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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

BofA "Despicable" With Approach To Loan Mods & Foreclosures, Say Frustrated Customers; Lender Calls Class Action Suit A Series Of "Sob Stories"

Posted on May 12, 2010
In Las Vegas, Nevada, KTNV-TV Channel 13 reports:Nearly 100 angry homeowners took to the streets Monday, protesting what they call unfair treatment by Bank of America, the nation's biggest bank. They marched from a local law office to the federal courthouse, to show the judge that they mean business...

BofA's "Property Preservation" Contractor Accused Of Stiffing Subs Around The Country Out Of Tens Of Thousand$; Lender Says It's Not Their Problem

Posted on May 12, 2010
In Denver, Colorado, CBS4 reports:It sounded like the ideal business during a recession -- fixing up foreclosed homes for banks. But contractors in Colorado and around the country say they have been bilked. They asked CBS4 investigator Rick Sallinger to look into the company that's supposed to be paying them for their work...

Massachusetts AG Obtains Indictment Of Attorney Accused Of Using Forged Mortgage Assignments In Attempt To Hijack Payoff Proceeds In R/E Closings

Posted on May 11, 2010
From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:A Marblehead attorney has been indicted by a statewide Grand Jury for allegedly attempting to retrieve over $1.3 million dollars in mortgage funds in connection with a sophisticated mortgage fraud scheme...

Lender Allegedly OK'd Loan Modification, Then Carried Out Foreclosure Sale Anyway, Says West Virginia Homeowner In Lawsuit

Posted on May 11, 2010
In Charleston, West Virginia, The West Virginia Record reports:A Cross Lanes man is suing Countrywide Home Loans, Bac Home Loans Servicing and Federal National Mortgage Association after he claims the companies participated in predatory lending and loan servicer abuse that resulted in the wrongful foreclosure of his home...

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Couple Forced To Pay Twice For Home Construction Bills After Contractor Pockets Their Payments & Stiffs Subs, Building Material Suppliers

Posted on May 11, 2010
In South Lake Tahoe, California, KGO-TV Channel 7 reports:If you ever have to hire a contractor, you could end up paying twice for the same bill. It's happening to more and more people. [...] Images of the devastating Angora Fire in South Lake Tahoe are still etched in the minds of Howard and Joann Manning...

CBS' 60 Minutes On Underwater Homeowners & Strategic Defaults

Posted on May 10, 2010
eCreditDaily reports:60 Minutes [last night] put the national spotlight on strategic defaults, or homeowners walking away from ?underwater? mortgages and into foreclosure, despite being able to make their payments. In a segment that aired [last night], Morley Safer interviewed homeowners mired in negative equity, a spreading ?epidemic? for an estimated 11 million homeowners...

Arizona AG Shuts Down Foreclosure Help Outfit That Allegedly Promised To Buy Clients' Defaulted Loans From Lenders, Then Re-Work Payment Terms

Posted on May 10, 2010
In Scottsdale, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:State regulators have shut down a mortgage rescue company that CBS 5 investigators exposed one week ago. [... Homer] Becker and thousands of other homeowners said they handed over $1,595 each to Guardian [Group], which was supposed to buy their homes from the bank and then sell them back to the homeowners at a reduced price...

Flood Of Foreclosure Fraud Complaints Overwhelms DA's Office; Financially Strapped Victims Told To Prosecute Cases Themselves By Filing Civil Suits

Posted on May 10, 2010
In Riverside County, California, The Press Enterprise reports:A nonprofit organization representing 23 faith congregations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties demonstrated Friday, calling for county government to give higher priority to fighting foreclosure fraud with prosecutions and education...

Convicted Loan Modification Scammer Buys His Way Out Of Jail Time By Coughing Up $10K+ In Victim Restitution Prior To Sentencing

Posted on May 10, 2010
From the Office of the Nevada Attorney General:Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced [] the sentencing of William Vargas in connection with his involvement with a mortgage foreclosure rescue company, Federal Housing Aid, whose operation included a call center in the Philippines...

Indiana AG Files Suit Against Alleged Foreclosure Assistance Racket Accused Of Taking Over Financially Distressed Homes & Failing To Pay The Mortgage

Posted on May 10, 2010
In Noblesville, Indiana, WRTV-TV Channel 6 reports:The state has filed suit against a man in the wake of numerous complaints about foreclosure rescue programs. [...] Investigators said Daniel Shrader worked as an agent for at least 10 such companies, including Northstar Homes, Orion, Great Homes LLC, Prizm Partners, Regal Partners and the Oakbay Group, along with a website offering foreclosure

Lender Exercises Setoff Rights To Drain Cash From Unwitting Couple's Bank Account

Posted on May 09, 2010
In Atlanta, Georgia, Next Student Student Loan Blog reports:An Atlanta couple has found themselves with their savings wiped out after their bank, Wells Fargo, cleared out their checking account in order to pay a piece of what bank officials maintain is an outstanding student loan (?Suddenly, Bank Account Was Gone,? The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 1, 2010)...

Indiana AG Targets Now-Defunct California Company In Alleged Upfront Fee Loan Modification Scam

Posted on May 09, 2010
In South Bend, Indiana, the South Bend Tribune reports:[I]ndiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has filed a lawsuit [...] against [USA Mortgage Aid Inc.], a purported business that Zoeller says has swindled hundreds of Indiana residents out of hard earned money...

Maryland AG Moves To Halt "Free Rent" Investment Racket That Resulted In 100+ Tenants Being Bounced Out Of Homes

Posted on May 09, 2010
In Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun reports:The Maryland attorney general's office moved Thursday to halt an alleged pyramid scheme by a Gambrills company and its owner, who are accused of bilking about 500 people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by promising commissions, free rent and cars in exchange for recruiting more investors...

Ohio AG Cautions Consumers Against Racket Targeting Payday Loan Customers For Debt Collection Ambush

Posted on May 09, 2010
From the Office of the Ohio Attorney General:In a new twist on an old scam, con artists are now targeting recipients of payday loans using debt collection tactics. Attorney General Richard Cordray [] warned Ohioans to verify callers and money owed before paying out to debt collectors...

NJ Appeals Court: NY Lawyer Unlicensed In NJ Representing Homeowners In Settling F'closure Cases Subject To NJ Jurisdiction In Legal Malpractice Suit

Posted on May 09, 2010
The New Jersey Law Journal reports:A New York lawyer who represented clients in a New Jersey real estate case [involving the representation of a couple who she knew to be New Jersey residents, for the purpose of settling pending or impending foreclosure actions in a New Jersey court for New Jersey properties] without crossing the Hudson is nonetheless subject to New Jersey's jurisdiction in a

Condo Converter Accused Of Unloading Mold-Infested Apartments On Buyers, Leaving Unit Owners With Unaffordable $4M Remediation Price Tag

Posted on May 08, 2010
In Redmond, Washington, KOMO-TV Channel 4 reports:What many thought would be a dream condo ended up instead with a moldy mess. And to make things worse? The person the condo owners believe is responsible is nowhere to be found.***Thirteen homes in this community have been hit with water intrusion and mold...

Residents In Dilapidated Mobile Home Park In Foreclosure Threatened With Immediate Boot Over Unpaid Water Bill

Posted on May 08, 2010
In Jacksonville, Florida, The Florida Times Union reports:Among the dozens of ravaged homes, trash piles and overflowing sewage in a once thriving Jacksonville neighborhood stand eerie monuments to a time when the streets bustled with people. [...] About 40 people, a quarter of them children, still live in the Westport Mobile Home Park on 103rd Street near Interstate 295...

City Of Atlanta, Management Company Work To Relocate 180 Residents Left Stranded In Dilapidated, Foreclosed Apartment Complex

Posted on May 08, 2010
In Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports:Josephine Roberts has to move ? right away ? out of the rundown southwest Atlanta apartment that has been her home for 25 years. ?It?s probably for the best,? Roberts, 65, told the AJC on Thursday after meeting with an apartment management company that is trying to relocate the 180 people stranded in the Hidden Pines apartments after

Novice Homebuyer May Be Out $8K After Unwittingly Signing Contract Sans Loan Contingency On Foreclosure, Then Discovers Mortgage Insurance Unavailable

Posted on May 08, 2010
In Edmonton, Alberta, CTV Edmonton reports:A young woman is now fighting for her life savings after a housing venture went through the cracks. Brenda Vanner says she cashed in her RRSPs [Registered Retirement Savings Plans] and her savings to make an offer on a property that was up for foreclosure...

Grant Deed Solicitation Scam Letter Targets Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Posted on May 08, 2010
In Palm Dedert, California, California Chronicle reports:Supervisor John J. Benoit [] is warning about a mailing received in the Coachella Valley [...] from the "Title Compliance Office" informing residents that, per a recommendation of the U.S. Government Federal Citizen Information Center, they should obtain an official copy of their Grant Deed by a deadline of May 24, 2010...

Tenant Gets 12 Years For Operating Indoor Pot Farm From Basement Of Rented Home

Posted on May 08, 2010
From the Office of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Prosecutor:On April 12, 2010, Michael Papazoglou, 30, of Freehold Township, N.J., was sentenced to a 12 year State Prison term for the first degree crime of Maintaining or Operating a Controlled Dangerous Substance Production Facility...

New Wave Of Foreclosures Currently On Hold As Lenders Drag Feet In Dealing With Delinquent, Underwater Condo Owners

Posted on May 07, 2010
A recent column in Barron's addressed the problem of mortgage lenders dragging their feet on condominium foreclosures in order to avoid taking title to units in order to avoid becoming responsible for footing the bills for the HOA's maintenance fees:IF A CONDOMINIUM OWNER is behind on his mortgage, he usually isn't paying his condo association dues either...

Blanket Receiverships Come To Daytona Beach In Fight Against Deadbeat, Rent Skimming Condo Owners Stiffing Associations On HOA Fees

Posted on May 07, 2010
In Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, The Daytona Beach News Journal reports:At the peak of the area's housing boom four years ago, Chicago native James Dolan bought a unit at the nine-story Oceanside Inn here when it converted from a hotel to a condo-tel...

Lenders Refuse To Finance Condo Sale Where 15%+ Of Members Delinquent On HOA Fees, Leaving Unit Owner Unable To Unload Apartment

Posted on May 07, 2010
In Baltimore, Maryland, WBAL-TV Channel 11 reports:The tightening of the mortgage industry is keeping one Glen Burnie man from selling his home. Dave Shaffer said he has a buyer for the home, but that buyer is having trouble getting a home loan because of a lending rule that's just recently been enforced...

Minnesota Woman Faces Charge Of Ripping Off Dementia-Disabled Aunt Of Life Savings, Leaving Her Facing Eviction From Nursing Home & Foreclosure

Posted on May 07, 2010
In Dakota County, Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:An Eagan woman faces a felony charge of exploiting a vulnerable adult for allegedly stealing more than $35,000 from her disabled aunt. She is accused of gambling away the woman's life savings...

The Lawsuits Continue Against Foreclosing Lenders Accused Of Jerking Around Homeowners Seeking Loan Modification Help

Posted on May 06, 2010
In New York City, Crain's New York Business reports:Three Queens homeowners filed a lawsuit against J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A. and two of its subsidiaries, Chase Home Finance and Washington Mutual Bank, claiming that the groups illegally delayed and denied their applications for permanent foreclosure relief under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program...

Idaho Couple Say Loan Servicer Approved Loan Modification, Accepted Subsequent Payments, Then Foreclosed On Them Anyway

Posted on May 06, 2010
In Ada County, Idaho, the Idaho Statesman reports:Carey and Tracie Kinghorn were content with their adjustable-rate mortgage, but they were pleased when the Texas-based servicer that had bought their loan offered them a modification to lower their monthly payment by about $500...

Matchmaker To Link Victims Of Foreclosing Lenders' Loan Modification Jerk-Arounds With Reporters Looking To Cover These Stories

Posted on May 06, 2010
ProPublica reports:Millions of homeowners face losing their homes in the continuing foreclosure crisis, but homeowners often have more than the struggling economy and slumping house prices to worry about: Disorganization within the big banks that service mortgages has made a bad problem worse...

Attorney Cranked Out Paperwork For $2 Per Each Blindly Signed Document Filed In Florida Foreclosure Mill's Home Loan Lawsuits

Posted on May 06, 2010
In Central Florida, a recent story in The Tampa Tribune contained the following execrpt on how notorious assembly line, foreclosure mill law firm Florida Default Law Group, headed by attorney Michael Echevarria, has, in the past, put in requests for attorney fee awards in foreclosure actions:In 2004, The Florida Bar reprimanded Echevarria for violating certain Bar rules, one of which concerned

Bid-Rigging Attorney Gets 12 Months In 5-Year, $10 Million Conspiracy At Baltimore-Area Real Estate Tax Lien Auctions

Posted on May 06, 2010
In Baltimre, Maryland, The Maryland Daily Record reports:Baltimore County lawyer and real estate investor Harvey M. Nusbaum was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in federal prison for his role in a five-year, $10 million bid-rigging conspiracy at tax lien auctions in Maryland...

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