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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

Foreclosed Home Buyers May Face Nasty Surprises

Posted on February 11, 2011
Attorney Richard Gaudreau writes in The Huffington Post:Buyers of property at foreclosure are looking for a bargain, but that risk now must include the possibility that the title will be defective. One unsuspecting family purchased a home at foreclosure, intending to sell it to their daughter, only to have a title company question whether they acquired good title after they'd already invested

Beware Of Bank 'Steamrolling' Tactics When Buying REOs

Posted on February 11, 2011
Maine attorney Robert E. Danielson writes in The Portland Press Herald reports:With a significant number of "repos" ? or real estate being offered for sale by lenders who have recently foreclosed ? potential buyers need to be aware of the risks inherent in purchasing such properties...

Pennsylvania Man Pinched In Alleged Foreclosure Rescue, Rent Skimming Ripoff; Home Seller Still Faces Loss Of Home, Unwitting Tenant/Family Faces Boot

Posted on February 11, 2011
In Jackson Township, Pennsylvania, WNEP-TV Channel 16 reports:A businessman from the Stroudsburg area has been charged in a mortgage scheme. Investigators said he offered to help a couple who were losing their home to foreclosure but instead, he rented the property to someone else...

Cops Hunt Florida Man Facing Felonies For Allegedly Hijacking Possession Of Vacant Home In Foreclosure, Then Pocketing Rent From Unwitting Tenant

Posted on February 11, 2011
In Palm Bay, Florida, WFTV-TV Channel 9 reports:A man is accused posing as a landlord and illegally renting properties that are in foreclosure, Palm Bay detectives said Monday. Detectives said they are searching for 50-year-old Dewey Moore, Jr. He faces felony charges involving burglary and grand theft...

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Florida AG Target List In Foreclosure Mill Probe Expands To Seven

Posted on February 10, 2011
The Palm Beach Post reports:The Florida attorney general's office has confirmed the names of three law firms added to its foreclosure investigation, including Kahane & Associates, which handles hundreds of home repossessions in Palm Beach County. The Plantation-based company, as well as the Tampa firms of Daniel C...

Florida Judiciary, State Bar Continue Attracting Media Attention Arising From Use Of Dubious Documents By Banks In Foreclosure Actions

Posted on February 10, 2011
AOL's DailyFinance reports:A Florida appeals court has asked Florida's Supreme Court to decide how much freedom trial judges have to punish banks that submit false foreclosure documents. Specifically, if fraudulent documents have been submitted, but nothing much has happened yet -- that is, if the documents haven't been used to get the court to do anything -- can courts prevent banks from using

Pair Pays "Significant" Restitution To 'Buy Out' Of Prison Time For Using Fraudulently Obtained Mortgage Loan To Steal Senior Couple's Home Equity

Posted on February 10, 2011
From the Office of the Nevada Attorney General:District Court Judge Linda Bell sentenced Thomas F. Gentile, age 56, to six months in the Clark County Detention Center in connection with an equity skimming case. Gentile, who conspired with Justin Sabo to defraud a local couple of the equity in their home, pled guilty to one count of Theft ?Obtaining Money in Excess of $2500...

AJC Shines More Light On Fulton County Tax Lien Inflating Rackets; Investors Who May Not Be Responsible Players An Important Public Policy Concern

Posted on February 10, 2011
In Fulton County, Georgia, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports:Companies that buy Fulton County liens for unpaid property taxes themselves owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in overdue property taxes, calling into question the county?s justification for selling the liens: that it saves taxpayers? money...

Chase Appears At Congressional Hearing, Apologizes For Screwing Over 4,000+ Active Duty Servicemembers In Foreclosure, Admits Finding More Problems

Posted on February 10, 2011
The Wall Street Journal reports:A J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. executive, at a U.S. House hearing Wednesday, apologized for wrongly foreclosing on military families and overcharging thousands for mortgages, as lawmakers weigh whether new legislation is needed to help prevent military personnel from losing their homes and getting hit with high interest rates...

Citigroup Folds By Settling Suits, Coughing Up Homeowner Legal Fees Arising From Dubious Loan Document Challenges In Consumer Bankruptcy Cases

Posted on February 09, 2011
Bloomberg reports:Citigroup Inc., the third-largest U.S. bank, settled or lost at least five claims in 2010 brought by borrowers who accused the bank of filing fraudulent mortgage documents provided by a Texas firm.(1)In the most recent settlement in December, a bankrupt homeowner in Wappingers Falls, New York, challenged Citigroup?s use of a mortgage ?assignment,? which shows the transfer of

Foreclosure Mills, Attorneys Face Hot Water In Alleged Illegal Fee-Splitting Operation

Posted on February 09, 2011
AOL's DailyFinance reports:An awful lot of attorneys are in deep trouble, two companies will be destroyed, two more will be deeply damaged and a venture capital firm faces big losses, if the allegations in a lawsuit updated Monday are true.Jonathan and Darlene Thorne accuse the companies, LPS Default Solutions and Prommis Solutions, and their attorneys of having an illegal and fraudulent business

Texas Appeals Ct: Trial Judge's Refusal To Grant Continuance To Hospital-Bound, MS-Suffering, Pro-Se Renter In Eviction Action An Abuse Of Discretion

Posted on February 09, 2011
In Beaumont, Texas, The Southeast Texas Record reports:Last Thursday, the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont set aside an order evicting Sheila Barnes, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, from her Jefferson County apartment.In July 2009, Barnes appealed a default judgment in a forcible detainer action sought by Stone Way L...

Disappearing Mortgage Payoff Proceeds From Home Refinancing Leaves Another Another Family In Trouble As Sticky Fingered Closing Attorney Sits In Jail

Posted on February 09, 2011
A recent story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described the financial wreckage created by Peter Elliott, a now-disbarred Wisconsin attorney currently serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for embezzling more than $3.6 million from clients. The following excerpt describes one of Elliott's dirty deeds when acting in the capacity of a closing attorney handling a refinance:When Nicole and

Victimized Marine To Testify Today At Congressional Hearing Probing Allegations That JPMorgan Chase Ripped Off Active Duty Servicemembers

Posted on February 09, 2011
McClatchy Newspapers reports:U.S. Marine Capt. Jonathon Rowles of Beaufort is to appear today before a congressional committee investigating allegations JPMorgan Chase repeatedly violated a federal law designed to protect active-duty military personnel from financial stress...

Ohio Appeals Court Snags Another Rubber-Stamping Trial Judge Screwing Over Pro Se Homeowners In F'closure; Reverses Lower Court Over Faulty Affidavit

Posted on February 08, 2011
From an entry on the website of Cleveland, Ohio-area foreclosure defense attorney Marc Dann:Building on the landmark Wells Fargo v. Jordan Decision,(1) Ohio?s 8th District Court of Appeals (Cuyahoga County) ruled this week that an affidavit alleging that a foreclosure plaintiff held the note prior to filing of a complaint for foreclosure is not sufficient evidence to support a foreclosure

Parade Of HAMP Lawsuits Seeking Class Action Status Continues; Banks Accused Of Stiffing Homeowners On Loan Modifications, Despite Pocketing TARP Ca$h

Posted on February 08, 2011
In Cleveland, Ohio, WKYC-TV Channel 3 reports:On behalf of homeowners in Cleveland and Parma, attorneys filed two similar class-action lawsuits -- one against US Bank Home Mortgage and the other against Bank of America and BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP [Monday]...

Media Pounding Continues For Dethroned "Foreclosure King"

Posted on February 08, 2011
The Associated Press reports:During the housing crash, it was good to be a foreclosure king. David Stern was Florida's top foreclosure lawyer, and he lived like an oil sheik. He piled up a collection of trophy properties, glided through town in a fleet of six-figure sports cars and, with his bombshell wife, partied on an ocean cruiser the size of a small hotel...

U.S. Supremes Asked To Review Case Involving Operation Of Hawaiian Non-Judicial Foreclosure Process Where Elderly Mentally-Impaired Widow Got The Boot

Posted on February 08, 2011
AOLs's DailyFinance reports:Among the many state systems governing foreclosure in this country, Hawaii has particularly draconian -- and nonjudicial -- process. It's based on a law that dates back to 1874, a statute that was a key mechanism used to take land away from native Hawaiians and whose history is riddled with fraud...

Foreclosure Mill Sleaze Continues; Bank Lawyers Look To Dodge Dubious Document Problem By Duping Trial Judges w/ Legal Maneuver That Doesn't Exist

Posted on February 07, 2011
In West Palm Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:Scores of Palm Beach County homes were foreclosed on with faulty paperwork that banks are now trying to sidestep with a legal maneuver experts say doesn't even exist.A Palm Beach Post review of court documents filed after last fall's robo-signing scandal found 116 Palm Beach County cases in which attorneys for banks have asked a judge to

Wisconsin Appeals Court: Affidavits Not Based On "Personal Knowledge" Sink Lender's Attempt To Score Summary Judgment In Foreclosure Action

Posted on February 07, 2011
A Wisconsin intermediate appeals court recently reached the relatively unremarkable, predictable, and certainly non-ground-breaking conclusion that affidavits filed by a foreclosing lender that are not based on the "personal knowledge" of the affiant are insufficient to establish a basis for summary judgment...

Employee At Alleged Loan Servicing Racket Says She Was Duped Into Helping Duo Hijack House Payments From Unwitting Borrowers

Posted on February 07, 2011
In Las Vegas, Nevada, KLAS-TV Channel 8 reports:Two men accused of scamming homeowners out of thousands of dollars are under arrest. Now, a co-worker who says she helped bring down the fraudulent scheme also says she had no idea she was helping rip people off...

Sacramento Feds Score Another Guilty Plea In Ongoing Probe Into Foreclosure Sale Bid-Rigging Rackets

Posted on February 07, 2011
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Sacramento, California):A real estate executive pleaded guilty [Friday] in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California, to conspiring to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in San Joaquin County, California, [...

Tanking R/E Market, Fla Appeals Court Leave Ex-Hubby Holding The Bag On Marital Split-Up Deal After Failing To Complete Buyout Of Wife's Share Of Home

Posted on February 06, 2011
The following facts are taken from a recent ruling from a Florida appeals court:For reasons unspecified in the ruling, Husband (hereinafter referred to as "Hubby") & Wife are desirous of terminating a presumably unsatisfactory, unfulfilling marriage.The couple own a home with an approximate fair market value set at $950K, with an approximate mortgage balance of $603K...

Washington State Foreclosure Trustee Slammed For $98K+ Damages For "Extreme & Outrageous" Conduct In Screwing Around w/ Financially Strapped Homeowner

Posted on February 06, 2011
A Federal Court of Appeals recently affirmed two lower court rulings slamming foreclosure trustee Jeff E. Jared for over $98,000 in damages for committing the tort of outrage in connection with his conduct in jerking around delinquent borrower/homeowner John P...

Federal Judge OKs Trial For MD Man Seeking Damages After Being Victimized By Rogue Refinancing Leading To Foreclosure Despite Never Missing A Payment

Posted on February 06, 2011
In Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun reports:After years of crushing defeats and frustration, a Baltimore federal judge's ruling is giving new hope to a Columbia taxi owner who lost his house to foreclosure despite never missing a mortgage payment...

Two Pinched In Real Estate Ripoff Targeting Haitian Immigrants Who Unwittingly Signed Over Title To Homes In Equity Stripping Refinancing Scam

Posted on February 06, 2011
In Delray Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:Police allege two Delray Beach-based real estate brokers swindled unknowing Haitian immigrants, many of whom were financially naive or with language barriers, and some even illiterate. The two men are alleged to have created fake property transactions and mortgages in the homeowners' names, then let the properties fall into foreclosure,

Occupant Dies During Foreclosure Eviction After Six Hour Police Standoff Leads To Home Going Up In Flames

Posted on February 05, 2011
In Winchester, Indiana, The Star Press reports:Authorities have identified the man who died in a police standoff Monday night that ended in fire. The man was William T. Stein, 54, 2251 N. Randolph County Road 350-E, according to Randolph County Coroner Duane Petry...

Novice Online Foreclosure Auction Buyer Wins Bid, Takes 'Bath' On Underwater Home Subject To Existing $220K Mortgage Lien

Posted on February 05, 2011
In Orange County, Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports:OK, maybe it was too easy. With just a few clicks of the mouse, Orlando accountant John Dey bought a Lake Nona-area house that was auctioned off during one of Orange County's new, online foreclosure auctions...

Illegal "Overthrow" Of "Hawaiian Kingdom" At Center Of Foreclosure Rescue 'Program' Peddled To State Homeowners; 300 'Believers' Take The Bait

Posted on February 05, 2011
In Honolulu, Hawaii, KITV-TV Channel 4 reports:A legal argument based on the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, used unsuccessfully to fight foreclosures in the 1990s, is now being used once again, even though the man who promoted the theory 15 years ago was convicted of a felony...

76-Year Old Woman Slams Sheriff's Office With $500K Claim After Botched Foreclosure Eviction Targeted Wrong Home

Posted on February 05, 2011
In Hillside, New Jersey, NJToday.net reports:A 76-year-old Hillside woman has filed a claim for damages against Union County, alleging that officers of the county sheriff?s department illegally entered her home and removed the entire contents because they had the wrong address of a foreclosure...

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