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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

FTC Rule Banning Upfront Fees For Loan Modification Services Goes Into Effect

Posted on February 17, 2011
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced:As of January 31, 2011, companies that offer to help homeowners get their loans modified or sell them other types of mortgage assistance relief services are no longer allowed to charge up-front fees. Under the rule, a mortgage assistance relief company may not collect a fee until the consumer has signed a written agreement with the lender that

Subtle 'Under The Radar' Foreclosure Sale Bid Rigging Racket, Or Mere Familiarity With Competitors' Business Models?

Posted on February 17, 2011
In Denver, Colorado, The Denver Post reports:Though fewer and fewer properties are left to be picked over at weekly county foreclosure sales ? most are kept by banks ? the leftovers aren't generating the rabid bidding wars one might expect. Instead, the handful of private investors who regularly attend the weekly public-trustee sales are landing properties for just $1 over a bank's minimum bid to

MERS To Members: Don?t Foreclose In Our Name!

Posted on February 17, 2011
Housing Wire reports:Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, or MERS, told its members Wednesday not to foreclose on residential mortgages in its name. The electronic registry of mortgage records built by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the nation?s major lenders more than a decade ago has been under increasing fire by homeowners, prosecutors, politicians and others...

New York Moves To Provide Attorneys For All State Homeowners In Foreclosure By Year End

Posted on February 16, 2011
The New York Times reports:New York court officials outlined procedures Tuesday aimed at assuring that all homeowners facing foreclosure were represented by a lawyer, a shift that could give tens of thousands of families a better chance to save their homes...

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South Florida Foreclosure Mill Takes Another Staff Hit; Can 96 More Employees

Posted on February 16, 2011
In Plantation, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:Another 96 people who work for a company that provides paperwork services to the operations of mortgage foreclosure attorney David J. Stern in Plantation were laid off Tuesday, a company spokesman said...

NH Feds Charge Real Estate Agent In Alleged Scam That Targeted Homeowners Facing Foreclosure With Sale Leaseback, Equity Stripping Ripoffs

Posted on February 16, 2011
In Concord, New Hampshire, the Nashua Telegraph reports:A Nashua real estate agent is charged with swindling distressed homeowners and mortgage lenders with a home refinancing scam. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gunnison filed a charge of aiding and abetting mail fraud against Richard Winefield, 32, of 6 Short Ave...

California Man Gets 22 Year After Copping Guilty Plea For Running Ponzi Scheme, Fraudulent Sale Leaseback Equity Stripping Ripoffs

Posted on February 16, 2011
In Los Angeles, California, the Contra Costa Times reports:A Downey man whose financial fraud schemes preyed on blue-collar Latinos throughout the Southland was sentenced Monday to 22 years in federal prison for what a federal judge said was a case "close to my heart...

Long Island Bankruptcy Judge Gives MERS A Hammering In Ruling Explaining That It Lacks Standing To Foreclose

Posted on February 15, 2011
In Central Islip, New York, The Wall Street Journal reports:A federal bankruptcy court judge issued an opinion on Thursday offering a scathing critique of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, or MERS, the electronic-lien registry system built by the housing-finance industry to facilitate the bundling and selling of pools of mortgages...

U.S. Trustee To Federal Judge: "Fidelity Operated An Affidavit-Execution Process That Systematically Caused The Execution Of False Affidavits!"

Posted on February 15, 2011
The U.S. Trustee's Office has recently filed a Post-Trial Brief in ongoing bankruptcy litigation in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Orleans, Louisiana in which it asks Judge Elizabeth W. Magner to hammer the alleged foreclosure document manufacturing racket management firm Lender Processing Services, Inc...

Florida Foreclosure Mill Makes Major Payroll Dump After Fannie Pulled Its Cases From Firm Over Faulty Paperwork

Posted on February 15, 2011
In Broward County, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:A Hollywood law firm that processes thousands of foreclosures for major lenders laid off almost half of its 568 employees Monday, days after the government-owned mortgage giant Fannie Mae pulled its files from the practice...

Another Loan Servicer, "Trash-Out" Contractor Screw-Up To Blame For Premature Break-In & Winterizing Of Home Not In F'closure; Couple Says They'll Sue

Posted on February 15, 2011
The Buffalo News reports:Confusion and miscommunication between M&T Bank Corp. and two contractors has caused embarrassment for the bank, after workers for one of the firms entered a delinquent mortgage customer's Pennsylvania home and caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages by mistake...

Foreclosure Document Mill Faces Scrutiny For Allegedly Committing Perjury In Consumer Bankruptcy Case

Posted on February 14, 2011
AOL's Daily Finance reports:Lender Processing Service, is "the nation's leading provider" of "default solutions" to mortgage servicers, meaning it manages every aspect of foreclosure, whether in bankruptcy or state court. However, LPS is facing investigations and lawsuits that challenge its existence because they focus on the legality of LPS's basic business model...

Head Of Florida Foreclosure Mill Ordered Into Court To Explain Dubious Document Filings In Recently-Dismissed Suit

Posted on February 14, 2011
The Palm Beach Post reports:A day after federal mortgage giant Fannie Mae fired the prominent law firm of Ben-Ezra & Katz, a Miami judge found the firm's founding partner, Marc Ben-Ezra, in contempt of court for filing "sham" foreclosure documents and "wasting the court's time...

Fannie Gives Florida Foreclosure Mill The Boot Over Faulty Paperwork Issues

Posted on February 14, 2011
The Palm Beach Post reports:Federal mortgage giant Fannie Mae has cut ties with a second South Florida law firm handling its foreclosure cases, requiring an immediate transfer of those files to other attorneys and likely causing more turmoil in the state's foreclosure courts...

Florida Appeals Court Nixes Use Of "John Doe" Defendants In Lawsuit Absent Statute Authorizing Otherwise; More Hot Water For Foreclosure Mills?

Posted on February 14, 2011
A Florida appeals court recently affirmed a lower court ruling disallowing the practice of filing "John Doe" complaints by a plaintiff when the names of certain potential defendants are unknown. From the ruling:We affirm the order granting the motion to quash service of process as to defendant Krieger-Martin (one of the ?unknown John Does?)...

Listing R/E Agent Conceals Purchase Offer To Client/Owner Of Bldg In F'closure, Then Buys Property At Auction, Flips It To Original Prospective Buyer

Posted on February 13, 2011
In Denver, Colorado, KUSA-TV Channel 9 reports:The Colorado Division of Real Estate is investigating a Jefferson County real estate agent following a 9Wants to Know investigation into a transaction where a Realtor didn't bring an offer to the seller and then turned around and bought the building at a foreclosure auction...

Sacramento Feds Squeeze Guilty Plea In Upfront Fee 'Rescue' Ripoff That Peddled Phony Foreclosure Defense Legal Services

Posted on February 13, 2011
In Fresno, California, Central Valley Business Times reports:George Eggleston has pleaded guilty Friday in Fresno federal court to running a mortgage foreclosure rescue scheme, says U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner. Mr. Eggleston also agreed to the forfeiture of property and proceeds obtained as a result of such violations, including a personal money judgment in the amount of $364,899...

San Diego Prosecutions Of Local Foreclosure Rescue Ripoff Group Concludes As Mastermind Gets Six Years In Sale Leaseback, Rent Skimming Scam

Posted on February 13, 2011
In San Diego, California, KFMB Radio 760 AM reports:The ringleader of a scheme in which Filipino homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments were urged to transfer property titles into a bogus trust was ordered Thursday to spend six years in prison and make restitution of $71,000...

Bay Area Grand Jury Indicts Four In Alleged Foreclosure Rescue Racket; Filed Fraudulent Documents In Bogus Attempts To Stall Legal Process: DA

Posted on February 13, 2011
In Oakland, California, KGO-TV Channel 7 reports:A Las Vegas man has been arrested on a 29-count indictment of defrauding residents of Alameda County in a mortgage rescue scheme. 7 On Your Side has been conducting an investigation of its own into the accusations for two months...

Trial Begins For "Sovereign Citizen" Accused In F'closure Rescue, Loan Reduction Scam; Judge Rejects "Diplomatic Immunity/Moor Defense" As "Gibberish"

Posted on February 13, 2011
In Memphis, Tennessee, WMC-TV Channel 5 reports:"Heartache, pain & trouble" -- one pastor's description of what's floating in the wake of Charles McKuhn. Testimony in the Bartlett man's federal fraud trial began in earnest Tuesday as he faced charges of running a debt-reduction/foreclosure rescue scheme that spanned nine states...

Lawsuit: Daddy Duped Me Into Deeding Him My Home!

Posted on February 12, 2011
In New York City, the New York Post reports:Maurice Cohn, who ran Cohmad Securities, a Bernie Madoff-linked investment firm, has been sued by his daughter for allegedly duping her into signing over her house to a trust he controlled, The Post has learned...

Chase Coughs Up The Cash, Dodges Possible Asset Seizure After Paying Homeowner's Legal Fees In Illegal Foreclosure Case

Posted on February 12, 2011
A recent Bloomberg story reported that JP Morgan Chase may have been facing an asset seizure for court-ordered legal fees owed to El Paso, Texas attorney Richard Roman for work he did in successfully representing a local homeowner who had her home foreclosed out from under her despite having a temporary restraining order in effect (see JPMorgan Faces Texas Sheriff in Showdown Over Eviction Case

Handyman Pinched For Allegedly Targeting Trusting 82-Year Old Woman In $490K Home Repair Ripoff

Posted on February 12, 2011
In Palm City, Florida, WTSP-TV Channel 10 reports:Police have arrested a 51-year-old Indiantown man on charges of ripping off an 82-year-old woman to the tune of $490,000, and using his own family to drop the woman's defenses.Detectives with the Martin County Sheriff's Office arrested Harry B...

Foreclosure Defense Grows As A 'Do-It-Yourself' Project

Posted on February 12, 2011
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, The New York Times reports:In New Mexico, New York, Florida and the 20 other states where foreclosures require a judge?s approval, homeowners in default have traditionally surrendered their homes without ever coming to court to defend themselves...

Florida HOAs Pick Up Pace On Lien Foreclosures; Reach Workouts With Unit Owners Seeking Payment Plans While Booting The Deadbeats

Posted on February 12, 2011
In Broward County, Florida, The Miami Herald reports:It?s not only lenders who are clogging the courts with foreclosures. Leaders at condo and homeowners associations say they have been forced to foreclose; many have then rented out the property. They need cash to pay for maintaining common areas and providing services...

Lawsuit: Contractor Pocketed Cash & Failed To Complete Crappy Job; Homeowner: Forced To Pay Extra To Stiffed Subs To Avoid, Release Mechanics' Liens

Posted on February 12, 2011
In Galveston, Texas, The Southeast Texas Record reports:A Harris County man claims that an incomplete construction project at his Galveston residence cost him $40,000 in economic and consequential damages, recent court documents say. Mark T. Adlam filed suit against contractor Michael Bomer, alleging Bomer failed to perform under and breached the contract both parties entered in December 2009...

Houston Man Seeks TRO To Nix Demolition Order On Recently-Purchased Condemned House; Says He Sank Nearly All His Savings Into "Historic" Home

Posted on February 12, 2011
In Beaumont, Texas, The Southeast Texas Record reports:Houston resident Aaron Conley has filed a request for a temporary restraining order to stop the city of Beaumont from demolishing a home "with historic roots" he recently acquired. [...] In his petition, Conley says he purchased the home, [...

Sheriff's Deputies Make Meth Bust In Home In Foreclosure; Tenant, Two Others Face Multiple Charges

Posted on February 12, 2011
In Cornville, Arizona, The Daily Courier reports:Yavapai County Sheriff's deputies arrested three people Sunday in Cornville on charges including possession of drug paraphernalia after they found methamphetamine, meth pipes and an improvised explosive device inside a home and a blue Chevy Blazer...

Human Remains Found By Real Estate Investor In Recently-Purchased Foreclosed Home Belived To Be Former Owner Who Went Missing 15+ Years Ago

Posted on February 12, 2011
In Tate County, Mississippi, The Examiner reports:Charlie Williams, 62, who lived in Senatobia, Mississippi disappeared over 15-years-ago, in August of 1995. His wife, children and grandchildren never knew what happened to him. Then two months ago, Charlie's wife passed away...

Mortgage Bond Insurer's Suit Suggests Bank Secretly Pocketed Payments On Sour Loans Prior To Default

Posted on February 11, 2011
The New York Times reports:Banks have been fighting with disgruntled bond investors and insurers for months, arguing that they do not need to buy back soured mortgages they placed inside securities before the financial crisis. Now, it turns out, some of those banks may have secretly collected partial payments on those same mortgages several years ago and pocketed that money...

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