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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

Cook County Court Clerk Sits On $18M+ Belonging To Foreclosed Homeowners Who Failed To Claim Surplus Money From Courthouse Sales

Posted on August 26, 2009
In Chicago, Illinois, WLS-TV Channel 7 reports:Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown says her office has found more than $18 million in mortgage surplus money that belongs to people who lost their homes to foreclosure in the last two decades. The surpluses occur when the bank sells foreclosed homes for more than the homeowners owe...

Upfront Fee Florida Foreclosure Rescue Operator Gets Apparent Hand Slap In Federal Civil Suit; FTC To Suspend $4.1M Judgment After Payment Of $21K

Posted on August 25, 2009
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced:The Federal Trade Commission has put a stop to a deceptive foreclosure "rescue" operation that charged homeowners $1,200 based on the false promise that it could save them from losing their homes. The operators of the business(1) are barred from any further deceptive practices under a settlement with the FTC...

Queens Woman Accused Of Swiping Deed To Brooklyn Retiree's Home & Emptying His Savings Account; House & Cash Recovered In Civil Suit

Posted on August 25, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, the New York Daily News reports:A Queens mom in a child support battle offered to help an elderly man with his own Family Court problem - and then stole the deed to his home and cleared out his bank account, officials said. Chandra Myers is facing larceny and forgery charges and a possible 15 years in prison if convicted of scamming Brooklyn retiree Levi Latham...

Mississippi Man Gets 20+ Years In Mortgage Fraud, Investment Scam; Used Recruits To Buy Property Using Bogus Financial Info, Title Work, Appraisals

Posted on August 25, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Jackson, Mississippi):James Wynn Threatt of Brandon, MS, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to serve 250 months (20 years and 10 months) in federal prison in relation to a $ 3.5 million mortgage fraud conspiracy [...

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"Helpful" Neighbor Gets 57 Months For Ripping Off Cancer Patient; Stopping Automatic Bank Debit For House Payments Leads To Near Foreclosure

Posted on August 25, 2009
In Fort Worth, Texas, the Star Telegram reports:Debilitated by breast cancer, Jody Short of Mansfield was grateful two years ago when a neighbor offered to help care for her after she came home from the hospital. Sixteen months later, Short learned that the neighbor, Janice Gast, whom she considered a friend, had begun using her identity, her credit cards and her bank accounts shortly after she

Four Face Federal Charges In Alleged Straw Buyer Mortgage Fraud Scheme Designed To Assist Struggling Oklahoma Homebuilder Unload Unsold Inventory

Posted on August 25, 2009
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, Tulsa World reports:Four people, one of them a Tulsa firefighter, were arraigned [last] week in federal court in connection with an alleged mortgage conspiracy that defrauded lenders and homeowners. Home builders Gerald Wayne Snow Sr...

Maryland Federal Judge Grants "Money Store" Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Scam Lawsuit Class Action Status

Posted on August 24, 2009
In Greenbelt, Maryland, the Maryland Daily Record reports:The criminal prosecution of the massive Metropolitan Money Store mortgage fraud, which has yielded 10 guilty pleas since the first indictment was handed up last summer, has grabbed headlines as a particularly egregious example of the foreclosure rescue schemes that prey on people already hard-hit by the recession...

Maryland Lawmaker To Cough Up $109K For Violating State Law Regulating Sale Leaseback Foreclosure Rescue Scams

Posted on August 24, 2009
In Anne Arundel County, Maryland, The Capital Gazette reports:A state lawmaker from Severna Park who lost a lawsuit earlier this year must pay $109,000 in damages and attorney fees, a county judge has ruled. That is 10 times more than what a jury ordered Del...

Federal Suit Says Wells Fargo Illegally Cut Illinois Homeowner's HELOC; Class Action Status Sought

Posted on August 24, 2009
In Chicago, Illinois, Reuters reports:An Illinois homeowner accused Wells Fargo & Co, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, in a lawsuit of summarily cutting home equity lines of credit by undervaluing customers' houses. In a federal lawsuit filed in Chicago on Wednesday that seeks class-action status, homeowner Michael Hickman accused the bank of using "dubious" computer models that systematically

Arizona Bankruptcy Judge Orders Wells Fargo Exec Into Court To Explain Mortgage Servicer's Loan Modification Policy

Posted on August 24, 2009
In Phoenix, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:A federal bankruptcy judge has ordered a top Wells Fargo executive to testify in court about the bank's loan modification policies. The order came in response to a Phoenix woman's complaint that Wells Fargo had ignored her modification request...

Florida AG Brings Civil Suit Against Another Central Florida Loan Modification Foreclosure Rescue Outfit

Posted on August 24, 2009
From the Office of the Florida Attorney General:Attorney General Bill McCollum [Friday] sued a Kissimmee-based company over allegations it targeted Hispanics in a foreclosure rescue fraud scheme. JPB Consulting Inc. and its president, Juan P. Bordali, allegedly charged up front fees of more than $1,000 per customer to homeowners about to lose their homes, but never performed any services.

Minnesota Title Agent Cops Plea To Swiping $400K+ In Clients' Escrow Funds From Real Estate Transactions

Posted on August 23, 2009
In St. Paul, Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports:A Brooklyn Center man pleaded guilty [last week] in U.S. District Court to using as much as $1 million from clients of his mortgage title company for his own benefit. Terry Louis Lemke, 40, owns All Metro Title...

Backpeddling Begins For City Officials Whose Foreclosure Program Referred Strapped Homeowners To Forensic Loan Audit Outfit With History Of Complaints

Posted on August 23, 2009
In Carson, California, The Daily Breeze reports:Carson's elected officials are distancing themselves from a city foreclosure program that has steered strapped homeowners to a private firm with a history of complaints. The company, ABS Business Solutions, charges thousands of dollars in up-front fees to perform mortgage "audits...

Consumer Lawsuits Against Companies Alleging Violations Of Federal Debt Collection, Credit Reporting Laws Surge In 2009

Posted on August 23, 2009
Credit.com's John Ulzheimer writes:According to Jack Gordon, CEO of WebRecon LLC, a service that tracks FCRA [Fair Credit Reporting Act] and FDCPA [Fair Debt Collection Practices Act] filings, ?we?re on pace to eclipse 8,500 such lawsuits in 2009. That?s a record for any one year...

Unconventional Purchase From Homebuilder Leaves Unwitting Washington Couple Facing Foreclosure, Despite Making All House Payments

Posted on August 23, 2009
In Richland, Washington, The News Tribune reports:For 21 months, Tonya and Timothy Stapleton paid the mortgage, insurance and taxes on their new $220,000 Horn Rapids house on time. But today [last Friday] Tonya plans to go to the Benton County Justice Center to make sure her home isn't auctioned in a foreclosure sale...

Dispute Between Concrete Firm & Supplier Leads To Foreclosure Threat For Unwitting Homeowner; Gets Hit w/ Mechanics Lien Over Contractor's Unpaid Bill

Posted on August 23, 2009
In Lansing, Michigan, the Lansing State Journal reports:In May, Maurice Jones hired a local company to replace about 340 square feet of driveway at his home on Norburn Way in Lansing. The cement got poured. Jones paid in full. Done deal, right? Not quite...

Ohio AG Tags Home Improvement Firm With Allegations Of Shoddy, Incomplete Work; Accused Of Pocketing Upfront Customer Money, Failing to Give Refunds

Posted on August 22, 2009
From the Office of the Ohio Attorney General:Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray filed a lawsuit [last week] charging Akron Asphalt, a driveway paving company, with failing to deliver promised services and performing shoddy work. The complaint, filed in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, charges the company with several violations of Ohio consumer law...

Condo Renters Live In Limbo In Boston "Triple Decker" As Investor/Landlords Stiff Mortgage Lenders & Go AWOL

Posted on August 22, 2009
In Boston, Massachusetts, Open Media Boston reports:Wanda Castle does just about everything the owner of a Boston triple-decker would do to maintain her property, including basic repairs and paying for water and electricity in common areas of the building...

Penn. Man Accused Of Torching Home In Alleged Attempt To Use Insurance Proceeds As A "Foreclosure Bailout" Of Delinquent Mortgage; Blames God For Fire

Posted on August 22, 2009
In Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, WNEP-TV Channel 16 reports:They say desperate times mean desperate measures, and perhaps the saying can apply to an arson case in Lackawanna County. Tuesday police arrested Manfred Lennartz, 60, of Jermyn. Investigators said he torched his own home to avoid foreclosure...

NYC Cop Charged With Attempted Section 8 Rent Subsidy Ripoff

Posted on August 22, 2009
In New York City, The Associated Press reports:A New York City police officer has been arrested on charges she forged pay stubs to be eligible for city subsidized housing. The Manhattan District Attorney's office says Simone Smith was charged Wednesday with welfare fraud and forgery and has been placed on modified duty...

"Blowout Bash" Promoter Suspected Of Hijacking Vacant Million Dollar Homes For Sale Or In Foreclosure To Throw All-Night Teen Parties

Posted on August 22, 2009
In San Diego County, California, North County Times reports:When the market got down, apparently, so did some kids. But the party may be over for a jailed San Marcos man, charged Wednesday with breaking into upscale but empty North County homes to throw large and destructive bashes for profit...

Association With Legal Profession Bad For Pit Bulls' Image, Or Vice Versa???

Posted on August 22, 2009
Texas attorney John Browning, a partner in the Dallas office of Gordon & Rees, LLP, offers his commentary on the topic of lawyer advertising in a recent issue of The Southeast Texas Record:As anyone who's ever watched daytime or late night television can attest, "classy" is not a word one would associate with most lawyer advertising...

Federal Court Ruling May Complicate Loan Modifications As Investors In Securitized Trusts Assert Their Rights Against Mortgage Servicers

Posted on August 21, 2009
The New York Times reports:A federal judge in Manhattan has rejected an argument by Countrywide Financial seeking certain protections from investor lawsuits under new legislation intended to encourage modifications of home loans. Countrywide, the big mortgage company, had argued that the legislation automatically voided its pledges to buy back loans from investors if those loans were modified for

Indianapolis Feds Indict Ex-Waiter For Alleged Role In Running Massive Mortgage Fraud Scam Involving 110+ Fraudulent Real Estate Deals

Posted on August 21, 2009
In Indianapolis, Indiana, The Indianapolis Star reports:A former waiter who became a high-profile Indianapolis real estate investor in the easy-money era of the 2000s has been indicted by a federal grand jury in a mortgage fraud case that set off mass home foreclosures on the Eastside...

Canadian Authorities Turn Over Apprehended Fugitive Accused Of Running Loan Modification Racket To State Department For Shipment Back To California

Posted on August 21, 2009
In Niagara Falls, Ontario, The Niagara Falls Review reports:A U. S. man wanted in California for fraud and larceny has been arrested at the Rainbow Bridge. Canada Border Services Agency notified their U.S. counterparts Thursday that a 25-year-old man was being returned stateside...

Would-Be First Time Homebuyers Begin Running Out Of Time For $8K Income Tax Credit

Posted on August 21, 2009
The Baltimore Sun's Real Estate Wonk blogger writes:Determined to get the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers?(1) Keep in mind that the Nov. 30 deadline isn't about signing a contract -- you need to get to closing no later than that day. So says the IRS, which specifically uses the word "close...

Wisconsin Mortgage Broker License Eligibility Nearing An End For Drug Dealers, Embezzlers, Extortionists, Forgers, Killers & Other Assorted Felons???

Posted on August 21, 2009
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:Drug dealers, embezzlers and extortionists would be among the felons banned for life from obtaining a mortgage broker's license, according to legislation introduced Tuesday by Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee). The bill, which has 11 co-sponsors in the Assembly and Senate, also would slap the lifetime prohibition on those convicted of felonies involving theft,

Arizona Mortgage Broker Cops Plea In Loan Fraud Conspiracy; Will "Sing" To Feds In Prosecution Of Alleged Cohorts; Foreclosing Lenders Take $1M Hit

Posted on August 21, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Phoenix, Arizona):Jake David Abegg Whitman, 33, of Mesa, Ariz., pleaded guilty on August 18, 2009, to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud and seven counts of Bank Fraud. Whitman played a leadership role in the underlying conspiracy, which involved 19 unimproved residential properties in the greater Phoenix area...

Residents In Western Pennsylvania Mobile Home Park Face Eviction After Land Owner Loses Property To Foreclosure

Posted on August 21, 2009
In Robinson, Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports:Off Route 22 in Washington County, doors and loose siding on empty trailers rattle in the summer breeze, and 12 families find themselves facing an eviction order. Many tenants of Maple Grove Trailer Park in Robinson live month-to-month on fixed incomes; some are slowed by age or illness; others own trailers too old to move or that

Beware Of Mortgage Loan Servicers Bearing Gifts: Hi-Credit Score Homeowners Get Slammed After Receiving Loan Mods Despite Never Missing House Payment

Posted on August 20, 2009
A recent story in The Oregonian serves as a cautionary tale to those "high credit score" homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments, but nevertheless considering seeking a loan modification:Here's a twist: What if your lender actively encouraged you to modify your loan -- and then reported you as delinquent, prompting credit card companies to treat you as a deadbeat? That's what

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