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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

Las Vegas Man Indicted By State AG On Allegations Of Offering Bogus Loan Modifications; Faces Theft, Felony Charges

Posted on February 24, 2010
In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Las Vegas Sun reports:A 50-year-old Henderson man was indicted [] on four felony counts of theft and one felony count of forgery in connection with the operation of DB Financial Services, a foreclosure rescue business located in Henderson, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said...

California AG To Financially Distressed Homeowners: Steer Clear Of Forensic Loan Audit Ripoffs

Posted on February 24, 2010
From the Office of the California Attorney General:Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. [] joined the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) and the State Bar of California in warning Californians to avoid forensic loan audits, the loan-modification industry's latest "phony foreclosure-relief service," in which homeowners pay up-front fees for a forensic review of their lender's practices,

Another Rubber-Stamped Foreclosure Judgment Gets The Boot From Appeals Court; Trial Judge Fails To Apply Binding Precedent To Standing-Lacking Lender

Posted on February 23, 2010
The Court of Appeals for the First Appellate District of Ohio recently ruled (footnotes omitted, my emphasis added):Defendants-appellants Jamie and Gary Gindele appeal the summary judgment entered for plaintiff-appellee Bank of New York on its foreclosure complaint...

Central Florida Judge Voids Foreclosure Sale, Allowing Homeowner Victimized By Sewer Service To Recover Title To Home

Posted on February 23, 2010
In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:William Berta could be among the most findable people in the world. The 70-year-old has lived in his Sarasota home for decades. He runs a business on 12th Street, has a pilot's license, collects Veterans Affairs benefits, and recently got a traffic ticket here...

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State Regulator Orders Shut Down Of Five S. Florida Loan Modification Outfits On Charges Of Pocketing Illegal Upfront Fees, Operating Without License

Posted on February 23, 2010
In South Florida, the Sun Sentinel reports:State regulators took the first step Thursday in what they said will be an ongoing effort against unlawful mortgage modifiers, ordering several South Florida operations to immediately stop doing business. The Florida Office of Financial Regulation cited five companies Thursday morning: Foreclosure Solution Specialists Inc...

Feds Apprehend Fugitive Title Insurance Agent Suspected In $500K Escrow Swindle; Failed To Satisfy Existing Mortages, Record Deeds In R/E Transactions

Posted on February 23, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Baltimore, Maryland):Daniel E. Fink Jr., age 43, of Baltimore, who owned and operated Homemaxx Title & Escrow LLC (Homemaxx), a title company that conducted residential real estate closings with offices in Middle River and Parkville, Maryland, was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida [] and had his initial appearance in federal court in Florida []...

Bona Fide Purchaser Status Not Available To Lender For Failure To Inquire Into Continued Possession By Ex-Homeowner In Equity Stripping Scam

Posted on February 23, 2010
A 2009 case ruled upon by a Federal court in Chicago, Illinois dealt with the following facts:Homeowner Davis was facing foreclosure and entered into a transaction with a foreclosure rescue operator in which the homeowner unwittingly conveyed full, unconditional title to the operator, and received $18,000 upon consummation of the transaction, a transaction that Davis believed to be a mortgage

Foreclosure Rescue Operators Try To Dodge Liability For Alleged Sale Leaseback, Equity Stripping Scam, Despite Binding Settlement Agreements

Posted on February 23, 2010
A recent court ruling by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals describes an attempt made by a couple of notorious D.C.-area foreclosure rescue operators(1) to wiggle their way out of out-of-court settlement agreements that they entered into with several equity stripping victims...

Bankruptcy Court OKs Home Mortgage Cramdown For NC Homeowner, Despite Congress' Failure To Change Law

Posted on February 22, 2010
Despite Congress' recent failed attempts to change the Federal bankruptcy law that restricts cramdowns of mortgages secured by a Debtor's residence in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceeding, such cramdowns are apparently already permissible in certain cases, and has been for quite some time, based on my reading of a recent ruling by a North Carolina bankruptcy court...

Brooklyn Jury Convicts Condo Developer Of Failing To Deliver Title To Buyers, Then Using Deeds As Collateral To Pocket Proceeds From Subsequent Loans

Posted on February 22, 2010
In Brooklyn, New York, the Daily News reports:A ambitious [sic] Brooklyn developer was found guilty Tuesday of stealing more than $18 million from dozens of Hasidic families and several banks in a massive subprime mortgage scam. Eliyahu Ezagui, 39, preyed on his fellow congregants, sold them condominiums but never gave them the deeds when construction was finished...

Co-Ringleaders In S. California Sale Leaseback Racket Get 15, 10 Years For $12M+ Equity Stripping Ripoff Of Homeowners Seeking Foreclosure Rescue

Posted on February 22, 2010
In Los Angeles, California, Southern California Public Radio KPCC 89.3 FM reports:Five participants in a massive fraud scheme were sentenced [] in Los Angeles to one to 15 years in federal prison. The defendants were found guilty of conning homeowners facing foreclosure out of millions of dollars in equity...

St. Louis Real Estate Broker Admits Pocketing Cash By Collecting On Bogus Liens Placed On Property Facing Foreclosure In Equity Stripping Scam

Posted on February 22, 2010
In St. Louis, Missouri, the St. Louis Business Journal reports:A St. Louis real estate broker has pleaded guilty to bank fraud in connection with brokering real estate transactions in 2006 and 2007. Randall Penberthy Jr., 40, of St. Charles, operated and controlled several business entities, including Covenant Financial, First Choice Investment and Loan and Midwest Management...

Twin Cities Duo Get 3+ Years In Mortgage Fraud Scam; Targeted Homeowners Facing Foreclosure w/ Sale-Contract For Deed Buyback, Equity Stripping Ripoff

Posted on February 21, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Minneapolis, Minnesota):The second of two men from the Twin Cities was sentenced today in federal court in connection with a real estate loan scam aimed at defrauding Associated Bank. In Minneapolis, United States District Court Judge Joan Ericksen sentenced Eric R...

C. Fla. Man Claims "Adverse Possession" Defense After Arrest On Home Hijacking Charges; Swiped 72 Houses, Rented Out 31 To Unwitting Tenants, Say Cops

Posted on February 21, 2010
In Land O' Lakes, Florida, The Tampa Tribune reports:Stephen Thomas Bybel had a business idea that would make him a landlord and line his pockets while sprucing up neighborhoods where homes in foreclosure were left to deteriorate and become targets of vandals...

Montana Man Faces Charges In Connection With Alleged Home Hijacking Scam; Targeted "Foreclosure" Homes, Changed Locks, Filed Phony Paperwork, Say Cops

Posted on February 21, 2010
In Polson, Montana, the Missoulian reports:If Lake County authorities are correct, when Brent Arthur Wilson allegedly broke into homes in the Polson area, his intent was not to steal jewelry, artwork or other valuables. No, they say, Wilson intended to steal the house itself...

Homeowner Facing Foreclosure Refuses To Let Bank Take $400K House; Plows Through It With Bulldozer Instead

Posted on February 21, 2010
In Moscow, Ohio, WLWT-TV Channel 5 reports:Like many people, Terry Hoskins has had troubles with his bank. But his solution to foreclosure might be unique. Hoskins said he's been in a struggle with the bank over his Clermont County home for almost a decade, a struggle that was coming to an end as the bank began foreclosure proceedings on his $400,000 home...

Phoenix Man Facing Foreclosure Charged With Defrauding A Secured Creditor After Being Nabbed Stripping His Home Prior To Sale

Posted on February 21, 2010
In Phoenix, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:Police arrested a man [] on theft charges after officers caught him stripping items from his foreclosed home, authorities said. A resident of the neighborhood near Willis and Dobson roads flagged down a police officer to say Chandler resident Daniel Clark, 35, was "deconstructing" his foreclosed home, according to a news release from Chandler Police

Memphis Attorney Gets 10 Years For Abusing POAs In $60K+ Theft From Two Clients; Joins Ex-Law Partner Doing 22 Year Stint On Other Charges

Posted on February 20, 2010
In Memphis, Tennessee, MyFox Memphis Channel 13 reports:Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced [] that a Memphis attorney pleaded guilty to stealing money from two clients who had given him power of attorney over their financial affairs...

Concerns Continue For 25,000 Residents In 11,000-Unit Manhattan Apartment Complex As Foreclosure Action On $3B Mortgage Is Filed

Posted on February 20, 2010
In New York City, The New York Times reports:The lenders at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village are expected to begin an uncontested foreclosure action [] against the owner of Manhattan?s largest residential complex, according to bankers and real estate executives...

Court-Appointed Receiver Offers No Relief For Tenants Without Heat, Hot Water In Brooklyn Building In Foreclosure

Posted on February 20, 2010
In Brooklyn, New York, the Daily News reports:Their Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment building is in foreclosure - and these tenants are feeling forsaken. Tenants at 874 Greene Ave. have suffered for months without heat or hot water even though a court-appointed receiver hired a managing company to make repairs and collect rents...

Years After Retirement, Converted Met 1st Baseman/Now Real Estate Developer Still Hitting Home Runs In NYC

Posted on February 20, 2010
In New York City, Crain's Bew York Business reports:Six months after Mo Vaughn set up Omni New York in 2004, the fledgling real estate firm struck, snapping up a 286-unit affordable housing complex in the Bronx. By the end of its second year, Omni New York had tripled its holdings to a total of 869 units...

Nursing Home Office Manager Cops Plea To Ripping Off Residents' Social Security Income Intended To Pay For Housing, Care

Posted on February 20, 2010
In Jasper County, Iowa, the Newton Daily News reports:A woman who worked at a Newton care facility has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $55,000 in federal funds. Kelly Jo Seals, 35, pleaded guilty in federal court to theft of government property on Jan...

Illinois AG Out To Hammer, Nail Home Improvement Contractors For Deceptive Practices, Shoddy & Incomplete Work

Posted on February 20, 2010
The following press releases are from the Office of the Illinois Attorney General in connection with its effort to target wayward home improvement contractors. The civil lawsuits, according to the press releases, generally allege that the defendants have violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act by:performing work in

Ex-Central Fla. Closing Agent Feels Heat From All Sides As Feds, Title Underwriter, Bank All Press Legal Actions In Alleged Major Mortgage Fraud Case

Posted on February 19, 2010
In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:AS SHE STRUGGLES to defend herself against criminal charges that she assisted with one of the largest mortgage fraud schemes in Florida history, Lisa Rotolo is also having to answer civil lawsuits alleging that her "negligent or fraudulent actions" cost banks and title agencies hundreds of thousands of dollars...

Closing Agent Gets 20 Months For Stiffing Title Insurance Underwriter, Others Out Of $470K+ In Policy Premiums, Closing Costs From Real Estate Deals

Posted on February 19, 2010
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (St. Paul, Minnesota):A 45-year-old woman from Prior Lake was sentenced [] in federal court for stealing more than $470,000 designated for payment of title insurance premiums and recording fees. In St. Paul, United States District Court Judge Paul A...

Pair Sought On Charges Of Securing Execution Of Document By Deception In Connection With Possible Rent Skimming Scam Leaving Victims Facing F'closure

Posted on February 19, 2010
From a press release from the Midland, Texas Police Department:The White Collar Division of the Midland Police Department is in the final stages of an investigation involving several citizens who were defrauded by people who purchased residences from them under false pretences...

Allegations Of "Lawyer Renting" By Loan Modification Outfit Among Charges Currently Under Probe By Florida AG In Five New Investigations

Posted on February 19, 2010
In South Florida, the Sun Sentinel reports:The Florida Attorney General's Office has opened five new investigations this year, with four centered in South Florida, involving foreclosure rescue and mortgage modification companies, a key enforcement concern for regulators...

HUD: Watch Out For Upfront Fee "QWR" Scams

Posted on February 19, 2010
From the Department of Housing and Urban Development:Beware of entities contacting you to prepare a qualified written request (QWR) for a fee. Section 6 of RESPA, per 12 U.S.C. � 2605, provides that a borrower may send a QWR directly to a loan servicer for information relating to the servicing of a federally related mortgage loan...

St. Louis Man Invests $137K+ To Buy, Rehab Home, Then Loses It For $6K In Municipal Foreclosure Sale; Says City Failed To Notify Him Of Pending Action

Posted on February 18, 2010
In St. Louis, Missouri, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports on Mark Siebels, a local real estate investor who bought a burned-out two-family building in south St. Louis for $37,500 four years ago, invested an additional $100,000 to rehab it, and then lost it for $6,000 in a city foreclosure sale triggered by his failing to pay periodic vacant building registration fees...

$300K Proceeds From Reverse Mortgage Part Of $750K Ripoff From Victimized Senior; POA Called "License To Steal From The Elderly"

Posted on February 18, 2010
In Honolulu, Hawaii, the Honolulu Advertiser reports:A trusting 82-year-old 'Aiea man is struggling to restore his financial footing after giving away his durable power of attorney to a female acquaintance who used it to raid his bank account and obtain credit cards and a reverse mortgage that plunged him into staggering debt...

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