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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

Flood Of Foreclosure Cases Leads To Kangaroo Courts In Florida

Posted on October 01, 2010
Naked Capitalism opines:Florida is ground zero of the foreclosure crisis. In addition to being one of the epicenters of the housing meltdown, it has also become the jurisdiction where local lawyers have been the most effective overall in unearthing how servicers and foreclosure mills have engaged in widespread document fabrications and use of improper affidavits to foreclose...

Purported Forensic Loan Auditor Impersonating Lawyer Peddling Foreclosure Rescue Services Gets Year In Jail, 5 Years Probation, $35K Restitution Order

Posted on October 01, 2010
In Marin County, California, the Contra Costa Times reports:A loan auditor who impersonated a Mill Valley lawyer in a foreclosure scam was sentenced to a year in jail []. Nicolas Moscouplos, 54, of Sacramento was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims, said Deputy District Attorney Leon Kousharian...

California Judge Stalls Foreclosure Eviction After Being Made Aware Of "Dubious Docs" Signed By Central Florida "Affidavit Slave"

Posted on September 30, 2010
In Los Angeles, California, the Los Angeles Times reports:Zeenat "Zee" Ali, who dropped out of medical school to contest the foreclosure of her mother?s Diamond Bar home, won another round in court this week when a judge in Pomona put the eviction on hold at least until November...

JP Morgan Chase Freezes Foreclosures In 23 States; Expected To Affect 56K Homeowners

Posted on September 30, 2010
The Washington Post reports:J.P. Morgan Chase, one of the nation's leading banks, announced Wednesday that it will freeze foreclosures in about half the country because of flawed paperwork, a move that Wall Street analysts said will pressure the rest of the industry to follow suit...

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Plea Deal Yields Prison Time For Mom, Daughter Duo In F'closure Rescue, Lease-To-Own Rent Skimming Scam Targeting Strapped Homeowners, Would-Be Buyers

Posted on September 30, 2010
In Bakersfield, California, the Bakersfield Californian reports:A mother and daughter will go to prison for their part in a real estate scam that cheated dozens of people out of 24 homes, a prosecutor said []. Alice Kantin,(1) also known as Meyer, 69, and her 38-year-old daughter, Dawn Kantin, pleaded no contest [] to felony charges that will put the mother in prison for two years and the

Plea Negotiations Tank In Criminal Prosecution Of Loan Modification Pair; Michigan AG's Office Ready To Go To Trial

Posted on September 30, 2010
In Brighton, Michigan, WHMI Radio 93.5 FM reports:Two employees of a Howell mortgage company charged with violating foreclosure rescue regulations are heading to trial. Michelle Garbuschewki of Howell, also known as Michelle Justice, along with Lisa Joboulian of Northville are charged with violating the Credit Services Protection Act...

Self-Proclaimed Minister Faces Racketeering, Theft By Deception Charges For Allegedly Ripping Off Homeowners By Peddling Bogus Loan Modifications

Posted on September 30, 2010
In Atlanta, Georgia, MyFox Atlanta Channel 5 reports:The FOX 5 I-Team has the exclusive video of the arrest [last week] of a self-proclaimed minister who police say took more than $100,000 from his most recent victims. An I-Team investigation caught the man on hidden camera offering to save people's homes from foreclosure, even after the state had warned him to stop...

Forensic Loan Audits "Had No Value" Admits Soon-To-Be Booted Attorney As State Bar Continues "Historic" Effort In Slamming Bogus Loan Mod Lawyers

Posted on September 30, 2010
In Los Angeles, California, Metropolitan News Enterprise reports:The State Bar of California said [] that Orange County attorney Mark Alan Shoemaker has agreed to be disbarred for loan modification misconduct. Shoemaker, 50, did so as a result of complaints from 18 homeowners who received little or nothing for their money when seeking help in trying to change the terms of their mortgage and avoid

State Bar Of California Clobbers Another Rogue Member For Involvement In Loan Mod Ripoffs; Usually Never Met Clients In Possible Lawyer-Renting Racket

Posted on September 30, 2010
In Los Angeles, California, Metropolitan News Enterprise reports:Orange County attorney Brian Colombana, who handled dozens of foreclosure cases, has admitted extensive misconduct that will lead to his disbarment, the State Bar of California said []. [...

Participant In Alleged "King Solomon" Sovereign Movement, Home Hijacking Racket Targeting Vacant Foreclosed Homes Escapes Forgery-Related Convictions

Posted on September 30, 2010
A California Court of Appeals recently reversed all forgery-related convictions of Maurice Antoine Simmons, a participant in the alleged King Solomon II(1) (not to be confused with the original King Solomon of Biblical fame) home-snatching scam involving vacant foreclosed houses in the San Diego-area...

Court To Hear Fla. Foreclosure Mill's Request To Immediately Kibosh State AG's Subpoena Related To Probe Into Alleged Farudulent Document Fabrication

Posted on September 30, 2010
From a Shapiro & Fishman press release:The Honorable Jack S. Cox of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County, Florida today [Sept. 30, 2010] hears a ?motion to quash? an investigative subpoena by Florida?s Attorney General Bill McCollum. The motion is brought forth by Shapiro & Fishman, LLP, which has been targeted for investigation concerning foreclosure processes throughout Florida.

Ohio AG Asks State Courts To Review Ally/GMAC Foreclosures

Posted on September 29, 2010
Reuters reports:Fallout over GMAC Mortgage's foreclosure practices deepened on Tuesday as Ohio's top law enforcement official asked courts in that state to review all foreclosure cases involving the Ally Financial Inc unit.Richard Cordray, the state's attorney general, said he made his request after GMAC last week acknowledged that some employees were submitting affidavits in foreclosure

Palm Beach County Chief Judge Considers More Active Role For Jurists In Examining Foreclosure Cases

Posted on September 29, 2010
In West Palm Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:Palm Beach County Chief Judge Peter Blanc is trying to decide whether judges can take a more active role in examining foreclosure cases after a meltdown in Ally Financial's foreclosure proceedings last week...

SC Foreclosure Defense Attorney: Undated, Unnotarized Stamps "Magically Appear When A Foreclosure Plaintiff Needs To Prove Chain Of Title In A Case"

Posted on September 29, 2010
In Columbia, South Carolina, The Washington Post reports:A South Carolina attorney is alleging more wrongdoing against homeowners facing foreclosure by Ally Financial's GMAC mortgage unit. In a letter to a state trial court, Robert Rikard accused Judy Faber, a woman who identified herself as a GMAC vice president, of having "fabricated and changed the title in thousands of foreclosure cases...

JPMorgan Chase Next In Line To Face Scrutiny Over Use Of Dubious Documents In Foreclosure Actions

Posted on September 29, 2010
In Palm Beach County, Florida, Bloomberg News reports:JPMorgan Chase & Co. faces a legal challenge next month that could cast doubt on thousands of foreclosures after a mortgage executive [Beth Ann Cottrell] at the bank said she didn?t verify documents used to justify home seizures...

Another Notorious Multiple Corporate Hat-Wearing Vice President In The News

Posted on September 29, 2010
A recent USA Today story references another multiple corporate hat-wearing vice president that has gained some notoriety over the last couple of years for allegedly signing reams of documents related to foreclosure actions for various companies, and mostly doing so without actually reading them:In one case, Erica Johnson-Seck, a vice president at OneWest, said she signed 750 foreclosure documents

North Carolina, Colorado Join List Of State AGs Seeking Stoppage Of Ally/GMAC Foreclosures

Posted on September 28, 2010
Bloomberg News reports:Ally Financial Inc., the lender that stopped evictions in 23 states amid concern that its foreclosure process may be illegal, was asked by Colorado?s attorney general to extend the freeze by its GMAC Mortgage unit to his state.***North Carolina sent a similar letter to Ally yesterday...

Florida High Court Declines Request To Freeze Foreclousres; Hands Are Tied By Procedural Rules

Posted on September 28, 2010
The Palm Beach Post reports:The Florida Supreme Court says it has no authority to freeze foreclosure proceedings as was requested by U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson in light of state investigations into three foreclosure law firms and allegations they submitted fraudulent foreclosure documents...

BofA Finally Dumps Debt Collector After Report Of Use Of Racist, Obscene Calls Hits National TV; Bank Continued Using Outfit Despite $1.5M+ Jury Award

Posted on September 28, 2010
In Dallas, Texas, ABC News reports:Two days after being confronted by ABC News, Bank of America has fired a debt collection agency after several of its operators were caught using racist and obscene phone calls to collect debts from bank customers."What's up, you f---ing n---r?" said one of the collection agents in a message to 32-year old Allen Jones of Dallas, who owed $81 on his Bank of

Connecticut AG Jumps Into Dubious Documents Fray; Demands Immediate Freeze On All Ally/GMAC Foreclosures In State

Posted on September 28, 2010
The Wall Street Journal reports:Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is probing GMAC Mortgage, one of the nation's largest servicers of home loans, over what he claims are "defective foreclosure documents" filed in Connecticut. Mr. Blumenthal is demanding that GMAC Mortgage, a unit of Ally Financial Inc...

Lender's Foreclosure Attempt Of Alleged Predatory Loan To 75-Year Old Widow Hits Roadblock As C. Florida Non-Profit Law Firm Steps In, Files Suit

Posted on September 28, 2010
In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:Mildred McClendon's troubles with a small second mortgage show just how quickly people caught up in predatory home loans can find themselves on the verge of losing their home. The 75-year-old Sarasota widow, her attorneys say, was granted a second mortgage that was written up illegally, and the lender then tried to foreclose, even though

Questions On Potentially-Defective Titles To Real Estate Recently Foreclosed Continue To Be Raised

Posted on September 28, 2010
Buried in a recent Bloomberg News report on Chase Home Finance operation supervisor (ie. "robo-signer", "affidavit slave") Beth Ann Cottrell contains this excerpt noting that the dubious documents being used by lenders and foreclosure mills to foreclose on homes could lead to defective title ownership to the same homes when they are ultimately taken back by these outfits and subsequently unloaded

Now That The Dam Is Bursting Open, Are The "Ambulance Chaser" Billboards Trolling For "Wrongful Foreclosure" Cases Far Behind???

Posted on September 28, 2010
A story in The New York Times on the foreclosure mess fueled by the recent Ally/GMAC, dubious-document scandal contained this gem:The issue has broad consequences for the millions of buyers of foreclosed homes, some of whom might not have clear title to their bargain property...

Paying "All-Cash" In A Recent Home Purchase Not Enough To Avoid BofA Foreclosure; Ft. Lauderdale Man Left "Hanging In The Wind ... Scared To Death!"

Posted on September 27, 2010
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:When Jason Grodensky bought his modest Fort Lauderdale home in December, he paid cash. But seven months later, he was surprised to learn that Bank of America had foreclosed on the house, even though Grodensky did not have a mortgage...

"I Don't Know Why They Do Crappy Work!" Responds B'klyn Jurist When Asked About The 'Sludge' From Banks, Foreclosure Mills That Clogs Up His Courtroom

Posted on September 27, 2010
A recent story(1) in the New York Post reports on a recent interview it had with Kings County (Brooklyn) Supreme Court Justice Arthur M. Schack on the large number of foreclosure dismissals in his courtroom for a procedure that is often routinely granted:"I read papers...

Ally/GMAC Begins Withdrawing Affidavits From Another "Robo-Signer"

Posted on September 27, 2010
The Washington Post reports:Was Kristine Wilson another "robo-signer"? Attorneys for homeowners in Florida say Ally Financial's GMAC mortgage unit has begun to withdraw affidavits submitted in support of foreclosures that were signed by a second employee...

Rubber-Stamping Judges Allow 11th Hour Bank Substitutions, Make Court Docs Confidential In Continuing Effort To Bulldoze Cases Thru F'closure Pipeline

Posted on September 27, 2010
In West Palm Beach, Florida, the Daily Business Review reports:Garret Bender and his wife Gina started a court battle more than a year ago against SunTrust Mortgage, which wanted to foreclose on their Delray Beach house to recoup a $4 million mortgage...

Concerns Over Lenders' Use Of "Affidavit Slaves" In Foreclosure Actions Now Threaten To Jam Up Resales Of Bank-Owned REOs

Posted on September 26, 2010
In Palm Beach County, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:The revelation [...] that tens of thousands of Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC foreclosures may have flawed court documents not only has implications for some of the nation's largest mortgage companies, it could strangle the resales of bank-owned homes...

Illinois AG Demands Meeting With Ally/GMAC Bigshots Over Massive Foreclosure Screwup

Posted on September 26, 2010
From the Office of the Illinois Attorney General:Attorney General Lisa Madigan [] issued a letter to the mortgage lender Ally (formerly GMAC) demanding a meeting to address concerns that the company has violated the state?s Consumer Fraud Act in its pursuit of Illinois homeowners in foreclosure...

California AG To Ally/GMAC: Immediately Prove State Laws Are Being Observed Or Stop The Foreclosures Until You Can!

Posted on September 26, 2010
In Los Angeles, California, the Los Angeles Times reports:California ordered Ally Financial Inc. to prove it was complying with foreclosure laws in the state or stop seizing properties, a reaction to the lender's suspension of evictions in 23 other states because of botched foreclosure paperwork it filed with courts...

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