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

Another Homeowner In Foreclosure Faces Premature Boot As Trigger-Happy Lender Changes Locks Before Public Sale

Posted on January 17, 2010
In Columbus, Ohio, The Columbus Dispatch reports:After she lost her job more than a year ago, Deborah Stevens knew she would not be able to keep her Galloway home. She didn't know she would be locked out of the home while she still had title or spend seven weeks trying to reclaim her possessions...

SNDA Can Protect Would-Be Business Tenants From Getting An Early Boot When Leasing From Rent Skimming Commercial Landlords Facing Foreclosure

Posted on January 16, 2010
In Bend, Oregon, The Bulletin reports:Most businesses lease, putting them at risk of eviction if their landlord defaults. But as Todd and Myrna Dow, of Sisters, learned the hard way, a legal document ? called a subordination, non-disturbance and attornment agreement ? exists to protect against that very scenario, which has become more common with the down economy...

Home Repair Contractor Faces Criminal Charges For Failing To Pay Material Supplier, Leaving Two Customers With Mechanics Liens On Homes

Posted on January 16, 2010
In St. Petersburg, Florida, The Suncoast News reports:When Wendy Whitt of St. Petersburg hired a local contractor to fix her roof, she got more than just a bill for the repairs. She also got a lien against her property. Whitt's problems started when she hired Marco Alamina and his company, Patriot Roofing Inc...

Another Multi-Unit Building In F'closure, More Tenants Living In Misery; Cold Blast Bursts Frozen Pipes; Leaves Renters Flooded, Without Running Water

Posted on January 16, 2010
In San Antonio, Texas, KENS-TV Channel 5 reports:One day without water was okay. But 7 days? Foreclosures in California have had a direct effect on a west side man: drying-up his water supply. Juan Gamez says his California landlord is in foreclosure...

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Tight-Knit Baltimore Investment Group Reportedly Has Cost Foreclosing Lenders More Than $1M So Far With More Foreclosures In The Pipeline

Posted on January 16, 2010
In Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore City Paper profiles a local real estate investment group, made up of friends, brothers, lovers, and alleged step-relatives who flipped homes to each other, that appears to have fallen on hard times as the foreclosure actions against them continue to mount...

Joint Purchase By Three Investors At Foreclosure Auction Deemed Bid Rigging By Colorado Appeals Court

Posted on January 16, 2010
In Aspen, Colrado, The Aspen Times reports:A foreclosure auction on an Aspen condominium unit was tainted by bid rigging, the Colorado Court of Appeals concluded in a 54-page order issued last week. The unit sold at a Feb. 27, 2008, auction conducted by the Pitkin County trustee...

Arizona AG Brings Consumer Fraud Act Charges In Civil Suit Against Loan Modification Firm; Alleges Phony Refund, Debt Principal Reduction Promises

Posted on January 15, 2010
From the Office of the Arizona Attorney General:Attorney General Terry Goddard [...] filed a lawsuit against a Phoenix-based mortgage loan modification company, Asset Creation, LLC, and its owner, Marvin Williamson, for engaging in allegedly deceptive practices...

Alleged Vacant Home Hijacker Asserts Adverse Possession To Claim Ownership Of Abandoned Houses; Bogus Docs Recorded To Cloud Property Titles: Cops

Posted on January 15, 2010
In Las Vegas, Nevada, KLAS-TV Channel 8 reports:Victims say Eric Alpert never met a house he didn't like. The state says Eric Alpert never met a house he couldn't steal. Almost. In the first day of a multi-part preliminary hearing, Eric Alpert defended himself from multiple felony counts of theft, burglary, forgery and filing false records...

Loan Officer Found Guilty For Stealing Ex-Client's I.D. To Help Another Buy $589K Home; Two Co-Defendants Cop Plea On Eve Of Trial

Posted on January 15, 2010
From the Office of the Queens County, New York District Attorney:Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown [...] announced that a Queens Village woman who is a loan officer has been convicted of stealing the personal identity of a former client to help another client purchase a house in Brooklyn...

Mtg Broker Gets Six Years For Conning 86-Year Old Woman Out Of $140K Reverse Mortgage Proceeds; Coughs Up $50K Restitution, Agrees To Pay Back Balance

Posted on January 15, 2010
In San Francisco, California, KPIX-TV Channel 5 reports:A former Southern California mortgage broker was sentenced to six years in prison [last] Friday for defrauding an 86-year-old San Francisco woman out of $140,000. The unusual case began in February 2008, when the woman responded to a mailing from a company in Orange County that was advertising reverse mortgages...

Four Indicted In Alleged Foreclosure Rescue Scam; Distressed Homeowners Seeking Loan Modifications Signed Over Title To Homes To Defendants: SD DA

Posted on January 14, 2010
In San Diego, California, The San Diego Union Tribune reports:A foursome involving a convicted felon and pair of real estate brokers has been indicted and charged with running an investment scam that preyed on San Diego Filipinos. The group, which was first investigated last March by The San Diego Union-Tribune, faces more than 54 charges, including foreclosure consultant fraud, grand theft and

California State Bar Shuts Down Two Outfits Allegedly Running Bogus Loan Mdification Schemes

Posted on January 14, 2010
In Southern California, The Orange County Register reports:The California State Bar said [Tuesday] it shut down the loan modification businesses of two men for allegedly lying to consumers about being supervised by attorneys. The bar, which acted with the Orange County Superior Court in this case,(1) has worked with other state and local officials to crack down on companies promising homeowner

BofA Wiggles Off The Hook For Accepting Forged Check For Deposit; Money Represented Sale Proceeds Allegedly Swiped From Home Seller At Closing Table

Posted on January 14, 2010
In Nassau County, New York, the New York Law Journal reports:A man claiming he was swindled out of nearly $42,000 on a real estate deal after his signature was forged on a check cannot sue the bank that accepted the check for deposit for conversion, a New York state judge has ruled...

Power Shutoff In BofA-Owned Foreclosed Condo Leads To Frozen, Burst Pipes; Elderly Couple With Downstairs Unit Left With Flooded Apartment

Posted on January 14, 2010
In Castle Rock, Colorado, KMGH-TV Channel 7 reports:An elderly couple thought the next chapter in their life had begun. Bill and Taloah Thorpe recently moved to an assisted living complex and were getting ready to rent their Castle Rock condo. On Dec...

BofA Mistakenly Seizes Home, Says Suit; 75 Lbs. Of Rotten Fish Leaves "Gooey Mess" Says Owner After Power Shutoff Creates "Halloween Horror"

Posted on January 14, 2010
In Galveston, Texas, The Galveston Daily News reports:A West End property owner is suing Bank of America Corp., asserting its agents mistakenly seized a vacation house he owns free and clear, then changed the locks and shut the power off, resulting in the smelly spoiling of about 75 pounds of salmon and halibut from an Alaska fishing trip and other damages...

California-Based Law Firm To Cough Up $28K+ To Settle Oregon AG Charges Of Deceptive Advertising, Illegal Collection Of Upfront Fees For Loan Mods

Posted on January 13, 2010
From the Office of the Oregon Department of Justice:Oregon Attorney General John Kroger [...] announced a settlement that will provide refunds to some Oregon homeowners and prohibit a California law firm from doing further loan modification work in Oregon...

Illinois Man Posed As Gov't Official While Using Forged Deeds To Steal, Then Sell, Real Estate Out From Under True Owners, Say Chicago Feds

Posted on January 13, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Chicago, Illinois):A Chicago man who allegedly posed as a federal government official in a scheme to sell properties he did not own out from underneath the real owners was arrested on federal charges, law enforcement officials announced [...

Ex-Attorney Gets Two Years In $60K "Foreclosure Surplus" Swindle From Client; Continued Peddling Services After Disbarment For Earlier Similar Ripoffs

Posted on January 13, 2010
In Orlando, Florida, WFTV-TV Channel 9 reports:A former Orlando attorney, who admitted to stealing from his clients in foreclosure, will spend the next two years in prison. He was sentenced Thursday. Three years ago, Norman Moss was handling unclaimed money from the sale of a Lee County property owned by the parents of Loretta Belfiore, but he stole more than $60,000 from Belfiore and her

Unrecorded Mortgages, Judgment Liens, & Bona Fide Purchaser - Who's On First?

Posted on January 13, 2010
A recent court case decided by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals sets forth the following facts:On July 15, 2005, Bank makes a $150,000 home loan secured by a deed of trust to a homeowner on a home located in Baltimore County.Through inadvertence, the deed of trust was not recorded in the Baltimore County Land Records...

Lender?s Refusal To Modify Loan May Have Violated Borrowers? Fifth Amendment Due Process Rights, Says Federal Judge In Denying Motion To Dismiss

Posted on January 12, 2010
In San Diego, California, iStockAnalyst reports on a recent ruling by a Federal judge denying a motion to dismiss filed by a foreclosing lender in a lawsuit alleging that it failed to grant a loan modification to a delinquent homeowner pursuant to the Federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program ("HAMP")...

Procedural Rules Violation Trips Up Foreclosing Lender Lacking Capacity To Sue As Florida Judge Dismisses Action Against Strapped Homeowner

Posted on January 12, 2010
In Pinellas County, Florida, foreclosure defense attorney Matt Weidner blogs:On December 16, 2009 Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Rondolino granted a Motion to Dismiss which was filed by St. Petersburg attorney Matthew D. Weidner on December 16, 2009...

Appeals Court Reverses Foreclosure Judgment, Scraps Suit By Lender Who Relied On Certified Mail Only To Send Default Notice To Delinquent Homeowner

Posted on January 12, 2010
A June, 2009 decision of an Ohio Court of Appeals ruled that a foreclosing lender's failure to either deliver a notice of default providing an opportunity to cure, as expressly required in the note and mortgage, to a delinquent homeowner, or send it to her by first class mail, was enough to reverse a summary judgment of foreclosure against the homeowner and dismiss the foreclosure action...

Ohio Doc Nearly Loses All After Unwittingly Co-Signing Promissory Note Booby-Trapped w/ Cognovit Clause; Says Lender Sprung It On Him At Loan Closing

Posted on January 12, 2010
In Newark, Ohio, The Newark Advocate reports:A local doctor co-signed on a commercial loan to help a Newark couple develop a 30th Street property and nearly lost everything for his efforts. Mourad Abdelmessih, a neurologist, said he did not fully read the contract when he co-signed the cognovit note, which sets aside every defense a borrower might otherwise have...

NY Times: Nation's Largest Title Underwriter Failed To Disclose Suits Accusing Two Subsidiaries Of Playing Roles In Mortgage Fraud Schemes

Posted on January 12, 2010
The New York Times reports:For years, Fidelity National Financial, the nation?s largest title insurance company, did not tell investors about dozens of lawsuits accusing two units and several employees of playing a role in an elaborate mortgage fraud scheme in San Diego...

Florida Title Agent Caves On Eve Of Trial; Cops Plea To $660K+ Swindle Of Clients' Real Estate Escrow Funds

Posted on January 11, 2010
In Lakeland, Florida, The Ledger reports:A 31-year-old woman pleaded no contest [last] Monday to charges that she stole more than $660,000 while working as a Lakeland real estate title agent. [...] Daniels was the former owner of Independent Title Agency LLC in Lakeland...

Connecticut Woman Invokes "Estate Planning Defense" After Allegedly Abusing POA To Hijack Title To Elderly Mom's Home & Loot $72K From Bank Accounts

Posted on January 11, 2010
In Milford, Connecticut, The New Haven Register reports:An Ansonia woman accused of taking ownership of her elderly mother?s house against her mother?s wishes, and stealing more than $72,000 from her mother?s bank accounts has until the end of the month to consider a plea offer following a brief court appearance Monday...

Lenders' Failure To Comply With City's Foreclosure Mediation Ordinance Could Result In Broken Chain Of Title, Ownership Problem For Subsequent Buyers

Posted on January 11, 2010
In Providence, Rhode Island, The Providence Journal reports on a potential problem with the city's recently passed foreclosure mediation ordinance:As it is written, the ?foreclosure mediation ordinance? requires a meeting between lenders and homeowners prior to foreclosure...

11,000+ Unit NYC Apartment Complex Defaults; City Lawmakers Concerned About Possible Neighborhood Fallout; Appraisers Say $5.4B Property Now Worth $2B

Posted on January 10, 2010
In New York City, Reuters reports:The joint venture led by Tishman Speyer and BlackRock Inc that owns New York City's vast Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village apartment complex on Friday said it missed making its full loan payment, moving the deal one step closer toward possible foreclosure...

Tenants Bail Out, Liens & Fines Pile Up As Lender Seeks To Wrestle Away Control Of Half-Empty, 242 Unit Complex From Landlord In Foreclosure

Posted on January 10, 2010
In Gainesville, Florida, The Gainseville Sun reports:With a Saturday deadline to fix 2-year-old city code violations or face $7 million in fines, In The Pines apartment complex instead faces new violations as the owner and a bank trying to foreclose on the property prepare to battle in court over rent payments and a repair fund...

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