The Home Equity Theft Reporter: Real Estate & Property Law

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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

Woman Loses Life Savings In Alleged $31M Ponzi Scheme That Bilked Investors Through Forged Deeds, Sale Of Same Lots To Multiple Victims

Posted on January 03, 2010
In Pocatello, Idaho, the Idaho State Journal reports:One of the victims of an alleged Ponzi scheme that used a Pocatello property as part of an elaborate scam to bilk investors of $31 million said she lost a six-figure sum. ?I was absolutely devastated,? Carolyn White said about the moment she realized [her] savings was gone...

California Man Surrenders Real Estate License Amid Allegations Of Pocketing Upfront Fees On Loan Modifications, Failing To Properly Handle Trust Funds

Posted on January 03, 2010
From the California Department of Real Estate:Whitfield Financial Services Inc. (Whitfield), which operated a statewide loan modification business, surrendered its real estate license in lieu of defending accusations of violations of the real estate law at an administrative hearing...

Idaho AG Settles Allegations With NJ Upfront Fee Loan Modification Outfit; Firm To Cough Up $19K In Refunds To 12 Homeowners

Posted on January 03, 2010
In Boise, Idaho, The Associated Press reports:Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says Idaho homeowners who were duped into paying a New Jersey company to help them modify their mortgages will get more than $19,000 in a settlement. Wasden says the investigation into Weston, New Jersey-based Best Interest Rate Mortgage Co...

Repeatedly-Failing Air Conditioner Marks Beginning Of Journey On Rocky Road For One Florida Family

Posted on January 02, 2010
In Manatee County, Florida, the Bradenton Herald reports on the problems faced by local couple Joe and Brittany Baker after a May 2009 repair visit by a service technician mentioned that Chinese drywall might be the culprit for the repeated air conditioner problems in their recently-constructed home...

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Washington Man Cops Plea To Theft; Pocketed $22K+ By Selling Home In Foreclosure, Failing To Pay Mortgage; Unwitting Buyers Failed To Check Title

Posted on January 02, 2010
In Douglas County, Washington, The Wenatchee World reports:A Wenatchee man pleaded guilty to third-degree theft for taking more than $22,000 in payments from a couple for a home he had no title to. Felix Hernandez Martinez, 25, originally charged with first-degree theft in January 2008 in Douglas County Superior Court, pleaded guilty Dec...

Lender's Credit Reporting Error On Paid Off Car Loan Puts Kibosh On Consumer's Home Refinancing Plans

Posted on January 02, 2010
In Winnipeg, Manitoba, CTV News reports:A credit report mistake made by a financing organization has cost a Manitoba family thousands of dollars and has cast a cloud over its Christmas. In June 2008, Nancy Klassen, who lives near Morris, says her family paid off a GM minivan...

Deteriorating Conditions Threaten Tenants With Loss Of Homes As Another Apartment Building Faces Foreclosure

Posted on January 01, 2010
In St. Paul, Minnesota, KARE-TV Channel 11 reported last week:Melting snow has created a big problem for residents at 1015 York Avenue. Not only is the property in foreclosure, but residents are tired of reoccurring problems. "Water has leaked into nine apartments here," Saint Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard says...

New York Chief Judge On Courts & Recession-Related Cases: "We Are The Emergency Room For Society"

Posted on January 01, 2010
In New York City, The New York Times reports:New York State?s courts are closing the year with 4.7 million cases ? the highest tally ever ? and new statistics suggest that courtrooms are now seeing the delayed result of the country?s economic collapse...

Bank Liable For $400K For Failing To Disclose Contamination Of Property Sold To Local Couple

Posted on January 01, 2010
In Kalkaska County, Michigan, the Traverse City Record Eagle reports:A Kalkaska County jury ordered a local bank to pay a Williamsburg couple $400,000 after the bank allegedly failed to disclose contamination on property the couple purchased. Larry and Theresa Lelito bought a 5-acre parcel on M-72 just west of Kalkaska from Alden State Bank in December 2003...

Title Agents Ripped Off $700K In Closing Proceeds, Says Prosecutor; Late/Foreclosure Notices Tip Off Unwitting Homeowners Of Alleged Theft

Posted on December 31, 2009
In Freehold, New Jersey, the Asbury Park Press reports:A Monmouth County grand jury has handed up an indictment accusing two sisters who ran a pair of Freehold title agencies of pocketing more than $700,000 from clients and using the money to buy luxury cars and travel...

Utah Woman Charged With Filing Phony $1M Lien On Home Of Boyfriend's Deceased Wife; Pair Attempted To Rip Off Estate's Heirs, Investigator Says

Posted on December 31, 2009
In Utah County, Utah, Deseret News reports:A Pleasant Grove woman accused of working with [...] boyfriend [Martin MacNeill] to steal his adopted daughter's identity faces criminal charges. Gypsy Willis, 33, was charged [...] in 4th District Court with one count of identity fraud, two counts of false and inconsistent material statements and one count of wrongful lien...

Woman Accused Of Abusing POA By Misspending Institution-Bound Dad's Money; Gov't May Seize Family Home To Cover Nursing Home Bills

Posted on December 31, 2009
In Elkhorn, Nebraska, WOWT-TV Channel 6 reports:Regina Garcia has power of attorney over her father?s retirement fund. Now she needs an attorney after being charged with misspending almost $16,000 of that money. [...] Garcia?s elderly father is an Alzheimer?s patient who owes nearly $20,000 to an Elkhorn nursing home...

Real Estate Agent Accused Of Sleazy Practice In Alleged Attempt To Illegally Force Renter Out Of Foreclosed New Jersey Home

Posted on December 31, 2009
In Wildwood, New Jersey, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:On Memorial Day weekend, a man knocked on the door of Sheila Walker's Wildwood apartment and presented her with an offer: $1,500 to vacate in three weeks. The three-unit building had been seized in foreclosure...

Certain Non-Owner-Occupied Homes Eligible For New Florida Statewide Foreclosure Mediation Program

Posted on December 30, 2009
A review of the Florida media reports announcing the recent institution of a statewide foreclosure mediation program for foreclosure actions reveals that some of the stories may be creating an incorrect impression that the program applies only to owner-occupied, homesteaded properties, or are silent as to the affect on homes that are occupied by individuals other than the owner-borrower...

Florida Foreclosure Task Force Report Highlights Sleazy Lawyer Conduct From Both Sides Of The Bar

Posted on December 30, 2009
The following excerpt from the Florida Supreme Court Task Force On Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Cases gives example of some of the sleazy conduct of some attorneys in foreclosure actions:[I]t is critical that these [law] firms be candid, clear, and truthful and accurate in connection with pleadings and affidavits filed with the Courts...

DC AG Targets Tax Lien Investor In Alleged Legal Fee Ripoff Of Delinquent Taxpayer-Homeowners

Posted on December 30, 2009
In Washington, D.C., the Washington Examiner reports:A prolific purchaser of D.C. property tax liens is the subject of a District government lawsuit filed on behalf of delinquent taxpayers who are threatened with having to pay high legal fees in order to reclaim their properties...

Dubious Deals, Questionable Circumstances Mark NYC Speculator Who Stiffed Lenders Out Of $6.4M On 20 Mortgages Secured By 10 Homes Now In Foreclosure

Posted on December 30, 2009
In Jamaica, Queens, United Press International reports:Three years ago, Lloyd Varma, a man of no visible wealth, convinced 10 different banks to hand him 20 separate mortgages to buy 10 homes across southern Queens. Amazingly, he did this in 51 days just before the housing market collapsed - getting loans for $6...

Ohio Man Gets 57 Months For Scamming Real Estate Investors, Slapping Bogus Liens On Unwitting Homeowners' Property, Running Rent Skimming Racket

Posted on December 30, 2009
In Colimbus, Ohio, The Columbus Dispatch reports:A Licking County man was sentenced to nearly five years in prison this morning in connection with a mortgage scam that defrauded more than 40 people. Common Pleas Judge Jon R. Spahr sentenced Joseph C. McClain, 31, of Heath, to four years and 11 months imprisonment...

Schack Slams "Fat Cat Bankers On Wall Street" In Failed Court Cost Ripoff; Calls CEO Dimon The "Fattest Cat" At JPMorgan Chase

Posted on December 29, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, the New York Law Journal reports:A Brooklyn judge has rejected a bank's request for $9,112 in costs for producing subpoenaed documents, calling the claim an example of the excess and greed among "fat cat bankers on Wall Street." JPMorgan Chase, a non-party in an action to confirm an arbitration award, sought 25 cents per page and $25 per hour for producing 18,248 pages of

Fla. Supremes Order F'closing Banks To "Produce The Note" In Establishing Statewide Mediation Program; Open To Both Homestead & Tenant-Occupied Homes

Posted on December 29, 2009
In Tallahassee, Florida, the Orlando Business Journal reports:Plagued by an ever-increasing number of foreclosure cases, Florida judges now have guidance on how to deal with them through a statewide mediation program. Florida?s Chief Justice Peggy Quince signed an order designed to alleviate the backlog...

Ex-Philly Title Recording Dept. Employee Charged With Preparing Bogus Deeds For Pay; Some Unwitting Owners Had Property Sold Out From Under Them: Feds

Posted on December 29, 2009
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:A former worker in the Philadelphia Records Department was charged [...] with taking fees to prepare about 100 unauthorized deeds, teaching one person how to prepare fake deeds, and helping that person file the phony documents...

Quality Control Employee Canned By Lender After Cooperating With Feds In Loan Probe, Suit Alleges

Posted on December 29, 2009
In Denver, Colorado, the Denver Business Journal reports:A former employee [reportedly an ex-?high-risk specialist? in quality control] of Aurora Loan Services LLC alleges in a lawsuit filed [last week] that the company fired him in retaliation for helping federal investigators who were looking into one of its loans...

Miami Feds Announce New Fraud Cases; Organizers, Real Estate Brokers, Straw Buyers, Recruiters, Title Agents Bagged In Alleged Double HUD-1 Scams

Posted on December 29, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Miami, Florida):Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida [and other law enforcement authorities] announced two new multi-million dollar mortgage fraud prosecutions.***On December 15, 2009, a federal grand jury returned a six-count Indictment charging ten defendants in a mortgage fraud scheme, which resulted in the

Alleged Arizona-Based Upfront Fee Loan Modification Racket Violated State Law, Says Illinois Homeowner In Lawsuit Seeking Class Action Status

Posted on December 28, 2009
In Chicago, Illinois, Mortgage Relief Group dba Mortgage Assistance Group, an outfit alleged to be headquartered in Glendale, Arizona, cheated people in mortgage rescue scams, a class action claims. The lawsuit, filed in state court in Cook County, alleges violations of the Illinois Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act (765 ILCS 940/1...

Some Raise Questions On Judges' Role In Foreclosure Actions In Light Of Rulings Favoring Homeowners

Posted on December 28, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports:A group of state and federal judges presiding over foreclosures are wiping away borrowers' mortgage debt, invalidating foreclosure sales and even barring some foreclosures outright. The decisions in recent months by a handful of judges in states including Massachusetts, New York and Texas mark a new phase in the judiciary's battle to stem the rising tide of

Mass. AG Charges Attorney With Recording Forged Mortgage Assignments In Attempt To Hijack $1M+ In Loan Payoff Proceeds From Pending Real Estate Sales

Posted on December 28, 2009
From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:[A] Marblehead attorney was arraigned in Cambridge District Court in Medford for his role in a million dollar mortgage hijacking scheme. Leon Gelfgatt, age 49, is charged with Attempted Larceny, and Uttering (2 counts)...

Massachusetts Closing Attorney Gets 2 To 3 In Mortgage Stacking Racket; Pocketed $2M+ In Scam; Title Insurance Underwriter Left Holding The Bag

Posted on December 28, 2009
From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:Attorney General Martha Coakley?s Office announced the sentence of [...] former Somerville real estate attorney [Kevin Carey, age 49, of Middleboro] in connection with making false statements on mortgage applications and associated documents and using the funds secured from the loans for his own purposes, rather than paying off existing loans

Georgia Man Used Stolen IDs In Failed Attempt To Buy His Own Properties Facing Foreclosure Using Short Sales, Say Atlanta Feds

Posted on December 28, 2009
In Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports:A 37-year-old Atlanta man is accused of stealing people's identities, and then using those identities to attempt to purchase his own foreclosed property. Brent Merriell was arrested Tuesday, according to the U...

Title Agent Gets Five Years For $1.3M+ Escrow Swindle; Pocketed Cash While Failing To Pay Off Existing Loans In Homeowner Refinancing Transactions

Posted on December 27, 2009
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the South Florida Business Journal reports:Stephen Lalonde, 43, of Fort Lauderdale, was sentenced [last week] to five years in prison in connection with a $1.3 million mortgage fraud scheme. According to court records and statements made in court, Lalonde stole more than $1...

Title Agent Accused Of Swiping $2.7M+ In Escrow Funds Due To Lienholders In Home Refinancing Scam; Local Chief Deputy Prosecutor Among 12+ Victims

Posted on December 27, 2009
In Allen County, Indiana, The Journal Gazette reports:Just over a month after the state suspended his license, a Fort Wayne title insurance broker faces criminal charges accusing him of misappropriating more than $2.7 million in title funds. Joseph A...

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