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

90-Year Old Homeowner To Escape Foreclosure After Media Report; Son Said Servicer Refused For Months To Take His Money Even Though He Co-Signed Loan

Posted on August 19, 2010
In Stratford, Connecticut, WTNH-TV Channel 8 reports:A 90-year-old Stratford woman who faced foreclosure won't lose her home after all. John Puchowicz said he was contacted by Chase bank after his story aired on News 8 earlier this week.(1) Puchowicz told News 8 Monday his mother was threatened with foreclosure on her condo...

Title Insurer Not Responsible For Incorrect Informal Statements Made As To Lien Status Of Property; Leads To $1M Hit For Foreclosure Sale Bidder

Posted on August 19, 2010
A recent ruling by a California appellate court highlights the importance of obtaining title insurance protection when buying (or renting) real estate. The basic facts of the case have been extracted (mostly verbatim, but slightly adapted) from the ruling as follows:Individual/Plaintiff alleges that he was an investor in distressed real estate...

Free Legal Documents May Help Financially Strapped Homeowners Against Being Bulldozed By Foreclosure Mills, "Rocket Dockets" In Attempts To Take Homes

Posted on August 18, 2010
In Central Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports on Richard Kessler, a local retired lawyer who offers an electronic packet of foreclosure defense legal forms he calls the "Rocket Docket Annihilator" -- complete with an instruction sheet and fill-in-the-blank templates -- free on his website for homeowners looking to thwart attempts by foreclosure mills to take their homes by filing

Uncooperative Lenders Holding 2nd Mortgages On Underwater Homes Have Much To Fear From Lien-Stripping Homeowners Filing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Posted on August 18, 2010
Lien stripping in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy has been described as an unexpected financial life raft that underwater homeowners are jumping onto to escape crippling second mortgage debts and keep their homes.It applies in the case of a homeowner with two or more mortgages on their home...

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Loan Servicing Racket Horror Stories Continue; Local Media Outlet Intervenes, Obtains Some Resolution w/ Tax Escrow, Forced Placed Insurance Problems

Posted on August 18, 2010
In Dallas, Texas, a recent story from KDFW-TV Channel 4 points to the problem of unregulated mortgage loan servicing companies by highlighting three stories involving homeowners driven into foreclosure, allegedly due to paperwork screw-ups by American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc...

BofA Begins Foreclosure On House Homeowner No Longer Owns; Property Sold In Lender-Approved Short Sale Months Earlier

Posted on August 18, 2010
In Lee County, Florida, WINK News reports:[C]ape Coral homeowners spent a year trying to avoid a foreclosure. [...] Finally, after three short sale offers fell through, Bank of America approved an offer for $128,000 in cash. They closed on the sale in February...

Lending, Servicing Operations Cause Conflict Of Interest For Major Banks; Attributed As Reason For Ineffectiveness Of Government's Loan Mod Program

Posted on August 17, 2010
A recent The New York Times story decribes a significant conflict of interest facing the major banks like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and others that also provide loan servicing operations for other institutions/securitized mortgage investors: So where does the conflict of interest lie? Often, the same bank that services a primary mortgage owned by another institution

Maine High Court Boots MERS For Lack Of Standing To Initiate F'closure Action, Okays Post-Filing Substitution Of Bank As Real Party In Interest

Posted on August 17, 2010
The Maine Supreme Court recently weighed in on whether everyone's favorite mortgage electronic registration system, MERS, had any business initiating foreclosure actions. In a nutshell, the court ruled as follows:MERS is not a "mortgagee" within the meaning of the state's foreclosure statute, 14 M...

Texas Couple Asks Judge To Stop Non-Judicial Foreclosure; Says MERS Was Out Of Line In Attempted Note Transfer; Demands Loan, Lien Docs, PSA

Posted on August 17, 2010
In Sherman, Texas, The Southeast Texas Record reports:In an attempt to stop a non-judicial foreclosure on their property, Collin County residents Alan and Kelley Anderson filed a lawsuit against CitiMortgage Inc. and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, also known as MERS, on July 23 in Collin County District Court...

NJ AG Bags Pair In Alleged Short Sale, Straw Buyer Flipping Scam Using Phony I.D.s That Scored $100-300K Per Deal

Posted on August 17, 2010
From the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General:Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor today announced that a Union County mortgage loan solicitor has been charged with conspiring with others ? including a Kearny woman who was charged previously ? in a scheme to steal millions of dollars by obtaining mortgage loans using false identities and counterfeit

Targeting Foreclosure-Related Scams A Good Talking Point For State AG's Running For Governor?

Posted on August 16, 2010
Sarasota Herald Tribune columnist Tom Lyons raises a question on the timing of the recent announcement by Florida Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum regarding the probe into three foreclosure mill law firms that have been the target of many accusations alleging the manufacturing of phony legal documents in foreclosure actions...

80-Year Old NYC Woman Facing F'closure Says Lawyer, Grandaughter Conned Her Into Signing Away $1.7M Home Of 45 Years, Then Tried To Give Her The Boot

Posted on August 16, 2010
In Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, the New York Daily News reports:An 80-year-old Brooklyn widow is suing her ex-lawyer, saying he scammed her out of her $1.7 million brownstone and conspired to evict her. Desperate, Concepcion (Connie) Campbell turned to Alfred Walendowski for help after she fell behind on her mortgage on her Carroll Gardens home and was facing foreclosure...

Southern California Man Gets 4 Years After Copping Grand Theft Plea In $300K Home Equity Refinancing Ripoff

Posted on August 16, 2010
In Southern California, The Downey Patriot reports:A convicted con man who operated a Montebello realty company was sentenced Aug. 6 to four years in state prison, the District Attorney?s office has announced. Raul Altamirano, 53, pleaded guilty on June 14 to one count of grant theft and admitted an allegation that the taking was more than $150,000...

Cops: Unwitting Homebuyers Face F'closure After Seller Pockets $100K In Sale Proceeds Owed To Lienholder; Title Insurer's Police Report Triggers Probe

Posted on August 16, 2010
In Monroe County, Pennsylvania, the Pocono Record reports:The owner of Signature Real Estate in East Stroudsburg was charged Friday with falsely reporting a property he owned as being mortgage-free, selling that property and then keeping the money from the sale for himself...

State Regulator, California Bar Have Hands Full Hammering Real Estate Agents, Attorneys In Loan Modification, Short Sale, "Lawyer-Renting" Scams

Posted on August 16, 2010
California Watch reports:Amid the downturn in California's real estate market, the state has disciplined a record number of real estate licensees and is investigating thousands of attorneys involved in loan modification and short-sale scams.***The [California Department of Real Estate] revoked, suspended or accepted the surrender of 886 real estate licenses from July 2009 through June 30, 2010.

Spotlight Continues To Shine On Florida Foreclosure Mills

Posted on August 15, 2010
The American Bar Association's ABA Journal recently weighed in with coverage of the alleged fraudulent document rackets being run by Florida foreclosure mill law firms.For the story, see Fla. AG Probe: Did 3 Law Firms Get 1,000s of Foreclosure Judgments By Possible Wrongdoing?For earlier ABA Journal stories on one of the foreclosure mill operations, see:Small Foreclosure Firm?s Big Bucks: Back

Sacramento DA Beefs Up Forces Targeting Loan Modification, Home Equity, Forged Land Document Ripoff Rackets

Posted on August 15, 2010
In Sacramento, California, CBS13 reports:Sacramento County is cracking down on criminals targeting desperate homeowners. The DA's office is beefing up their Real Estate Fraud Task Force. They're going after people claiming they can bail out homeowners from foreclosure, and also those who steal home equity, and forge documents...

Victims: Crooked Contractor Left Trail Of Homeowners Facing Possible Mechanics Lien F'closures; Accused Of Pocketing Customer Deposits, Stiffing Subs

Posted on August 15, 2010
In West Palm Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:Roofer Gregory Haddox followed Hurricane Wilma to the tarp-covered homes of Palm Beach County. Soon after, in 2006, he was jailed because he had no license.(1)Despite his guilty plea, Haddox has continued to operate, leaving a trail of lawsuits and angry home�owners and subcontractors in his wake...

Blind Senior Bilked For $100K+, Left Facing Foreclosure In Home Improvement Horror Story After Fire Damages Home

Posted on August 15, 2010
In Jacksonville, Florida, The Florida Times Union reports:[Mary] Lindsey, 66, has gone totally blind since [a] January 2009 fire devastated her Westside Jacksonville home. But she doesn't need her eyes to see that things have gone horribly awry.Where a contractor promised new replacement appliances, there is an old, cracked stove and an aging refrigerator...

Duo To Snatch Control Of Financially Troubled 110-Building, NYC Housing Complex For $45M? 11,000-Unit Property Sold For $5.4B In 2006

Posted on August 15, 2010
In New York City, Crain's New York Business reports:If all goes according to plan, next Thursday a new partnership led by hedge fund honcho William Ackman will buy Manhattan's largest housing complex?the 110-building Stuyvesant Town / Peter Cooper Village?paying as little as $45 million in a foreclosure auction...

Unpaid Water Bill Leads To Another Shutoff For One S. Fla. Condo; Unpaid HOA Fees Cause Assoc's Cash Shortage; May Need To Start "Reverse F'closures"

Posted on August 14, 2010
In Lake Worth, Florida, WPEC-TV Channel 12 reports:Residents of a Lake Worth condo are once again without water. People who live at the Sun Home Condominium say the water went out Monday. Residents fear a repeat of what happened in June when the water was off for a week...

37 Disabled Vets Face The Boot As Non-Profit Albuquerque Group Home Faces Foreclosure

Posted on August 14, 2010
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, KOB-TV Channel 4 reports:A local non-profit that provides a home for dozens of vets is behind on its mortgage payment and if money doesn?t come soon, the apartment complex could shut down leaving many of its tenants homeless...

New Bay State Law Requires "Just Cause" Before Booting Renters From Foreclosed Properties

Posted on August 14, 2010
In Boston, Massachusetts, Harvard Law School News reports:Groundbreaking legislation originally drafted by students from the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) to protect tenants from losing their homes after foreclosure was signed into law on August 7 by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick ?82, former president of HLAB...

Ex-Firefighter Gets Six Months For Torching Home While Facing Foreclosure; Ordered To Pay $16K In Restitution

Posted on August 14, 2010
In Waupaca, Wisconsin, WSAU Radio 550 AM / 99.9 FM reports:A former firefighter will spend four years on probation, including six months in jail, for deliberately setting his house on fire in September 2005. A Waupaca County judge also ordered Chris Doering to pay court costs and more than $16,000 in restitution to the holder of the land contract and an insurance agency...

Tenant Hit w/ Civil "Pigeon-Feeding" Charges; Faces The Boot Over Health, Safety Issues; Bread-Supplying Bakeries Eyed As "Unindicted Co-Conspirators"

Posted on August 14, 2010
In Coney Island, Brooklyn, the New York Post reports:Coney Island is a continent away from Alcatraz, but the spirit of the "Birdman" lives on in a neighborhood woman who loves and feeds pigeons -- and it might cost her her home. Sabina Mickiewicz's landlords have taken the disabled woman to Housing Court and are trying to evict her for creating "a health and safety issue" in her apartment complex

Texas Woman The Latest "Blame Obama" Bandwagon Jumper; Lawsuit Claims Prez, Housing Officials Hypnotized & Abused Her, Forcing Her To Flee Home

Posted on August 14, 2010
In Jefferson County, Texas, The Southeast Texas Record reports:Claiming she had to flee her government sanctioned home because of psychological and sexual abuse, Amy Modica, who has filed around a dozen suits in the past three years, filed two fresh lawsuits Monday against President Barack Obama...

Bronx Tenants Target Fannie, Freddie; Bang Drums Chanting "The Bronx Is Not For Sale" In Protest Over Deteriorating Conditions In Dilapidated Bldgs

Posted on August 14, 2010
In New York City, WNYC Radio 93.9 FM/820 AM reports:A group of Bronx tenants rallied Thursday outside the midtown offices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They began their march at Fannie Mae's midtown offices and ended up near Grand Central Terminal, where they banged drums and chanted "the Bronx is not for sale...

Thugs Hijack Condemned Apartment Building In Foreclosure After City Boots Four Dozen Residents Over Health, Safety Issues; Bank Left Holding The Bag

Posted on August 14, 2010
In Springfield, Massachusetts, The Republican reports:The living conditions inside two Locust Street apartment buildings, which the city condemned Thursday, had deteriorated dramatically during the past few months. Things got so bad that on Wednesday, when a number of city agencies conducted an emergency inspection of the properties at 244-252 and 258-262 Locust St...

Foreclosed Homeowner Faces Felony Theft, Criminal Mischief Charges For Stripping Fixtures Before Vacating Premises; Damages Estimated At Approx. $50K

Posted on August 14, 2010
In Baxter County, Arkansas, KAIT-TV Channel 8 reports:A Midway woman turns herself in on felony charges of theft of property and criminal mischief following a complaint filed April 9 by First National Bank and Trust Company of Mountain Home. According to police reports, Cathy Jo Cain, 39, of Midway turned herself in after damaging her previous home after it was foreclosed...

Several Homeowners In Foreclosure Win Unexpected Extension In Cases As Judge Gets Trapped In Elevator, Causing Hearing Cancellations

Posted on August 14, 2010
In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:A judge was stuck in an elevator at the Sarasota judicial center for more than 30 mintues Monday morning. Several foreclosure hearings scheduled for 9:30 a.m. were cancelled after Magistrate Deborah Bailey could not get off the elevator to go to her 5th floor courtroom...

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