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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

Massachusetts Foreclosure Mill Attorney Resigns Post With Outfit Linked To South Florida Mill's David Stern

Posted on October 26, 2010
Buried in a recent story in The Boston Globe is the following excerpt on the connection between a Massachusetts foreclosure mill law firm and a notorious foreclosure mill in South Florida:DJSP Enterprises Inc., a troubled firm that provides foreclosure-related services nationwide, said Mark P...

Massachusetts AG Initiates Probe Into F'closure Mill Suspected Of Possible Illegal Practices In Booting Tenants When Carrying Out F'closure Evictions

Posted on October 26, 2010
In Boston, Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reports:Harmon Law Offices, a Newton firm that specializes in foreclosures, is being investigated by the state attorney general?s office for allegedly unlawfully sending eviction notices to residents of bank-owned properties...

Central Florida Homeowner Fights Off Two Banks Foreclosing On Same Loan; Notorious Law Mill Representing Lender In One Suit Fails To Return Calls

Posted on October 26, 2010
In Central Florida, CNN's AC 360 reports:Tony Louzado is facing foreclosure. He's not alone -- in central Florida, where Louzado lives and works, one in every 56 homes is in foreclosure. That simple number, from foreclosure data firm RealtyTrac, doesn't tell the whole story, especially in Louzado's case...

Newlyweds Need Media Intervention To Dodge Foreclosure Despite No Missed House Payments; Inquiries Lead To Discovery Of Chase Bank Payment Screw Up

Posted on October 26, 2010
In San Francisco, California, KGO-TV Channel 7 reports:Mark and Brooke Barnum were married last year, bought their first home this year, and recently made their very first home mortgage payment. "I was exceptionally careful about making sure I had the account number right, the P...

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Pennsylvania Couple Falls Victim In Unwitting Purchase Of Home Once Used As Meth Lab

Posted on October 26, 2010
In Bristol, Pennsylvania, Wallet Pop reports:A few days after moving into a 109-year-old twin home in the blue collar Philadelphia suburb of Bristol. Pa., Robert Quigley got the shock of his life when he finally met one of his next-door neighbors when he was taking out the trash...

NJ Class Action: "Many Thousands Of Foreclosures Are Plainly Void!" Under State Law; Homeowners Seek Note, Mortgage Cancellations, Money Damages

Posted on October 25, 2010
In Newark, New Jersey, the New Jersey Law Journal reports:Bank of America has been hit with a class action on behalf of homeowners seeking damages for alleged disregard of foreclosure process rules. The suit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Newark, N...

Indiana Class Action Quotes Brooklyn Jurist's Description Of Robosigner As "A Milliner's Delight By Virtue Of The Number Of Hats She Wears"

Posted on October 25, 2010
A class action lawsuit filed last week in Indianapolis, Indiana alleges that Countrywide Home Loans/Bank of America's use of robosigners resulted in violations of the Federal RICO statute as well as the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.One of the robosigners described in the lawsuit is the notorious Keri Selman, described as "a nationally known robosigner" and a "robosigner

Ex-Homeowner Sues To Void Foreclosure Sale, Recover Home Allegedly Lost In Court Proceeding Tainted By Robosigner Scandal; Also Seeks $50K+ In Damages

Posted on October 25, 2010
In Erie County, Ohio, the Sandusky Register reports:[A] Sandusky woman filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming the foreclosure of her North Larchmont Drive home was spurred on by "robo-signing," where bank employees signed affidavits without bothering to review documents...

Homeowners In "Non-Judicial" States Face Additional Hurdles In Dealing With Foreclosing Lender-Created Robosigner Scandal

Posted on October 25, 2010
An excerpt from a recent story in The Dallas Morning News serves as a reminder as to how much more difficult it is to deal with the foreclosing lenders' "robosigner" scandal in Texas and other so-called "non-judicial" states, where the onus is on the screwed-over homeowner to initiate legal action against the lender in order to obtain their faulty and/or fraudulent foreclosure documents:It is

"Dine & Dash" Banksters Now Caught In The Middle Of Two-Front War With Homeowners, Bond Investors Over Faulty Foreclosures, Crappy Mortgage Loans

Posted on October 25, 2010
Bloomberg News reports:Shoddy mortgage lending has led bankers into a two-front war, pitting them against U.S. homeowners challenging the right to foreclose and mortgage-bond investors demanding refunds that could approach $200 billion.While federal regulators and state attorneys general have focused on flawed foreclosures, a bigger threat may be the cost to buy back faulty loans that banks

City of Baltimore v. Alleged "Ghetto Loans" Peddler - Round 3 In Reverse Redlining Suit Begins

Posted on October 25, 2010
In Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun reports:After two previous dismissals, the city made a third attempt this week to sue Wells Fargo Bank, accusing the company of causing increased foreclosures in Baltimore through racist, predatory lending.The latest complaint, filed Thursday in U...

NY Law Sticking Banks w/ Homeowners Legal Fee Tab In Successful F'closure Defense To Level Playing Field, Prod More Pro Bono Lawyers To Jump Into Fray

Posted on October 24, 2010
The New York Law Journal reports:Going against state bankers, New York Gov. David A. Paterson has signed into law a measure that will allow prevailing homeowners in many foreclosure actions to claim attorney fees from lenders.The Access to Justice in Lending Act, A1239/S2614, will put defendants in foreclosure proceedings on the same footing as lenders, who often include in mortgage documents the

Insurance Underwriter Demands "Crappy Title" Warranties From Banks When Issuing Title Policies On Sales Of REOs Acquired Thru Faulty Foreclosures

Posted on October 24, 2010
The Washington Post reports:The title insurance industry is maneuvering to protect itself from losses if courts rule that banks have played fast and loose with the foreclosure process. But people who buy foreclosed properties from banks may face some degree of loss despite having a title policy...

Indiana Couple File Federal Robosigner Suit Seeking Class Action Status; Allege Violations Of RICO, Debt Collection Statutes

Posted on October 24, 2010
In Indianapolis, Indiana, The Indianapolis Star reports:An Indianapolis law firm has filed one of the first suits in the nation seeking class-action status in its case against mortgage lenders and servicers who used questionable tactics in thousands of home foreclosures...

'Sewer Service' Suspicions Linked To S. Florida Foreclosure Mill; Court Filings Of "Lost Summons" Affidavits Skyrocket In Jacksonville Area

Posted on October 24, 2010
In Duval County, Florida, The Florida Times Union reports:[E]ven the summons, the simple but important legal notice required to inform homeowners that they are being foreclosed on, has not been immune to the massive problems surrounding what has become known in Florida and across the nation as the foreclosure mess...

Deposition: S. Fla. F'closure Mill Duped Fannie, Freddie During Visits When Conducting On-Site File Inspections; Possible Sewer Service Also A Conern

Posted on October 24, 2010
A recent story in the Jacksonville Business Journal highlights one part of a recent deposition given by Kelly Scott, a former employee with South Florida foreclosure mill, Law Office of David J. Stern, in the following excerpt:Scott said Stern would get tipped off that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were coming to visit...

More NH Homeowners In Foreclosure Fight Back With Help Of Long-Time Nationally-Recognized Mortgage Servicing Fraud Watchdog

Posted on October 24, 2010
In Somersworth, New Hampshire, WMUR-TV Channel 9 reports:While more [New Hampshire] residents are facing the possibility of foreclosure, a growing number of homeowners are fighting back. One of their allies is [New Hampshire's] Mike Dillon. Dillon is not an expert or a housing official but he has been successfully staving off foreclosure of his Manchester home for 10 years...

5 Bagged In St. Paul-Area Alleged Mtg Scam; Cal. Man's Stolen ID Used In Scoring $1.8M In Loans, Sham Entity Used To Pull Cash From Deals: Prosecutor

Posted on October 23, 2010
In Hennepin County, Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:Hennepin County prosecutors have charged five people with felony racketeering in an alleged mortgage fraud and money laundering scheme centered on a St. Paul-based mortgage brokerage firm...

Indiana AG Tags Ten Outfits In Separate Suits For Running Alleged Loan Modification Rackets

Posted on October 23, 2010
From the Office of the Indiana Attorney General:Many homeowners facing foreclosure who are frustrated with their loan servicers turn to for-profit foreclosure consultants whose advertisements often promise any home can be saved from foreclosure and their services are 100% guaranteed...

Kansas AG: Loot Pocketed From Suspected Loan Mod, Foreclosure Rescue Scams Doubles State Haul Attributable To Consumer Protection Enforcement Actions

Posted on October 23, 2010
In Topeka, Kansas, KansasReporter.org reports:Kansas consumer protection enforcers recovered $17.3 million on behalf of consumers in 2010, more than twice as much as a year earlier, according to reports released Thursday by the state Attorney General's office...

Idaho AG Settles Charges w/ R/E Agent Accused Of Filling In Blanks In Contracts After Obtaining Clients' Signatures, Then Using Phantom Notarizations

Posted on October 23, 2010
In Boise, Idaho, LegalNewsline reports:Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden announced on Wednesday that he has settled with a real estate agent who allegedly violated the Idaho Consumer Protection Act. Daniel Myers and his now dissolved company, Paradigm Solutions LLC, allegedly allowed a client to sign an option contract with missing information that was added in later...

County Sells Unwitting Buyer A Home At Tax Auction, City Demolishes It A Week Later

Posted on October 23, 2010
In Farmington Hills, Michigan, NBC Channel 24 reports:A Michigan woman is devastated after buying a home and seeing it demolished. Susan Tusk had purchased the home from Oakland County for $1,000 at a foreclosure auction last Wednesday. And she had the paperwork to prove it...

Minnesota Debt Collector Agrees To Cough Up $1.75M To Settle Federal Allegations Of Illegal Practices

Posted on October 23, 2010
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:Allied Interstate Inc., a large Minnesota debt collection agency with a history of consumer complaints and state fines, has agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle federal allegations that it broke the law by trying to collect debts people didn't owe...

Banks Turn Up The Heat On Delinquent Borrowers; Begin Employing Methods Normally Reserved To Feds While Billing Victims For Dubious Fees

Posted on October 23, 2010
The Spoof (satirically?) reports:Justice Department investigators confirmed today they are considering possible fines and other penalties against several of the United States' largest financial institutions for the murders of hundreds of homeowners delinquent in their mortgage payments...

Disbarment Possible For NY Attorneys Representing Foreclosing Lenders For Violation Of State High Court's New 'Anti-Robosigner' Rule

Posted on October 22, 2010
The New York Post reports:While the mortgage industry grapples with a legal morass over millions of flawed foreclosure actions, the chief of New York's courts made a bold move yesterday to ease the crisis -- at least in the Empire State. New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman issued a new rule [Wednesday] requiring every lawyer handling foreclosures to sign a document verifying that the paperwork

NY Attorneys To Score Court-Awarded Legal Fees From Banks For Sucessfully-Defended Foreclosures On Behalf Of Homeowners

Posted on October 22, 2010
Buried at the end of a recent New York Post article on the nationwide foreclosure robosigning scandal is this gem that I'm sure is welcomed by New York foreclosure defense attorneys statewide:[G]ov. [David] Paterson [Wednesday] signed a bill that would enable homeowners who successfully defend themselves against foreclosure proceedings to be awarded lawyer's fees from the lender that sued them.

Reports Of Judges Sticking Banks w/ Tab For Homeowners' Legal Fees In Robosigner Cases Increase With Growth Of 'Foreclosure Defense' Bar

Posted on October 22, 2010
The Wall Street Journal reports:The paperwork mess muddying home foreclosures erupted last month. But the legal strategy behind it traces to a lawyer's gambit in 2006 that has helped keep one couple in their home six years beyond their last mortgage payment...

GMAC's Embarrassment Over Publicity Surrounding "Robosigner" Practices Not Enough To Kibosh Dissemination Of Troubling Maine Deposition Over Internet

Posted on October 22, 2010
GMAC's embarrassment over the recent dissemination of a certain deposition revealing its troubling "robosigner" practices was one of the highlights in Maine state court Judge Keith A. Powers' denial of the company's attempt to cover up the contents therein from the public(1) by requesting a protective order, as he sets forth in the following excerpt from page 3 of his September 24, 2010 ruling:

SF Man Gets 16 Months In $100K+ Ripoff Of Homebuyer In Bogus F'closure Rescue Deal; $3K Restitution Offer To Buy Out Jail Time "A Bribe": Prosecutor

Posted on October 22, 2010
In Napa, California, the Napa Valley Register reports:A San Francisco man who scammed a Napa homebuyer out of more than $100,000 will serve 16 months in prison for the crime. Eric Kheng Yim, 35, pleaded no contest in August to grand theft and promised to repay the victim in the case...

BofA Says "Take A Hike!" In Response To Those Demanding That It Buy Back Crappy Mortgage Loans That Were Allegedly Improperly Made

Posted on October 21, 2010
The Wall Street Journal reports:Bank of America Corp. and some of its largest mortgage investors clashed on Tuesday as the bank vowed to fight government-backed demands that it repurchase loans that allegedly didn't meet underwriting guidelines and other promises...

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