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

Ex-Realtor Association President Charged With Ripping Off Patio Bricks, Landscaping Blocks From Home In Foreclosure & Listed For Sale By Another Agent

Posted on July 17, 2010
In Joplin, Missouri, The Joplin Globe reports:A Joplin real estate agent is to appear for a court hearing later this month on a felony charge in the theft of patio bricks and landscaping blocks from a property that was in foreclosure and being listed by another agent...

Illinois Man Gets 115 Months For Pocketing $2M+ From 17 Victims In Home Equity Ripoffs

Posted on July 16, 2010
In Chicago, Illinois, the Daily Herald reports:A Lake Barrington man was sentenced to almost 10 years in prison in a fraud case that cost his 17 victims more than $2 million. Charles Landwer Jr., 47, formerly of Bartlett, pleaded guilty in January to mail fraud after originally being charged two years ago...

Beware Of Sleazy Sales Practices In Marketing Bank-Owned Foreclosures Tainted With Chinese Drywall

Posted on July 16, 2010
In Williamsburg, Virginia, The Virginian-Pilot reports:At $207,000, the five-bedroom, 2,700-square-foot home in Williamsburg sounds like a phenomenal deal, even in this housing market. ?Yes the price is correct!? reads the real estate listing in a local online database of homes for sale...

Purported Atlanta-Area Non-Profit Loan Modification Outfit Faces Media Heat After Customers Complain Of Being Fleeced Out Of Upfront Fees

Posted on July 16, 2010
In Tucker, Georgia, WGCL-TV reports:CBS Atlanta asked a DeKalb County mortgage counseling agency Tough Questions about its business practices, after several clients accused it of taking their money but failing to keep their homes out of foreclosure. ?It hurts my heart that they played me like they did,? said Brenda Pitts...

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Insurer's TV Commercial Creating Fear Of Possible Loss Of Home To Scare Texans Into Buying Unnecessary Coverage Ordered Yanked By State AG

Posted on July 16, 2010
From the Office of the Texas Attorney General:Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott [] sent a demand letter instructing Travelers Insurance (The Travelers Companies Inc.) to cease and desist the airing of a deceptive television advertisement. According to the attorney general?s letter, the ad improperly indicates that Texas homeowners should purchase additional motor vehicle insurance or risk losing

"The Banks Are Scared To Death Of Judge Spinner", Says One Lawyer As L.I. Judge Is Profiled In Media Report For Slamming Lenders In F'closure Actions

Posted on July 15, 2010
In Riverhead, New York, the New York Law Journal reports:At first blush, Suffolk County Acting Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Arlen Spinner (See Profile) seems an unlikely figure to strike fear in attorneys. The 50-year-old judge is physically unimposing, speaks in soft, measured tones and is unfailingly polite...

Granite State Couple Jams Attempted Foreclosure Sale Of Home; Obtain Last Minute Injunction After Raising Questions As To Ownership Of Promissory Note

Posted on July 15, 2010
In Sandwich, New Hampshire, WMUR-TV Channel 9 reports:A couple in Sandwich who nearly lost their home to foreclosure is gaining traction in their fight against what they said is fraudulent action by the companies trying to take their home. In March, a last-minute court order forced a foreclosure auctioneer to drive away on auction day without selling the home of Porter and Angie Moore...

Career Scammer Gets 30 Months In Mortgage Fraud Scam; Ripped Off Home Sellers Out Of Million$ In Equity Using Bogus "Owner-Finance" Deals

Posted on July 15, 2010
In Fort Myers, Florida, the Marco Eagle reports:A Marco Island businessman involved in $30 million worth of shady land deals since the 1980s was sentenced Monday to 2� years in a federal prison for a 2006 mortgage fraud case. U.S. District Judge John Steele also ordered Douglas Lee Carter Sr...

Chicago Federal Jury Slams Ex-Attorney With Guilty Verdict In Sale Leaseback, Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Ripoff

Posted on July 14, 2010
In Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reports:Norton Helton, a former Chicago attorney who once offered personal-finance advice on the radio, was found guilty Friday of bilking distressed homeowners through a fraudulent foreclosure rescue program...

Homeowner Facing Foreclosure Falls For Sale Leaseback Ripoff; Civil Suit Against Suspected Scammer In Works

Posted on July 14, 2010
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:Edward Harper, 73, retired from the Philadelphia Housing Authority, missed a couple of $500-a-month mortgage payments in 2007 because his daughter, who lives with him, needed the money. Facing foreclosure, he searched on the Internet for help, filled out applications, and was contacted by Fresh Start Financial Services in Mount

More Publicity For Southeatern Pennsylvania Foreclosure Rescue Operator

Posted on July 14, 2010
In Delaware County, Pennsylvania, The Delaware County Daily Times reports:Gennaro Rauso once described himself to the Daily Times as a ?self-taught paralegal.? Much of that education occurred at Graterford Prison while serving a nine-year drug sentence...

Bellyaching Bankers Rail Against Bill Attempting To Level Playing Field For New York Homeowners In Foreclosure Actions

Posted on July 14, 2010
The New York Law Journal reports:Legislation that would give property owners, as well as lenders, attorney's fees if they prevail in a residential foreclosure action is "unnecessary and would create uncertainty in the foreclosure process" in New York, the Bankers Association is contending...

Title Closing Agent Gets 4 Years For Role In $6M+ Escrow Swindle; Ripped-Off Loot Intended To Pay Off Existing Mortgages In Real Estate Deals

Posted on July 13, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (NYC/Manhattan):PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, [] announced that ERIC KOPPELMAN, a former title closer, was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in a scheme to steal over $6 million in proceeds of home mortgage loans...

Investor Lawsuit Targets 15 Wall Street Banks For Allegedly Duping It Into Buying $2.4B In Subprime Mortgage-Backed Securities

Posted on July 13, 2010
In Boston, Massachusetts, The New York Times' DealBook blog reports:Cambridge Place Investment Management is suing 15 Wall Street [] banks for misleading investors about a total of $2.4 billion in mortgage-backed securities that they sold, The Daily Telegraph reported...

Another F'closed Homeowner Illegally Driven From Home; Cops Decline To Pursue Criminal Charges; Call Premature, Unauthorized "Eviction" A Civil Matter

Posted on July 13, 2010
In Manatee County, Florida, the Bradenton Herald reports:Jodie Meyers knew she was losing her Hollybush Terrace home to foreclosure, but never expected the bank to be so quick in taking it. She and her three children already were in the process of moving out when GMAC Mortgage won a foreclosure auction of the four-bedroom house last month...

Montana Man Found Guilty In Home Title Hijacking Racket; Scam Targeted Vacant, Foreclosed Home; Probe Into Other Swiped Houses Continues

Posted on July 13, 2010
In Polson, Montana, the Missoulian reports:Deliberating less than an hour, a Lake County jury [...] found Brent Arthur Wilson guilty of stealing a $380,000 home outside Polson. In all, Wilson was found guilty of three felonies and one misdemeanor. His sentencing was set for Aug...

Lien Stripping In Ch. 13 Bankruptcy A Neat Way For Qualified Underwater Homeowners To Stiff 2nd Mtg Holders w/out Risk Of Future Collection Attempts

Posted on July 12, 2010
In New York City, the New York Post reports:Underwater homeowners are jumping onto an unexpected financial life raft that lets them escape crippling second mortgage debts and keep their homes -- Chapter 13 bankruptcy. It's an unprecedented byproduct of the housing price collapse, says New York City bankruptcy attorney David Shaev of Shaev & Fleischman...

Lawsuit Lists Economic Factors That Discourage Bank of America From Meeting Contractual Obligations Under HAMP By Facilitating Loan Modifications

Posted on July 12, 2010
In Phoenix, Arizona, Courthouse News Service reports:Despite pocketing $25 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, Bank of America refuses to help its customers out because it makes money by turning them away, a class action claims in Federal Court...

Nevada AG Obtains Indictment In Alleged Loan Modification Ripoff

Posted on July 12, 2010
From the Office of the Nevada Attorney General:[M]arisol Perez, 48, of Las Vegas, was indicted on charges of four felony counts of theft in connection with the operation of We Save Your Home, LLC, a foreclosure rescue business located in Las Vegas. The Indictment alleges that between July 2008 and May 2009, Perez misled customers into believing that, for a fee ranging from $1350 to $2000, she

Bankruptcy Court Slams Loan Servicer With $66K Punitive Damage Award To Homeowner For Flagrant Violations Of Discharge Injunction, Related Court Order

Posted on July 11, 2010
A recent ruling from a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Raleigh, North Carolina belted Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC with punitive damages in favor of a homeowner/couple in the amount of $66,300 for a "knowing, willful, and flagrant violation of both the discharge injunction" and a related court order...

Another Lawyer/Closing Agent In Hot Water Over Missing Escrow Cash To Pay Off Mortgages; Refinancing Borrowers Getting F'closure Threats Tip Off Bank

Posted on July 11, 2010
In Hamilton County, Ohio, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports:An Edgewood lawyer who acts as the title agent for Fifth Third Bank mortgages is accused of keeping more than $1.1 million and the bank wants it back. The Cincinnati-based bank is suing Donald Richardson and his Commitment Title Agency in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, accusing them of fraud, unjust enrichment and other allegations

Failure To Assign Note Along With Mortgage Sinks Foreclosing Lender, Says NJ Judge; Real Estate Investor Still Owner Of Home With $1.4M Mortgage

Posted on July 11, 2010
In Atlantic City, New Jersey, NewJerseyNewsroom.com reports:With mortgage loans increasingly chopped up and repackaged into other investments, lenders must be able to demonstrate they still hold the underlying note before they can foreclose on a property, a Superior Court judge has ruled...

Tenants To File Suit Against Landlord Alleging Health Problems Due To Toxic Mold; Claim Concerns Were Ignored, Met With Retaliatory Threats

Posted on July 11, 2010
In Pittsburg, California, the Contra Costa Times reports:Tenants of an apartment complex here are suing their management company over claims that it failed to remove mold that made them sick. About 30 residents of Portofino Apartments [...] are signing onto a lawsuit, said attorney Bob Levin, against management company Riverstone Residential Group, citing poor living conditions and retaliatory

Officials Threaten Tenants With The Boot Due To Landlord's Failure To Register Housing Rentals With City

Posted on July 10, 2010
In Elmora, New York, the Star Gazette reports:As part of Elmira's continuing battle against neighborhood blight, city officials will post notices on four rental properties Monday saying the homes cannot be occupied because their owners haven't registered with the city...

Insurance Agent Negligent For Failure To Renew Windstorm Policy Shortly Before Hurricane; Found Liable To Owner For $29K+, Owner's Attorney For $165K

Posted on July 10, 2010
In Jefferson County, Texas, The Southeast Texas Record reports:Nashib Investments landed a $29,550 jury award [...] for damages to its property on Major Drive following Hurricane Ike. However, the company also witnessed jurors award $165,000 to its attorney...

GPS System Used To Track Appliances Ripped Off From Vacant Foreclosed Homes

Posted on July 10, 2010
In Las Vegas, Nevada, KTNV-TV Channel 13 reports:You never expect your house to get broken into, but when a burglary happens, it can be a scary thing. And expensive too. The good news is property crimes in the Valley are down. However, one type of burglary is on the rise and hitting places you wouldn't expect, empty, foreclosed homes...

Foreclosed Homeowner Charged With Endangering Neighbors After Being Found Living In Former Home Running Portable Generator

Posted on July 10, 2010
In Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, The Delaware County Daily Times reports:A man was arrested after allegedly endangering neighbors with a portable running generator in a third-floor bedroom of a vacant house. John Siu, 61, the former owner of the house on the 7200 block of Hazel Avenue, Upper Darby, is facing charges of recklessly endangering another person and criminal trespass...

Homeowners Continue To Be Submarined By Lender Foreclosures Despite Being Promised Loan Modifications

Posted on July 09, 2010
ProPublica reports:In May, we published a story about how disorganization at the big banks has led to mistaken foreclosures: homeowners were under review for a modification, but were suddenly foreclosed on because of a communication breakdown within the mortgage servicer...

Alleged Loan Modification Rackets Wanted In Other States Now Operating In Washington Targeting Financially Struggling Hispanic Homeowners

Posted on July 09, 2010
In Yakima, Washingtom, KIMA-TV Channel 29 reports:KIMA uncovered a scam preying on our area's Hispanic community. They tell families they can save their homes, with little to no money up front. But these loan modification companies end up being a con...

New State Disclosure Law Targets Colorado Short Sale Flippers

Posted on July 09, 2010
In Denver, Colorado, the Denver Real Estate Examiner reports:Governor Bill Ritter just signed HB 10-1133 into law, a bill that makes marked changes to the Colorado Foreclosure Protection Act. This applies to you if you are a real estate investor who buys and flips short sale properties...

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