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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

Lenders Continue Dragging Out Lawsuit Despite Ruling That They Violated SCRA By Illegally Foreclosing On Active Duty Servicemember

Posted on January 30, 2011
The New York Times reports:While Sgt. James B. Hurley was away at war, he lost a heartbreaking battle at home. In violation of a law intended to protect active military personnel from creditors, agents of Deutsche Bank foreclosed on his small Michigan house, forcing Sergeant Hurley?s wife, Brandie, and her two young children to move out and find shelter elsewhere...

C. Florida Judge Rescinds $49K Contempt Fine On Foreclosure Mill; Says Firm's Purged Itself Of Citation With Substantial Compliance w/ Court Order

Posted on January 29, 2011
In Manatee, Florida, the Bradenton Herald reports:A local judge has rescinded a widely publicized $49,000 fine against a foreclosure law firm for missing court hearings, court records show. Smith, Hiatt & Diaz P.A.? has substantially complied? with court requirements and ?is not subject to any fine for failure to comply,? Manatee County Circuit Judge Janette Dunnigan said in lifting her contempt

Mortgage Servicer Screw-Up While Processing Loan Modification Request Leads To Foreclosure, Says Boot-Facing Homeowner

Posted on January 29, 2011
In Maricopa County, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:A Valley homeowner said a mistake by Chase bank has cost her home. "I hope they can sleep at night," said Kat Grover about the bank's employees. Freddie Mac foreclosed on Grover's Maricopa home on Jan...

Fear Of Footing Bill For Tear-Down, Potential Environmental Cleanup Costs Causes County To Can 'Back Tax' Foreclosure Sale, Cancel Lien

Posted on January 29, 2011
In Genesee County, New York, The Batavian reports:The owner of the former Wiss Hotel at 80 Main St., Le Roy, will get to keep the property, despite owing thousands of dollars in back taxes. The property was headed for the county's March foreclosure auction, but the Genesee County Legislature cast a unanimous vote Wednesday night saying essentially, "we don't want it...

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City Gives Eight Rent-Paying Families The Boot After Power Shut Off To Bldg; Rent Skimming Landlord Said To Have Stiffed Bank, Ignored Electric Bill

Posted on January 29, 2011
In Lawrenceville, Georgia, Fox 5 Atlanta reports:Some Lawrenceville renters said that they didn't have power or a warm place to stay Tuesday night after being told their building was in foreclosure. Eight families were affected. The families live off of North Dale Road in Lawrenceville...

Bank Accused Of Changing Locks On Foreclosed Child Care Center, Forcing Locked-Out Young Kids To Wait In Cold Until Fire Department Showed Up

Posted on January 29, 2011
In Elkins, Arkansas, KHBS-TV Channel 40/29 reports:Sheri, the owner of an Elkins childcare facility said Arvest Bank changed the locks on her foreclosed building without giving her notice, forcing children to wait outside in the cold. "We didn't know the date last week when it foreclosed," said England...

NYC Getting Away With Eminent Domain Abuse In East Harlem Land Grab & There's Nothing We Can Do About It, Says State Appeals Court

Posted on January 29, 2011
In New York City, the New York Post reports:In a little-noticed ruling that could pack a punch for property owners, a judge has blasted the city for abusing eminent domain in its bid to seize buildings in East Harlem -- yet says there's nothing he can do about it...

Cops Pinch NYC Mailman Facing Foreclosure For Illegally Clipping Coupons, Unloading Them On eBay

Posted on January 29, 2011
In New York City, the New York Post reports:Citing pressure from an impending foreclosure, a Queens postal worker stole thousands of retail-store coupons before they were mailed out -- and sold them at a discount on eBay, cops said yesterday.Thomas Tang, 38, of Baldwin, Long Island, allegedly pilfered more than 7,000 coupons from JCPenney, Kohl's and Lowe's and sold them in batches on the

Montana Airlift Dumps Tons Of Hay With More To Come In Rescue Effort To Save Hundreds Of Hungry Horses Abandoned At Recently Foreclosed Ranch

Posted on January 29, 2011
In Billings, Montana, ABC News reports:A helicopter airlifted 20 tons of hay, and deputies hauled even more to a sprawling southeastern Montana ranch where hundreds of horses are starving. The horses belong to James H. Leachman, who pleaded not guilty Friday to 10 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty in an initial court appearance in Billings...

Lenders Begin Reviewing Foreclosure Procedures Involving Active Duty Servicemembers After Major JP Morgan Chase Screw-Up In Violating SCRA

Posted on January 28, 2011
The Wall Street Journal reports:Some of the nation's biggest lenders are double-checking that their home-lending operations haven't broken a law meant to shield military personnel in active service from foreclosure. So far, the lenders say they haven't uncovered any problems like those J...

F'closure Mill Lawyer Invokes "Pure Heart, Empty Head" Defense, Describes Signing Practices As "Stupid" As 18 Notaries Hide Behind 5th Amendment Right

Posted on January 28, 2011
In Baltimore, Maryland, The Daily Record reports:Attorney Thomas P. Dore on Tuesday conceded that five pending foreclosure proceedings should be dismissed because he could not vouch for his signature on documents filed with the Baltimore City Circuit Court...

NC AG Scores 13th Win Against Upfront Fee Loan Modification Rackets

Posted on January 28, 2011
From the Office of the North Carolina Attorney General:A California foreclosure assistance company is the latest outfit to be banned from offering loan modification and foreclosure assistance services in North Carolina, Attorney General Roy Cooper said []...

Suspects Arrested For Allegedly Hijacking Possession Of Vacant Foreclosure, Using Craigslist Ad To Pocket $2K From Unwitting Renter

Posted on January 28, 2011
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, KOB-TV Channel 4 reports:Police say they have arrested some people who may have tricked a family into renting a house the suspects don't own. And now the victims are about to be out of a home.Police say the whole thing started from a rental advertisement on Craigslist...

'Bear' E-Mails Describing Mortgage Securities Peddled To Institutional Investors As A "Sack Of Shi*" May Leave JP Morgan Chase Holding The Bag

Posted on January 27, 2011
Investigative reporter Terri Buhl writes in The Atlantic:Former Bear Stearns mortgage executives who now run mortgage divisions of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Ally Financial have been accused of cheating and defrauding investors through the mortgage securities they created and sold while at Bear...

Sale Leaseback Peddler Guilty In Rent Skimming Racket; Tried To Use $50M+ In Phony Notes To Pay Off Liens As 250+ Victims Signed Over Home Titles

Posted on January 27, 2011
In Los Angeles, California, The Associated Press reports:A Washington state man is facing up to 180 years in federal prison for defrauding people who lost their homes to foreclosure. Jeff McGrue of Tacoma man was convicted last Friday in Los Angeles.Federal prosecutors say McGrue's company, Gateway International, promised to delay or prevent foreclosures by having at least 250 victims sign over

S. California Duo To Get Hard Time In Mortgage Scam That Duped Homeowners Into Investing Proceeds From 'Cash-Out' Refinancings In Bogus R/E Program

Posted on January 27, 2011
In Southern California, The Press Enterprise reports:The accused ringleader of a $142 million mortgage and securites fraud centered in Southwest Riverside County agreed Monday to spend nearly 20 years in state prison rather than go to trial. James B. Duncan, who prosecutors say masterminded the scheme, and Maurice McLeod, his alleged second in command, both agreed in court to negotiated guilty

Fannie, Freddie Forked Over Nearly $50M In Legal Bills To Foreclosure Mills

Posted on January 27, 2011
Mother Jones reports:In late November, as the "Foreclosure-gate" scandal spread throughout the country, Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Tex.) demanded to know how much money Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the wounded quasi-government housing corporations, had paid to multiple sleazy law firms at the heart of the foreclosure crisis...

Robosigning Scandal Just As Bad (If Not Worse) In Non-Judicual Foreclosure States

Posted on January 26, 2011
CNBC reports:It's the next big shoe to drop in the robo-signing foreclosure scandal. Call it part two. We already know some banks halted foreclosure sales nationwide in October when it was discovered that servicers took short cuts, so-called "robo-signing" in the foreclosure sale process in judicial foreclosure states - about half the country...

Nevada State Court Halts BofA Unit's Statewide Foreclosures; Defect In Appointing Trustee May Lead To Wrongful Sale Process

Posted on January 26, 2011
In Nye County, Nevada, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports:A Nye County district judge has ordered ReconTrust Co., a unit of Bank of America Corp., to stop most of its foreclosures in Nevada, based on allegations made by a Pahrump woman. The order signed by Nye County District Judge Robert Lane on Jan...

Countrywide, BofA Targeted Again By Investors In Lawsuit For Allegedly Peddling Crappy Mortgage Backed Securities

Posted on January 26, 2011
A number of insurance companies and retirement funds have recently filed suit against Countrywide Financial Corporation, Bank of America, and some of their officers and affiliates alleging that, between 2005 and 2007, the latter unloaded hundreds of millions of dollars in crappy Countrywide mortgage-backed securities in 148 Offerings...

Complaints Alleging Upfront Fee Loan Modification Rackets Continue In Florida, Despite Recently Passed Prohibitions

Posted on January 26, 2011
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:Some Florida foreclosure rescue companies and law firms that offer loan modifications continue to charge upfront fees and do little to help struggling homeowners, according to thousands of complaints filed with state regulators...

Homeowners In Non-Judicial States Face Tough Battle Fighting Foreclosures Tainted By Rogue Robosigning Trustees Conducting Public Sales

Posted on January 25, 2011
The following excerpt from a recent story in The Huffington Post highlights the difficulty faced by homeowners in non-judicial foreclosure states to fight back against foreclosures tainted by rogue robosigners:Notice of Default Robo-Signing. About half the states are "nonjudicial states" (including California, Nevada, and Arizona -- important states so far as the foreclosure crisis goes)...

Texas Man Cops Plea In "Contract For Deed" Racket; Pocketed Proceeds On Home Sales To Unwitting Buyers Without Making Payments On Pre-Existing Liens

Posted on January 25, 2011
In Midland, Texas, the Midland Reporter Telegram reports:A former Midland firefighter has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of attempt to commit mail fraud as well as federal charges of failing to register as a sex offender. Jason Heath Morrison, 34, went before U...

Failure To Produce The Note No Problem, Says New Jersey Trial Court

Posted on January 25, 2011
In Bergen County, New Jersey, Mondaq reports ("footnote 1" appears in the original text of the story):In contrast to other recent well-publicized decisions, a New Jersey state court has held that, in order to seek foreclosure of a mortgage that has been securitized, a lender need not demonstrate actual physical possession of the note memorializing the underlying debt...

Attempts To Bulldoze Through Foreclosure Legal Process Continue For Paperwork-Lacking Lenders; Uptick Seen In Judges' Impatience

Posted on January 24, 2011
In Staten Island, New York, the New York Post reports:A house divided cannot stand. A house foreclosure case divided by two banks probably doesn't have standing -- in court -- either. Two banks, Home123 Corporation and US Bank, both lay claim to owning a house in Staten Island, according to a foreclosure filing...

No State Insurance, Bonding Requirement For Closing Agents Leaves Unwitting Couple Victimized By Refinancing Ripoff Holding The Bag, Facing F'closure

Posted on January 24, 2011
In Parker, Colorado, The Denver Post reports:Tim and Kim Canning of Parker did what tens of thousands of other Coloradans do each year: They refinanced their home, showed up at the closing, signed the papers, and that was that. So they thought.But the $277,000 that was to be sent from the bank that refinanced the Cannings' home to pay off the old mortgage was stolen along its electronic journey,

Media Spotlight, Public Interest Lawyer's Efforts Shame BofA, Fannie Into Returning Foreclosed Home, Giving Sustainable Loan Mod To Elderly Retiree

Posted on January 24, 2011
In Jamaica, Queens, columnist Joe Nocera writes in The New York Times:In physics, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that the process of observing subatomic particles affects their behavior. We have a similar principle in journalism: the process of reporting a story can sometimes affect the behavior of those being reported on...

Defunct Mortgage Lenders Seek Bkptcy Court OK To Physically Destroy 1000s Of Boxes Of Original Loan Documents Despite Paperwork Concerns In F'closures

Posted on January 24, 2011
In Wilmington, Delaware, Reuters reports:Federal bankruptcy judges in Delaware are due to hold separate hearings Monday on requests by two defunct subprime mortgage lenders to destroy thousands of boxes of original loan documents.The requests, by trustees liquidating Mortgage Lenders Network USA and American Home Mortgage, come despite intense concerns that paperwork critical to foreclosures and

Post-'Ibanez' Fallout Begins; Mass. High Court Takes Case Of Unwitting 3rd Party Buyer Left Holding The Bag w/ Void Title On Improperly F'closed Home

Posted on January 23, 2011
In Boston, Massachusetts, Bloomberg reports:Massachusetts? highest court will consider whether a home buyer can rightfully own a property if the bank that sold it to him didn?t have the right to foreclose on the original owner.The state?s Supreme Judicial Court, which agreed last month to take the appeal, already ruled Jan...

Use Of Undisclosed ?Appearance Attorneys? In Foreclosure Actions - No "Interloping Counsel" Allowed In My Courtroom, Says Bankruptcy Judge

Posted on January 23, 2011
A recent story in the Sarasota Herald Tribune on The Florida Bar's failure to take disciplinary action against Florida foreclosure mill attorneys for their alleged ethical lapses alludes to one of the practices that is arguably making it difficult to affix fault on the these attorneys - the use of 'coverage' or 'appearance attorneys':Circuit Judge Lee Haworth, chief judge of the judicial district

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