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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

MERS Gets Hammered In Recent Oregon Federal Court Rulings As 100s Of F'closures Stall; Resulting Crappy Titles Will Be Uninsurable, Warns Underwriter

Posted on March 07, 2011
The Oregonian reports:Sales of hundreds of foreclosed homes in Oregon have been halted or withdrawn in recent weeks after federal judges repeatedly questioned their legality, according to a number of real estate attorneys in the state. Lenders have withdrawn more than 300 foreclosure sales since February in Deschutes County alone, one of the Oregon area's hardest hit by the housing collapse.

The Stench Left By MERS After Swallowing Your Loan

Posted on March 07, 2011
Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, also known as MERS, "whose private mortgage registry has all but replaced the nation?s public land ownership records," takes a heavy hammering in a recent article in The New York Times for the central role it's played in creating the quagmire in the foreclosure process as it and lenders (real and purported) attempt to enforce delinquent promissory notes

Two Ongoing Florida Cases Show HSBC's Purported Foreclosure Moratorium May Be BS; Inquiries To Lenders' Attorneys Yield No Explanations

Posted on March 07, 2011
AOL's Daily Finance reports:In HSBC's 2010 annual report, the bank asserted that it had stopped "processing foreclosures" and that it "suspended foreclosures" in December, even though the information wasn't made public until Feb. 28, when HSBC filed the report with the SEC...

Sacramento Feds Score Another Guilty Plea As 5th Defendant Goes Down In Foreclosure Sale Bid Rigging Conspiracy

Posted on March 06, 2011
In Sacramento, California, the San Jose Mercury News reports:Federal prosecutors say a Northern California man has pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids at foreclosure auctions in a county among the hardest hit by the real estate bust. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California says 38-year-old Yama Marifat of Pleasanton pleaded guilty Friday to the

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Attorney, Two Law Partners Admit To Bid-Rigging MD Real Estate Tax Lien Sales, Dodge Criminal Charges By Winning "Race To the Prosecutor's Office"

Posted on March 06, 2011
The Center for Public Integrity reports:A key witness in a federal probe of corruption in Maryland property tax-lien sales has stated under oath that he rigged bids for years while representing a Florida bank and other firms that bought liens at annual sales auctions, newly unsealed court records show...

Sale Of Tax Liens To Speculators & Proliferation Of Vacant, Rundown Real Estate

Posted on March 06, 2011
In Fulton County, Georgia, a recent story in The Atlanta Journal Constitution on the proliferation of vacant and rundown properties highlights the role that the sale of tax liens plays in the physical deterioration of some neighborhoods:A contributing factor, [community development groups and tax officials] say, is the sale of tax liens...

Florida Court Sets 2,700 Foreclosure Cases Set Dismissal After Lying Dormant For A Year

Posted on March 06, 2011
AOL's Daily Finance reports:If you sue someone in Florida but then stop pursuing your case for a year, the court can clear its case load by dismissing your suit for "failure to prosecute." Across Florida, courts are starting to clear their overwhelmed dockets by dismissing foreclosure cases the banks have failed to prosecute...

Judge Slams F'closure Defense Lawyer w/ $12K Fine After Refusing To Recuse Himself In Case Involving Bank From Whom He Received Three Loan Mods

Posted on March 06, 2011
In Detroit, Michigan, The Michigan Citizen reports:Third District Court Judge Robert J. Colombo recently received three home loan modifications from Charter One Bank. Colombo ruled, however, he did not need to recuse himself from a mortgage foreclosure case involving the same bank...

Profile Of A Vacant Foreclosed Home Hijacker

Posted on March 05, 2011
In South Florida, Broward/Palm Beach New Times recently ran a lengthy story on Mark Guerette, a real estate "entrepeneur" of sorts who recently copped a plea to a racket involving the hijacking of vacant foreclosed homes under a claim of adverse possession, and then renting them out to to unwitting tenants...

Lawsuit: Scamming Romeo Conned Texas Woman Into Borrowing Against Home Credit Line To Finance His Personal Lifetstyle

Posted on March 05, 2011
In Jefferson County, Texas, The Southeast Texas Record reports:A Jefferson County woman has filed suit against the man she claims is making a living by romancing women and then borrowing money from them. Beverly Hickman claims she lent defendant Robert Horowitz tens of thousands of dollars in 2009 after he wooed her and claimed to need money for himself and for his business, defendant Senior's

Campground Operator Pleads No Contest, Gets 7 Years Probation For Torching Premises After Elderly, Mortgage-Holding Prior Owners Begin Foreclosure

Posted on March 05, 2011
In Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, WNEP-TV Channel 16 reports:A woman was sentenced in Susquehanna County on Thursday, accused of setting several fires at a campground. Tamara Santarelli, formerly of Wilkes-Barre and now living in New York, was sentenced to seven years probation...

Failure To Pay Mortgage On Headquarters Leaves 31,000+ Florida Boy Scouts Facing The Boot

Posted on March 05, 2011
In Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, the South Florida Business Journal reports:Forget tying knots and building campfires. The Boy Scouts need to start working on their foreclosure defense. TD Bank wants to boot the Boy Scouts organization for the Palm Beaches and the Treasure Coast out of its headquarters...

Foreclosure Sale Buyer Finds Recent Purchase Comes With Four Dumpsters Of Rotting Garbage; Stench Gives Interior Designer Vomit Attack

Posted on March 05, 2011
In Mesa, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:Home buyers have seen some pretty nasty foreclosed homes ? but one in Mesa just might be the worst. Justin Christman makes his living buying foreclosed homes, fixing them up and selling them months later. He picked up one in Mesa on the auction steps without seeing the inside until after the deal was done...

Nursing Home Facing Foreclosure, Company Official Found Guilty Of Illegally Dipping Into Patient's Bank Account

Posted on March 05, 2011
In Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, WNEP-TV Channel 16 reports:A nursing home has been ordered to pay a big fine after an administrator stole from patients. Now, the president of the place said another state investigation could force the nursing home out of business...

Vegas Fire Officials: Disgruntled Tenant Foiled In Attempt To Torch House After Being Told Landlord Was In Foreclosure & Eviction Was Near

Posted on March 05, 2011
In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Las Vegas Sun reports:A 40-year-old Las Vegas man who was angry about being evicted from a house going into foreclosure allegedly attempted to burn the home down Saturday, fire officials said. Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said officials arrested James Edwards St...

West Virginia Court Voids Mortgage, Costs Bankster Over $3M+ With Punitive Damages, Legal Fees To Mom, Daughter Screwed Over By Predatory Practices

Posted on March 04, 2011
In Wheeling, West Virginia, The West Virginia Record reports:An Ohio County judge has ruled against Quicken Loans in a $3 million predatory lending case. Circuit Court Judge Arthur M. Recht concluded an eight-day trial that spanned 17 months by awarding punitive damages, attorney fees and costs to mother and daughter Wheeling residents Lourie Jefferson and Monique Brown...

Guilford Cnty Register Of Deeds Says MERS Is Screwing Up Chains Of Local Real Estate Titles, Stiffing It Out Of $1.3M In Recording Fees In The Process

Posted on March 04, 2011
In Greensboro, North Carolina, the News & Record reports:Guilford County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen wants an investigation into a service used by major mortgage companies who may have made false statements to avoid fees that cost the county $1.3 million in lost revenue...

Business As Usual At Chase-Owned EMC Mortgage As Banksters Refuse Comment On Possible Violations Of 2008 Court Order In Conduct Towards AZ Homeowners

Posted on March 04, 2011
In Phoeniz, Arizona, KNXV-TV Channel 15 reports on the trouble local homeowners Jason and Katherine Miller have been getting from Chase-owned EMC Mortgage in trying to work out payment arrangements on their home mortgage after initially being granted a trial modification:We were ecstatic...

Sale Leaseback Peddler Starts "Singing" To NH Feds After Copping Guilty Plea In Equity Stripping, Foreclosure Rescue Conspiracy

Posted on March 03, 2011
In Concord, New Hampshire, the Nashua Telegraph reports:Having lost their home to a refinancing swindle several years ago, Jonathan and Jan May came to U.S. District Court on Tuesday to see whether the criminal justice system might offer any consolation or, better yet, restitution...

HSBC Suspends All U.S. Foreclosures After Regulators Note Use Of Crappy Paperwork In Processing Legal Actions

Posted on March 03, 2011
Bloomberg reports:HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe?s biggest bank, has suspended U.S. foreclosures following a joint examination by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The regulators issued letters noting ?certain deficiencies? in the processing, preparation and signing of affidavits and ?other documents supporting foreclosures? at HSBC Finance Corp...

Disbarred Attorney Gets 48 Months For Looting $3.9M Of Client Cash From Trust Account

Posted on March 03, 2011
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:A federal judge sentenced a former Fort Lauderdale attorney accused of ripping off clients to 48 months in prison and ordered him to pay $3.9 million in restitution. Joseph Sindaco, 63, accepted a plea deal in December in which he pleaded guilty to a mail fraud charge...

$550K Payout OK'd To 2 Homebuyers, Landowners In RICO Suit Revolving Around Filing Of Unauthorized Lien Release; Judgment May Affect 100s Of Others

Posted on March 02, 2011
In Corpus Christi, Texas, the Corpus Christi Times Caller reports:A final judgment has been issued against one of the nation's largest mobile homebuilders related to a jury trial last year that found the company liable for civil racketeering and fraud in a South Texas case...

FTC Efforts Yield 24 Cents On The Dollar Recovery For Victims Of Nationwide Loan Modification/Foreclosure Defense Scam

Posted on March 02, 2011
The Federal Trade Commision recently announced:An administrator working for the Federal Trade Commission is mailing 1,455 refund checks to consumers defrauded by a mortgage loan modification and foreclosure rescue scam. The FTC alleged, and the court found, that operators of the scam falsely told consumers they would prevent their homes from being foreclosed and negotiate lower mortgage interest

Role (Or Lack Thereof) Of Class Action Lawsuits When Exercising Rescission Rights Under TILA

Posted on March 02, 2011
The apparent lack of a role of class action lawsuits when enforcing rescission rights under the Federal Truth In Lending Act is the subject of a recent law review article in the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review. From the synopsis:The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) provides two primary civil remedies for aggrieved borrowers who received misleading loan disclosures: damages and rescission...

Wells Fargo Backs Down In Attempt To Bully Elderly Georgia Woman From Home After Feds Express Interest In Dubious Documents Filed In Bankruptcy Case

Posted on March 01, 2011
In Decatur, Georgia, The New York Times reports:WHEN Zella Mae Green of Georgia filed for bankruptcy to save her home from foreclosure in 2004, she and her lawyer wanted to know two things: Did she actually owe any back payments on her mortgage? And, if so, to whom? It didn?t seem like a lot to ask...

Loan Servicer Drives Homeowner Into Foreclosure After Clipping Her With Excessive Force-Placed Hazard Insurance

Posted on March 01, 2011
In Nassau County, Florida, The Florida Times Union reports:Myrtle Harrison has lived in her mobile home for more than 25 years. For the first 20 years, she owned the home outright, free from any mortgage. But in a series of developments that began six years ago, Harrison has become ensnared in circumstances - partly due to bad decisions, partly due to being taken advantage of - that make it

Utah Homeowner Acknowledges Gullibility By Trusting BofA In Applying For Loan Modification

Posted on March 01, 2011
In Layton, Utah, KSL-TV Channel 5 reports:More than 32,000 homes in Utah received a foreclosure notice last year. A lot of those foreclosure notices went to people who thought they were meeting all of the lender's demands while they were following the procedures to apply for a loan modification...

The Double Standard Of Stategic Defaults - OK For Businesses, Unethical For Homeowners, Say Financial Industry Apologists

Posted on March 01, 2011
A recent story in The Palm Beach Post on the use of strategic defaults by homeowners who are underwater on their homes (where the money owed on their mortgage loan exceeds their home value) had this excerpt highlighting the apparent hypocrisy by those whose arguments against the manuever are limited to the context involving homeowners, and not businesses:In the business world, strategic default

Loan Officer Gets 12 Months Prison Time For Swindling Victims' Home Equity In Sale Leaseback Foreclosure Rescue Ripoff

Posted on February 28, 2011
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Baltimore, Maryland):U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced James Dan, age 46, of Annapolis, Maryland [] to a year and a day in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme which promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes, but left them

Scammer Pleads Guilty To Eight Felonies For Running Upfront Fee Loan Modification Ripoff Fleecing Thousand$ From Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Posted on February 28, 2011
In Ventura, California, the Ventura County Star reports:A Ventura woman will have to pay $76,000 in restitution after pleading guilty this week to grand theft and unlawful acts by a foreclosure consultant stemming from a real estate case, authorities said...

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