The Home Equity Theft Reporter: Real Estate & Property Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Real Estate & Property Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

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

F'closure Rescue Operator At It Again As DC AG Slams Sale Leaseback Peddler w/ Suit Seeking To Void Title Transfers Violating Consumer Protection Law

Posted on September 07, 2010
From the Office of the District of Columbia Attorney General:Attorney General Peter Nickles announced [] that the District has filed a Superior Court enforcement action against Vincent L. Abell, charging that he engaged in foreclosure rescue transactions that violated the District?s consumer protection law...

Sentencing Postponed For Head Of Southern California Land Patent Foreclosure Rescue Scam

Posted on September 07, 2010
In San Diego, California, KGTV-TV Channel 10 reports:Sentencing was delayed Thursday for a man convicted of defrauding homeowners by falsely telling them that for a price, he could provide them with "land patents" that would protect their properties from foreclosure...

Labor Day "Greetings" To The Clerks Toiling In Anonymity At The Various Document-Manufacturing, Foreclosure Mill Factories

Posted on September 06, 2010
Sarasota Herald Tribune's Tom Lyons sends a "friendly" Labor Day greeting to all the overworked clerks at Florida's foreclosure mills in a column this weekend. He also comments on the mill bosses, and highlights his column with observations on one recent case where a judge hammered a law mill with a $49,000 fine with a promise to tack on an additional $7,000/day if the law firm/paperwork factory

Minnesota Lawmakers Create Notice Requirements In Effort To Reduce Rescue Scams, Foreclosure Sale Surplus Swindles, Redemption Rights Ripoffs

Posted on September 06, 2010
Lexology reports:The Minnesota Legislature has implemented new notice requirements to ensure that owners or borrowers of properties subject to foreclosure are properly informed of their rights. These requirements apply to properties with one to four dwelling units, one of which is owner occupied at the beginning of a foreclosure...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

California Lawmakers Move To Squelch Deed Service Ripoff; Bill Awaits Schwarzenegger Sign Off

Posted on September 06, 2010
In Los Angeles, California, KABC-TV Channel 7 reports:A few weeks ago Eyewitness News warned you about a new scam. That report caught the eye of one [California] state legislator who introduced a bill to stop the scam. That bill is now about to be signed into law...

Wells Fargo Cancels Suit, Modifies Military-Related Mortgage Loan For Strapped Navy Vet After Failing To Follow Gov't Rules On VA Foreclosures

Posted on September 06, 2010
In Jacksonville, Florida, First Coast News reports:[Nancy] Gemmill lived in the home 17 years and never missed a single payment. She owed $49,000 on the home when she lost her job because of health problems. Gemmill used her 401(k) at first to keep up the house but then that ran out, then she called Wells Fargo, asking for help to restructure her payments...

Foreclosing Lender Agrees To Last Minute Sale Cancellation As Media Exposure Leads To Questions Regarding Bank's Lack Of Standing To Bring Suit

Posted on September 06, 2010
In Norfolk, Virginia, The Virginian-Pilot reports:Hope was beginning to fade last week that Michele McBeth could save her Bayview home from foreclosure. The Norfolk elementary school teacher had been working for weeks with a foreclosure-prevention counselor, and spent hours going through financial documents, filling out paperwork and pleading with her mortgage company to cancel the auction...

Novice Homebuyers Left Facing Foreclosure Despite Having Made All Their Payments As Builder Allegedly Fails To Pay Off Construction Loan

Posted on September 05, 2010
In Brownsville, Texas, KGBT-TV Channel 4 reports:Nearly 30 families in Brownsville may soon be homeless. Their entire subdivision will be auctioned off is less than two weeks. Residents at the Northeast Estates subdivision in Brownsville received a letter letting them know their properties will be auctioned off by Cameron County [...

Cops: Man Used Sheriff's F'closure List To Target Homes In Appliance Thefts; May Have Needed Cash To "Buy Down" Jail Time In Prior Escrow Funds Ripoff

Posted on September 05, 2010
According to various Indiana media reports:Former I[ndiana] U[university] basketball player Todd Leary was arrested [] for allegedly stealing appliances from foreclosed homes in Hamilton County. [...] Leary, 39, Carmel, is accused of stealing appliances from foreclosed homes with the help of two cohorts and selling the appliances to Big Al's Superstore in Indianapolis, said Jeff Wehmueller,

Southern California Prosecutors Refile Charges In Foreclosed "Monster House" Fixture Stripping Case

Posted on September 05, 2010
In Encinitas, California, North County Times reports:Prosecutors have refiled charges against the woman accused of stripping $1 million worth of lavish fixtures from the foreclosed home her Encinitas neighbors dubbed the "monster house," according to a deputy district attorney...

Lender's Continued Efforts In Foreclosure Eviction Forces Renter File Lawsuit To Enforce Federal Tenant Protection Law

Posted on September 05, 2010
In Roseville, California, KXTV-TV Channel 10 reports:A tenant living in a bank-owned home says the bank is trying to force her family to leave despite a federal law protecting renters in foreclosed homes. Christine Pierce, 29, said OneWest Bank has made multiple attempts through its real estate agent and law firm to get her and her husband and their three-year-old son to move out even though they

Renter In Foreclosed Home Threatened With Eviction Uses Federal Tenant-Protection Law To Stand His Ground & Tell New Owner To Take A Hike

Posted on September 05, 2010
In Lemon Grove, California, KUSI-TV Channel 9 reports:When real estate speculators bought a foreclosure and tried to force the tenant to move out, he called KUSI's Michael Turko. Turko says lots of innocent tenants are now becoming victims of the mortgage crisis, because they don't know their rights...

"Good Deal" On Recently "Rehabbed" Foreclosure Leaves Novice Homebuying Couple Unpleasantly Surprised, Holding The Bag

Posted on September 04, 2010
In Cincinnati, Ohio, WKRC-TV Channel 12 reports:Many of the homes now on the market got there through foreclosure. Some have been rehabbed before going back up for sale. But, if you're looking at such a home, Troubleshooter Howard Ain is here to show why you have to be very careful...

Homes In Foreclosure Limbo Create Health, Safety Concerns For Panhandle Town; Banks Reluctant To Take Title To Unwanted, Critter-Infested Collateral

Posted on September 04, 2010
On the Florida Panhandle, WJHG-TV Channel 7 reports:Some Springfield residents say they've had it with the owners of an abandoned home in their neighborhood. "From what I understand it's been in foreclosure for years. It's been empty for years,? said next door neighbor Cleveland Drayton...

Town To Pursue Criminal Charges Against Developer/Landlord Facing Imminent Foreclosure For Egregious State Sanitary Code Violations At Rental Property

Posted on September 04, 2010
In Framingham, Massachusetts, The MetroWest Daily News reports:Investors interested in bidding on pieces of the failed downtown Arcade redevelopment project gathered [] on Frederick Street, but the bank holding the mortgage postponed a planned auction...

Prospective Tenants Now Entitled To "Bedbug Disclosure" From NYC Landlords

Posted on September 04, 2010
In New York City, the New York Post reports:New York City landlords will now have to tell prospective tenants if there's been a history of bedbugs in their building, thanks to a new law that Gov. Paterson signed []. The legislation requires that landlords give all tenant wannabes a disclosure form saying whether or not the building has had any of the bloodsuckers in the last year, said Manhattan

NYC Landlord Found Liable In Rent Overcharge Case Involving 1300+ Unit Housing Complex

Posted on September 04, 2010
In New York City, Crain's New York Business reports:In yet another victory for tenants, a state Supreme Court judge ruled late Monday against Laurence Gluck declaring that the landlord unlawfully deregulated rents at Independence Plaza North, a big downtown Manhattan residential complex, while receiving tax breaks...

Oregon AG, State Represntative Squeeze Refund Out Of Loan Modification Racket For Elderly Couple Hoodwinked Into Defaulting On Mortgage

Posted on September 03, 2010
In Medford, Oregon, the Mail Tribune reports:A Gold Hill couple may lose their home because of the illegal acts of a Florida-based mortgage consultant now being sanctioned by the Oregon attorney general. 1st Call Consultants, of Boca Raton, Fla., must stop doing business in Oregon and was required to repay $1,500 that Eva and Vern Patterson paid the consulting firm for help modifying their

Family Gets 1-Day Notice Of Pending Foreclosure Sale After Being Stiffed By Suspected Out-Of-State Loan Modification Racket

Posted on September 03, 2010
In Lewisburg, Tennessee, WSMV-TV Channel 4 reports:The Vetter family in Lewisburg first learned their house was being auctioned on the courthouse steps when they read it in the newspaper the day before. They?d paid a home loan modification company to help them avoid foreclosure, but later discovered the company had hundreds of complaints against it for doing nothing to help the consumers who had

Mortgage, Consumer Fraud Litigation To Skyrocket With Passage Of Wall Street Reform Act?

Posted on September 03, 2010
LegalNewsLine.com reports:Homeowners gained leverage for litigation against mortgage lenders through the financial reform law Congress passed this summer. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act not only tightened mortgage rules, but it also multiplied potential damages against rule breakers...

BofA's "Deed-In-Lieu" Mail Solicitation After Approving Loan Modification Leaves Couple Confused, Upset; Bank Speechless When Asked To Explain Letter

Posted on September 03, 2010
In Thornton, Colorado, KUSA-TV Channel 9 reports:Chris Carpenter says he has paid his mortgage on-time for the nearly seven years he has owned his home. [...] But Friday, Carpenter said his wife brought a letter from the mailbox from his mortgage lender, Bank of America, that baffled the couple...

7 Bagged In Mtg Fraud Scam That Lured Straw Buyers w/ Phony "No Management" Investment Program, Sham Rent-To-Own Offers To Credit-Impaired Tenants

Posted on September 02, 2010
In Northern Ohio, WYTV-TV Channel 33 reports:The Youngstown Mortgage Fraud Task Force and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio are investigating a $7.5 million mortgage fraud scheme involving 48 properties in Mahoning and Trumbull counties...

Federal Judge Ruling Favorably For BofA In Utah Foreclosure Challenge May Have Conflict Of Interest: Report

Posted on September 02, 2010
In Salt Lake City, Utah, KTVX-TV Channel 4 reports:"They're foreclosing illegally here in Utah.? Those were the words of St. George Attorney John Christian Barlow spoken in early June. Barlow at the time had appeared before a Federal Judge arguing that the banking giant, Bank of America, was foreclosing illegally in the State of Utah...

Title Insurance Unavailability For Would-Be Buyers In Bankrupt HOAs May Make It Nearly Impossible For Unit Owners To Unload Homes & Bail Out

Posted on September 02, 2010
In Phoenix, Arizona, The Arizona Republic reports:Thousands of vacant properties and millions of dollars in unpaid dues are taking their toll on Arizona homeowners associations, and homeowners are paying the price.(1) [...] In the most troubled master-planned communities, generally those in recent high-growth areas [...

Homeowners Accuse HOA Of Using Lien Notices To Retaliate For Earlier Suit Charging Association w/ Illegally Amending Rules To Increase Their Control

Posted on September 02, 2010
In Charlotte County, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:Residents in a retirement community here say they are being threatened with lien and foreclosure notices because of a legal battle with their homeowners association. About 50 residents of the Gardens of Gulf Cove, [...

Cops: Developer Pocketed $410K From Buyer For Condo In Project That Was Never Built; Faces Grand Theft Charges After Allegedly Refusing To Refund Cash

Posted on September 01, 2010
In Flagler Beach, Florida, WJXT-TV Channel 4 reports:A Flagler Beach developer was arrested [...] on a charge of grand theft in excess of $100,000 in connection with a fraudulent real estate purchase. John Boback Sr., 51, is accused of taking $410,000 from a Marco Island man in the sale of a condominium on North Oceanshore Boulevard...

S. Florida Lawyer Gets Jail Time For Hijacking $1.6M In Real Estate Closing Funds Earmarked For Mortgage Loan Payoffs; Title Insurer Left Holding Bag

Posted on September 01, 2010
In Miami, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:Hollywood title attorney Peter N. Price has been sentenced to almost four years in jail, and ordered to pay $1.7 million to Stewart Title Guarantee Inc. regarding allegations that he embezzled $1...

Bank Returns Possession Of Prematurely Padlocked Home In Foreclosure To Ailing Senior Who Spent Winter In Homeless Shelters; Slept In Parked Car Since

Posted on September 01, 2010
In Schaumburg, Illinois, the Daily Herald reports:A Schaumburg man who was living in his own yard after being padlocked out of his house during foreclosure proceedings was able to move back inside [last week]. John Wuerffel, 62, [...] was returned access to his home by representatives of HSBC Mortgage Corp...

Chicago Man Guilty Of Creating Phony Land Documents To Sell Homes Out From Under Real Owners To Unwitting Buyers While Posing As Federal Official

Posted on September 01, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Chicago, Illinois):A Chicago man was convicted of federal charges for posing as a federal government official in a scheme to sell properties he did not own out from underneath the real owners. The defendant, John Hemphill, was found guilty [] of mail fraud and false impersonation of a federal official following a week-long trial in U...

Rogue Public Official Gets 17 Years In Prison For Assorted Corruption; Bad Acts Include Sales Of Land He Didn't Own To Church, Elderly Woman

Posted on September 01, 2010
In New Orleans, Louisiana, The Times Picayune reports:Jonathan Bolar upset an incumbent in 2001 to gain a seat on the Gretna City Council, in great part because voters believed his promises to work hard and to put their interests first. Mr. Bolar worked hard all right -- but to put his office up for sale...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Home is where the trailer is: Trailer on lot sufficient to destroy grandfathered lot status
The Appeals Court, in an unpublished decision, has determined that...

Real Estate Agents, Lenders, Appraisers & Home Inspectors: ARE BUYERS WASTING TOO MUCH OF YOUR TIME?
PREQUALIFY, PREQUALIFY, PREQUALIFY. It cannot be said enough times...

Going Home: Remembering Long Branch eminent domain activist Anna DeFaria
While she waited for the next round in the eminent domain fi...

Pennsylvania Nursing Home Director Admits Criminal Neglect of Patient
Donna Cameron, of Ashton Pennsylvania, who was the former Director...

Nursing Home Abuse: Organizations Defend Seniors
Boston, MA: Nursing home abuse is, unfortunately, not an uncommon ...