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

Newark Feds Obtain Indictment Of Previously-Charged Brooklyn Man Peddling Sale Leaseback, Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Scams

Posted on August 26, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Newark, New Jersey):A federal grand jury indicted former co-owner of Home Savers Consulting Corporation Phil A. Simon today in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme in which he falsely promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes and repair their damaged credit, United States Attorney Paul J...

Tenant Who Allegedly Targeted His Landlord In Real Estate Equity Refinancing Ripoff Tracked Down In Canada; Feds Seek Extradition

Posted on August 26, 2010
Buried in a recent story on mortgage fraud in The Wall Street Journal is this excerpt on a recent indictment of a tenant who attempted to rip off the equity in the house he was renting from his landlord:[T]he Federal Bureau of Investigation in June indicted a Phoenix man for mail and wire fraud among other alleged crimes when the agency says he tried to steal a house from his landlord...

200 Signs That A False Legal Document Has Been Filed In A Foreclosure Action

Posted on August 26, 2010
Homeowners facing foreclosure who are wondering whether the legal documents filed in their case by the lender and/or foreclosure mill are bogus may find this list of 200 clues to be of some help.For the list, see Max Gardner's 200 Signs that You have a False Document (made available online courtesy of Matt Weidner's Law Blog).

Foreclosure Rescue Scams Reading List

Posted on August 26, 2010
Anyone new to the area of foreclosure rescue scams may want to avail themselves of the following reading list (materials listed in reverse chronological order of their publishing date) in an effort to get up to speed on how to recognize and prevent these rackets:United States Government Accountability Office, Homeownership Preservation (Federal Efforts to Combat Foreclosure Rescue Schemes Are

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Foreclosure Mills' Failure To Attach All Records Referred To In Affidavits Filed In Court May (Should) Stall Legal Actions

Posted on August 26, 2010
In West Palm Beach, Florida, the South Florida Daily Business Review reports:When it comes to fighting foreclosures, homeowners and their lawyers may have found a new strategy to score courtroom victories. Defense lawyers across the state are increasingly attacking the validity of affidavits that owners of notes must file with the courts as part of the foreclosure process...

Homebuying Couple Claim Attorney/Closing Agent Failed To Pay Off Undisclosed Lien; Discover Problem 10+ Years Later When Hit w/ Foreclosure

Posted on August 25, 2010
In Canton, North Carolina, the Smoky Mountain News reports:A Canton couple has sued town Alderman Eric Dills and three attorneys after learning their home was unknowingly being used as collateral by Dills? for a revolving loan.For more than 10 years, Carol and Joseph Hannah were unaware that their home was tied up in Dills? equity line of credit ? until May when they received a baffling notice of

Felony Theft Conviction For DE Man Who Pocketed R/E Sale Proceeds w/out Paying Off, Disclosing Existing Liens; Unwitting Buyers Left In Foreclosure

Posted on August 25, 2010
In Bridgeville, Delaware, The Daily Times reports:Sussex County businessman James Tennefoss, [...] has been convicted of felony theft in two property sales cases. Prosecutors charged that Tennefoss used properties near Bridgeville and Georgetown as collateral in loans in 1999 and 2001, totalling $97,500...

Home Purchaser Loses Life Savings After Seller Pledges Property As Loan Collateral After Pocketing Buyer's Cash & Failing To Give Recorded Title

Posted on August 25, 2010
In Sullivan City, Texas, KRGV-TV Channel 5 reports:A father used his life savings to buy a home for his daughter. He was hoping she would never have to worry about a mortgage. Now, they've learned they don't own the home.Frank Gonzalez made a deal directly with the owner of the house on Alamo Street four years ago...

Loan Servicer Gets Tagged With Class Action Suit Accusing It Of Pocketing Cash For Bogus Loan Modifications, Then Foreclosing With Little Or No Notice

Posted on August 24, 2010
From a press release from the Seattle, Washington-based law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP:A group of homeowners [] filed a class-action lawsuit against Aurora Loan Services LLC, claiming the mortgage company duped them into paying tens of thousands of dollars each to have troubled mortgages reviewed by the company with promises of loan modifications, only to have their property foreclosed

Suspected Loan Modification Racket Seeks Return Of $500K Seized By Feds In Raid As Criminal Probe Continues

Posted on August 24, 2010
In Oceanside County, California, North County Times reports:The government seized about a half-million dollars in assets from the bank accounts of two Oceanside businesses dealing in loan modifications for struggling homeowners, according to federal court documents filed this week...

GAO Cautions Against Four Scams Targeting Financially Strapped Homeowners

Posted on August 24, 2010
The Sacramento Business Journal recently ran a story on a General Accountability Office report cautioning financially strapped homeowners against four types of scams targeting them:The GAO said consumers are being confronted with ?advance-fee loan modification schemes? -- in which the homeowner will pay a fee up-front, then receive little or no service -- and sales-leaseback schemes, in which a

NYS F'closure Mill, MERS Named In Class Action Racketeering Suit; Action Seeks To Void "Tens Of Thousands" Of F'closures, Impose Million$ In Punitives

Posted on August 23, 2010
From a press release from New York City attorney Susan Chana Lask:On August 17, 2010, attorney Susan Chana Lask filed a Federal Class Action Complaint on behalf of tens of thousands of New York State homeowners who lost their homes to an alleged foreclosure fraud orchestrated for years by a New York ?foreclosure mill? attorney and major mortgage companies...

Judge Gets Bagged Rubber-Stamping A Foreclosure Judgment Against Homeowner Mistakenly Believed To Be "Pro Se" At Least An Hour Before Court Hearing???

Posted on August 23, 2010
Florida foreclosure defense attorney Mark P. Stopa writes in Stopa Law Blog about a recent experience representing a homeowner in the courtroom of Pinellas County, Florida Circuit Court Judge Pamela Campbell:Yesterday, I had an experience in court that has absolutely rocked my world, causing me to wonder: When do judges decide who wins a foreclosure case? ***My experience yesterday, though, as

Jacksonville Trial Judge Bags Foreclosure Mill, Chase, WAMU For Fraud On The Court In Foreclosure Action; Dismisses Suit With Prejudice

Posted on August 23, 2010
In Jacksonville, Florida, Duval County Circuit Court Judge Jean Johnson dismissed with prejudice a foreclosure action against a local homeowner after making a finding of fraud on the court being committed by the plaintiffs and the foreclosure mill law firm representing them...

Fla. Foreclosure Mill Voluntarily Withdraws Lawsuit After Being Caught Using Dubious Mortgage Assignment; Efforts Begin Again With Different Law Firm

Posted on August 22, 2010
In Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:After months of wrangling with CitiMortgage, Dennis and Joyce Brown got fed up and hired an attorney to fight CitiMortgage's foreclosure on their Lauderdale Lakes home. The Browns claim they are victims of fabricated documents used to foreclose after CitiMortgage failed to credit them for mortgage payments...

Could 62 Million Homes Be Foreclosure-Proof???

Posted on August 22, 2010
Attorney/author Ellen Brown writes in Seeking Alpha:Over 62 million mortgages are now held in the name of MERS, an electronic recording system devised by and for the convenience of the mortgage industry. A California bankruptcy court, following landmark cases in other jurisdictions, recently held that this electronic shortcut makes it impossible for banks to establish their ownership of property

More Underwater Homeowners Combine "Strategic Default" With "Straw Buyer" Purchasing As "Technique" To Keep From Losing Homes?

Posted on August 22, 2010
On Long Island, New York, Newsday reports:More Long Islanders faced with mortgages that are more than their homes' worth are turning to an illegal tactic. They intentionally default and convince lenders to take less than owed in a "short sale" of the house, then covertly arrange for someone they trust to buy the home back for them at today's lower prices, say attorneys, lenders, real estate

Hard-Hit HOAs Ramp Up Pressure On Foot-Dragging 1st Mortgage Holders To Force Legal Action Against Delinquent Unit Owners

Posted on August 22, 2010
In South Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel recently ran a story on how financially strapped condominium and homeowners' associations unable to collect substantial amounts of unpaid maintenance fees from unit owners are directing their efforts to stimulate collections at the banks holding the first mortgages on the delinquent units in an effort to stay afloat, as explained in this excerpt:

Cops Probe Central Florida Network Of Squatters In Vacant, Foreclosed Home Takeovers

Posted on August 21, 2010
In Ocoee, Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports:Police think family members arrested at an Ocoee home this week are part of a network of squatters who live in houses facing foreclosure. Detectives are investigating whether three other houses in the city are occupied by people with no legal authority to be there, Ocoee police Sgt...

Recession, Cubs' Lousy Record Leaves One Wrigley Rooftop In Foreclosure, Others On Shaky Ground

Posted on August 21, 2010
In Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reports:The Lakeview Baseball Club apartment building across from Wrigley Field is best known for the tote board under its rooftop seats that details the years elapsed since the Cubs' last division, league and World Series titles...

F'closing Bank's Failure To Assume Management Duties Of 4-Plex Results In Unpaid Utility Bill; Leads To City "Red-Tags", Tenants Get The Boot

Posted on August 21, 2010
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, KRQE-TV Channel 13 reports:The city of Albuquerque red-tagged four apartments Thursday after tenants were without hot water for nearly a week. It?s all due to a recent foreclosure on the property that led to a gap in management...

Law Students Take To Orlando-Area Streets Warning Vulnerable Homeowners Away From Foreclosure Rescue Scams, Loan Refinance Rackets

Posted on August 21, 2010
In Orlando, Florida, Voice of America News reports:A group of students in the southern state of Florida is taking its studies to the streets. The law students from Florida A&M University are going door-to-door in low-income neighborhoods to educate residents about property foreclosures and loan refinancing scams...

Condo Officer/Unit Owner Facing Foreclosure Again Invokes "Mental Illness" Defense To Dodge Jail Time After Swiping $82K From HOA; Gets Probation

Posted on August 21, 2010
In DuPage County, Illinois, Chicago Breaking News Center reports:A former Addison condominium association official who admitted stealing about $82,000 from the association was sentenced to four years of probation [] by DuPage Judge Kathryn Creswell, who cited the defendant's long history of mental illness...

Some Property/Casualty Insurers Note Pattern Of Higher Fire Loss Claims In States With Above-Average Foreclosure Rates

Posted on August 21, 2010
InsuranceNewsNet.com reports:A pattern involving higher incidents of fire loss in states with above-average foreclosure rates has the attention of State Auto Financial Corp. Bob Restrepo, chairman, president and chief executive of the Columbus, Ohio-based property/casualty insurer, said the trend materialized last year and his company has taken steps in response...

Florida Keys Elected Officials Suspected Of Improperly Claiming Real Estate Tax Exemption For Homestead Property

Posted on August 21, 2010
In Monroe County, Florida, KeysNet.com reports:An elected Mosquito Control Board member faces stiff civil penalties for apparently claiming homestead exemptions on houses in both the Keys and Levy County, near the Panhandle. Commissioner Charles Langstaff, who lives on Mahogany Drive in Key Largo, has a 2,088-square-foot mobile home on five acres of land in the town of Morriston...

Revised Flood-Plain Maps Stir Uproar From Some SW Florida Residents; Add'l Insurance Expense Could Push Homeowners On Financial Brink Over The Edge

Posted on August 21, 2010
In Collier County, Florida, the Naples Daily News reports:Maps usually only create angst if rival country boundaries or political districts are in play. But a set of flood-plain maps released recently is causing a great deal of uproar, especially for residents of Golden Gate Estates...

11,000-Unit NYC Housing Complex Becomes "Pawn In A Financial Chess Game" As 1st Mtg Holder Sues To Stop Next Week's 2nd Mortgagee's Foreclosure Sale

Posted on August 20, 2010
In New York City, Crain's New York Business reports:Hedge fund honcho William Ackman?s plan to takeover Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village hit a major snag Wednesday afternoon. Bank of America and U.S. Bancorp, trustees for the senior lenders of the giant residential complex sued to block his plan to foreclose on the 110-building property(1) next week...

NY Fed Reserve Joins Others In Bid To Make Big Banks Eat Crappy Mortgage Loans; Stonewalling Servicers, Trustees Refuse To Turn Over Requested Info

Posted on August 20, 2010
Reuters reports:The Federal Reserve Bank of New York [...] said it may try to force banks to repurchase bad home loans backing securities it holds, joining the ranks of other big investors who have been gaining momentum with identical demands. The effort from the New York Fed to boost the value of its Maiden Lane portfolio is similar to what U...

Nevada AG Announces Public Awareness Campaign Against Real Estate Scams Targeting Financially Strapped Homeowners

Posted on August 20, 2010
In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Las Vegas Sun reports:Nevada?s foreclosure pandemic has attracted a slew of scam artists hoping to take advantage of homeowners desperate to avoid losing their homes. In response, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto [...

Sexual Assault Victim's Attempt To Satisfy Money Judgment By Snatching Now-Vacated, Jailed Perpetrator's Texas House Squelched By Homestead Claim

Posted on August 19, 2010
A recent ruling by a Texas appeals court serves as another reminder that, once an individual/debtor establishes real estate as his/her homestead, a subsequent criminal conviction resulting in his/her being shipped off to prison for a long time is not enough to terminate the benefit from the exemption against a creditor's attempted forced sale or other taking of the individual/debtor's home that

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