The Metropolitan Council voted Wednesday [August 23] to award nearly $235,000 in a pilot grant to a Corcoran mobile home park as part of a broader effort to protect and preserve affordable housing in the region...

44 Lot-Leasing Homeowners To Dodge Boot, Leveraging Professional Assistance From Nonprofit, Free Federal Money For Infrastructure Upgrades To Form Co-Op, Buy Out Retiring Landlord

Posted on September 02, 2017
In Castleton, Vermont, the Rutland Herald reports:Robin Crowningshield said she had to step up to stay put.Crowningshield is chairwoman of the Windy Hollow Mobile Home Cooperative, which is preparing to take over the similarly named mobile home park on River Street...

City Leverages Disaster Relief Funds To Buy Out Mobile Home Park Landlord, Promises Residents Infrastructure Upgrades, No Displacements, Search For Long-Term Owner Such As Co-Op, Nonprofit To Ensure Affordability, Stability

Posted on September 02, 2017
In Boulder, Colorado, the Daily Camera reports:Boulder has purchased the Ponderosa Mobile Home Park, a Boulder County enclave in the northern part of the city, which it hopes will ensure long-term affordability and address conerns regarding the state of the park's infrastructure...

Mobile Home Park Tenants Struggle With Homelessness After Being Rented Condemned Trailers, Then Getting Booted By Local Code Enforcement Without Notice Soon After Moving In

Posted on September 01, 2017
In Tucson, Arizona, the Arizona Daily Star reports:Seeking the desert climate, Donna and Derek Wilson moved their five children from southeast Texas to Tucson this summer.The dilapidated mobile home they rented at 110 E. Prince Road needed serious work, the couple admits...

Single Mom Gets Stung In Craigslist Rent Scam, Paying $4K To Move Into Rental Home, $5K In Needed Repairs Only To Find Out Property Was A Bank Foreclosure & Purported Landlord Was A Scammer

Posted on September 01, 2017
In Chicago, Illinois, WBBM-TV Channel 2 reports:A mother in the South suburbs moved into a dream house with her kids, only to learn she had been scammed.As she now faces eviction, CBS 2?s Jim Williams reports this incident is a warning for other renters...

Anonymous Call To Abuse Hotline Triggers Probe, Subsequent Arrest Of Woman Suspected Of Abusing POA To Steal Money From Elderly Mom; Loot Believed To Include Proceeds From Sale Of Victim's Home

Posted on August 31, 2017
In Yulee, Florida, WJXT-TV Channel 4 reports:A woman was arrested Friday [August 25], accused of exploiting her own mother for financial gain, the Nassau County Sheriff?s Office said.Venetia Mitchell, 62, of Yulee, was taken into custody and charged with one count of exploitation of an elderly or disabled person...

Cops: Caregiver Emptied Out Vulnerable Man's Bank Account, Stiffing His Landlord, Leaving Him Broke, Causing Victim To Get The Boot

Posted on August 31, 2017
In Ninety Six, South Carolina, the Index-Journal reports:A Ninety Six man ended up homeless after his bank account was emptied by a woman who was caring for him, said Ninety Six Police Sgt. Cerrior Mansel.Zaketa Shandrell Peterson, 29, of 401 S. Cambridge St...

Special Home Mortgages For Seniors Experience High Default Rates, Despite Terms Requiring No Periodic Loan Repayments

Posted on August 30, 2017
From a recent story in The Washington Post:[A]cross the nation, an increasing number of seniors are facing foreclosure after taking out reverse mortgages, either because they fell behind on property charges or failed to meet other requirements of the complex mortgage loans, according to federal data and interviews with consumer and housing specialists...

Managing Agent Gets Pinched For Allegedly Forging Condo Board Members' Signatures To Illegally Siphon $100K From HOA's Line Of Credit, Using The Loot As His Personal Spending Cash

Posted on August 30, 2017
In Hackensack, New Jersey, nj.com reports:A Hasbrouck Heights man is accused of embezzling $100,000 from the accounts of a Bergen County-based condominium association in a five-year scam, prosecutors said Wednesday.Raymond Gonzalez, 62, was charged with theft by deception and forgery after an investigation that stemmed from a March 2016 complaint, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S...

More On Private Equity Outfits' Use Of Contract For Deed Scams To Fleece Unsophisticated Buyers With Crappy Credit Aspiring To Own A Home

Posted on August 29, 2017
From a recent opinion commentary in The Guardian:[L]ike a strain of virulent TB that was thought eradicated, this predatory practice has returned. This time, however, the perpetrators are not ?mom and pop? landlords, but Wall Street private equity firms...

New Illinois Law Aims To Provide Some Protection For Aspiring Homebuyers Targeted By Sleazy Real Estate Operators With Rent-To-Own, Contract For Deed Ripoffs

Posted on August 29, 2017
The Pekin Daily Times reports:A measure sponsored by two Peoria lawmakers would offer new protections for people who enter into ?rent-to-own? leases.Gov. Bruce Rauner signed Senate Bill 885 on Friday. It?s designed to regulate contract-for-deed sales in which individuals gradually build up equity in a home with their monthly rent payments to the owner, eventually becoming the property owner themselves...

Four Suspects Face Charges For Alleged Roles In Using Forged Deed To Snatch & Flip Unwitting Victim's House For $350K, Pocketing & Splitting Sales Proceeds

Posted on August 28, 2017
In Los Angeles, California, City News Service reports:The last of four people charged with identity fraud in a case involving the sale of a Windsor Hills duplex has been arrested, the sheriff?s department announced Wednesday [August 23].Bridgett Dennis, 49, who had been charged along with the other defendants on June 27, was arrested Tuesday by deputies from the sheriff?s South Los Angeles Station, according to Deputy Ryan Rouzan of the Sheriff?s Information Bureau...

Cops: SW Florida Man Used Forged Deed To Snatch Title To Sister's House, Then Refinance Equity Out From Under Her; Title Insurer Left Holding The Bag On $180K In Losses

Posted on August 28, 2017
In Naples, Florida, the Naples Daily News reports:A Collier County man was arrested last week after he forged signatures to obtain mortgage loans totaling $180,000, state investigators said.Ben Handa, 53, faces three felony charges of fraudulently obtaining a mortgage loan, scheming to defraud one or more persons obtaining property of $50,000 or more, and scheming to defraud a financial institution, according to court documents...

Lawyer Gets 8 Years After Being Found Guilty Of Fleecing His 89-Year Old Step-Grandmother Out Of $1.3 Million In Trust Funds; Victim Dies 10 Days After Jury Verdict

Posted on August 27, 2017
In Golden, Colorado, The Denver Post reports:A Lakewood lawyer who stole $1.3 million from his 89-year-old step-grandmother was sentenced to eight years in prison last week.Glenn Gregory, 55, was the trustee for the Martha Violet Villano Trust Fund, bleeding the account down to $24 between 2006 and 2015, according to the district attorney?s office for Jefferson and Gilpin counties...

Law Partners Avoid Major Bar Discipline, Get 6-Month License Suspensions After Admitting That Their Failure To Regularly Supervise Firm's Sticky-Fingered Bookkeeper Or Audit Company Bank Records Led To Theft Of Over $2.5 Million In Client Cash; Loot Eventually Paid Back With Victims Made Whole

Posted on August 27, 2017
The New York Law Journal reports:Two veteran lawyers who ran a boutique practice in the Bronx have had their licenses suspended for failing to supervising a bookkeeper?and personal friend of one of the lawyers?who stole more than $2.5 million from firm bank accounts, including escrow accounts...

Freddie Dumps Foreclosure Mill Targeted In MD Fraud Probe; Accusations Of 1,000+ Robosigned Deeds May Lead To More Crappy Real Estate Titles

Posted on April 01, 2011
In Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun reports: Freddie Mac has instructed its mortgage servicers to stop referring foreclosure cases to Shapiro & Burson, the Virginia law firm accused of improper handling of more than 1,000 deeds for Maryland homes in foreclosure, the mortgage giant said this week...

Cattle Call Of 9,000 Wayward Lawsuits Abandoned By Dethroned Foreclosure Mill King Set For Hearing & Possible Dismissal In Palm Beach County

Posted on April 01, 2011
In West Palm Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports: Palm Beach County courts will sort through nearly 9,000 wayward foreclosures in a cattle call of cases from the collapsed Law Offices of David J. Stern. Chief Judge Peter Blanc ordered hearings for pending Stern foreclosures that the firm has said it no longer has the manpower to withdraw from as counsel of record...

Recent Ruling In Bond Insurer's Suit Could Force Chase To Eat Million$ In Crappy HELOCs; Court Rejects "Onesies & Twosies" Approach To Remedy Breaches

Posted on April 01, 2011
Reuters reports: JPMorgan Chase & Co could be forced to repurchase thousands of home equity loans, after a judge ruled in favor of a bond insurer that argued it could build its case based on a sampling of loans.The ruling against EMC Mortgage Corp, once a unit of Bear Stearns Cos, comes amid many lawsuits seeking to force banks to buy back tens of billions of dollars of mortgage and other home

Lawyer's 'Boot Camps' Help Growth In Army Of FDCPA Attorneys; Contingent Fee Deals Drive Increase In Table-Turning Consumers' War On Sleazy Collectors

Posted on April 01, 2011
A recent story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune profiled consumer attorney Pete Barry, a local lawyer who's become well-known for his efforts directed not only at putting the squeeze on sleazy bill collection agencies for violating the rights of debtors under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"), but also for training other attorneys around the country through his FDCPA Boot

Dunning The Dead - Putting The Squeeze On Grieving Family Over The Recently-Deceased's Debts

Posted on April 01, 2011
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports: Todd Murray recalls the exact moment when he decided to end his brief career as a debt collections attorney. In late summer of 2008, his boss at the collections law firm of Gurstel Chargo in Golden Valley informed him that he would be going after a particularly hard-to-tap group -- the dead...

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