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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

NY AG Sues Firm Accused Of Peddling Deceptive Home Warranty Plans That Ripped Off Homeowners Nationwide

Posted on May 16, 2009
From the Office of the New York Attorney General:Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo [...] announced that his office has filed suit against National Home Protection, Inc. (NHP), a New York City-based company, and three principals, Leo Serrur, David Seruya, and Victor Hakim in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan for a deceptive home warranty scheme that defrauded consumers in New York and across the

Unpaid Utility Bills, Shutoffs, Likely Condemnation Send Tenants Scrambling As Out-Of-State Landlords Appear To Throw In Towel On Converted Motel

Posted on May 16, 2009
In Champaign, Illinois, The News Gazette reports:City officials were scrambling Monday to find housing for about 30 people who remained in apartments at Gateway Studios ahead of an expected shutoff of power and likely condemnation [Tuesday].AmerenIP on Monday reaffirmed its intention to cut electricity to the former motel building [...

California's Ghost Towns

Posted on May 16, 2009
In Los Angeles, California, KTTV Channel 11 reports:The sky-high foreclosure rate in California has wrecked families and battered the banks. But there's another casualty that isn't talked about as much; the neighborhoods. There are communities that have been blighted by vacant and abandoned homes...

Utilities Shutoff Force Out Residents In 128-Unit Complex As Landlord Leaves Gas & Water Bills Unpaid

Posted on May 16, 2009
In Rantoul, Illinois, The News Gazette reports:Natural-gas service has been shut off to a large Rantoul apartment complex, and the village has posted the apartments as unfit for occupancy. Tenants of Autumn Glen apartments, on Hobson Drive on Rantoul's northeast side, have until 5 p...

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C. Florida Court Opts For "Rubber Stamp Method" In Effort To Bulldoze Undefended Foreclosures Thru Legal System, Despite Myriad Of Paperwork Errors

Posted on May 15, 2009
In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:Starting Friday, hundreds of people could lose their property each month in foreclosure hearings scheduled to take less than two minutes. Often called a "rocket docket," the streamlined foreclosure court can schedule up to 250 cases per day, sending properties to auction in cases where the owners never showed up to defend

Clarification Of Judges' Legal, Ethical Duties In Hearing Uncontested Securitized Mortgage Foreclosure Cases To Be Addressed By Florida Task Force

Posted on May 15, 2009
The Miami Daily Business Review reports:Florida Supreme Court task force on home foreclosures plans to propose uniform case management and design a model mediation program to deal with the glut of foreclosure cases tying up the state?s legal system. In an interim report released this week, the task force said uniform statewide solutions are needed ?to avoid a patchwork of independent and

San Jose Cops, DA's Office Probe Outfit Suspected Of Masquerading As Loan Modification Law Firm; 100+ Homeowners Get Stiffed, File Complaints

Posted on May 15, 2009
In San Jose, California, KGO-TV Channel 7 reports:Police in San Jose are investigating a business that claims to be a loan modification company but is suspected of preying on more than 100 homeowners. "Legal Support Services" says on its website that it is a law firm specializing in loan modifications, but police question whether it's a law firm at all...

2nd Man Gets Jail Time On Contempt Charges For Role In South Carolina Alleged Foreclosure Rescue Scam

Posted on May 15, 2009
In Horry County, South Carolina, The Horry Independent reports:A second man has been sentenced to jail in connection with a scheme that landed multiple distressed homeowners in foreclosure. Joseph R. Guernsey, 36, of Myrtle Beach was sentenced yesterday in Horry County Court to six months in jail after Judge Michael Baxley found him guilty of contempt of court...

Recent Illinois Law Saves Homeowner From Failure To Obtain Lien Waiver & Paying Twice For Home Improvements When Fully Paid Contractor Stiffs Subs

Posted on May 15, 2009
In Chicago, Illinois, NBC Chicago reports:There's a piece of paper that can stand between a homeowner and a construction calamity, between being done with a job and having it come back to drain you of more money. The waiver of lien is easy to get, yet many consumers don't hear about it until it's too late...

Ninth Defendant Goes Down In Maryland $35M+ Equity Stripping, Foreclosure Rescue Scam

Posted on May 15, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Maryland):Wilbur Ballesteros, age 33, of Lanham, Maryland, pleaded guilty [Thursday] to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme that falsely promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes and repair their damaged credit, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J...

Indiana Woman Facing Foreclosure Cops Plea To Torching Home

Posted on May 15, 2009
In Tippecanoe County, Indiana, the Journal and Courier reports:A Lafayette woman faces between six and 20 years in prison for setting her home, which was the subject of a foreclosure proceeding, on fire a year ago. Amy Jo Keith, 34, pleaded guilty Thursday morning in Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 to arson, a Class B felony...

Cops Barely Beat 4-Year Statute Of Limitations; Charge Realty Agent With Duping Client Into Signing Over Condo; Victim Now Lives In Homeless Shelter

Posted on May 14, 2009
In Long Beach, California, the Press Telegram reports:A felony embezzlement charge was filed [...] against a Long Beach real estate agent who allegedly conned a client into signing over his property, leaving the victim homeless. Donald Marshall Otis is accused of conning a former neighbor to sign over his Downtown Long Beach condominium, which the victim owned free and clear, in 2005 and then

Illinois Man Gets Five Years For Using Forged, Fraudulent Documents To Steal Homes From Elderly Widow, Deceased Man's Estate

Posted on May 14, 2009
From the Office of the Illinois Attorney General:Attorney General Lisa Madigan [last week] secured a guilty plea from a Calumet Park man on two counts of theft over $100,000 for forging documents as part of a scheme to sell real estate right out from under elderly victims and their estates...

Thieves Used Forged Signatures, Forged Documents, Fraudulent Notarizations To Steal Two Tennessee Homes, Says Victimized Memphis Man

Posted on May 14, 2009
In Memphis, Tennessee, WREG-TV Channel 3 reports:It's not a burglary or a home invasion, but thieves across the Mid-South are on a mission to steal your greatest possession. They're looking for more than what's in your house -- they want the home itself...

New Mexico Couple Charged With Swiping Seven Properties Using Forged Deeds, Fraudulent Notarizations

Posted on May 14, 2009
In Valencia County, New Mexico, The News Bulletin reports:A former employee of the Valencia County treasurer's department and her husband have been arrested and charged with a slew of crimes involving felony fraud and forgery involving ownership of land in the county...

Mortgage Company Employees Accused Of Stealing Refinancing Proceeds Intended To Pay Off Existing Lien; Leaves Customer With Ruined Credit, Unpaid Debt

Posted on May 14, 2009
In New Orleans, Louisiana, The Times Picayune reports:A lawsuit filed in civil district court in New Orleans accuses a loan originator and branch manager at Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp. of stealing money during a mortgage refinance and then conspiring with their employer to cover it up...

Thousands Of Foreclosure Lawsuits Brought By Companies Lacking Standing To Sue Continue To Slip Through The Court System In Uncontested Actions

Posted on May 13, 2009
In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:As a lawyer helping homeowners grapple with foreclosure, April Charney has praised Sarasota's Lee Haworth, chief judge of the 12th Judicial Circuit. But Charney now puts an asterisk in her rave review...

More On The Use Of Multiple Corporate Hat-Wearing Dummy Vice Presidents By Lenders & Mortgage Servicers In Foreclosure Actions

Posted on May 13, 2009
The issue of employees of so-called foreclosure / bankruptcy services firms being allowed to sign legal documents (with said documents to be filed in court in connection with foreclosure actions) as officers of multiple, foreclosing financial institutions was the topic of several past posts...

Boston Non-Profits, Housing Advocates Lead Effort In Helping Area Homeowners, Existing Tenants Stay In Bank-Foreclosed Homes Thru Buy-Back Program

Posted on May 13, 2009
In Boston, Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reports:Thomas Quinn did something that most people who lose their homes to foreclosure can only dream about: He bought back his family's Hyde Park house. [...] "I'm a happy homeowner again with a payment I can live with," he said...

Oakland Tenant Walks Away With $4K Settlement, Over A Year Of Free Rent In Battle Against Lender & Its Illegal Foreclosure Eviction Attempt

Posted on May 13, 2009
In Oakland, California, Beyond Chron reports the story of one tenant's battle against a foreclosing mortgage lender and its attempt to carry out an illegal eviction, despite the city's Just Cause Ordinance, which, with exceptions, prohibits a lender from doing so...

2nd Co-Conspirator Goes Down In Metro Dream Homes' Alleged $70M Ponzi Scheme

Posted on May 13, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Maryland):Charlotte Melissa Josephine Hardmon, age 39, of Bowie, Maryland pleaded guilty [Monday] to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with her participation in a massive mortgage fraud scheme which promised to pay off homeowners? mortgages on their ?Dream Homes,? but left them to fend for themselves, announced United States Attorney for the

Mortgage Scammer Admits Running Home Equity Ripoffs To Perpetrate Ponzi Scheme

Posted on May 12, 2009
On Long Island, New York, ABC News reports:Peter Dawson was a mini-Bernie Madoff -- on the surface, a charming family man with a big house, on the make in working class neighborhoods of Long Island, N.Y. Now, he has been sentenced to state prison for at least five years for running an elaborate mortgage scam...

Mass AG Squeezes $60M Settlement From Goldman Sachs In Connection With Subprime Mortgage Probe

Posted on May 12, 2009
In Boston, Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reports:More than 700 Massachusetts homeowners struggling with subprime mortgages will have their monthly payments reduced - some by as much as 35 percent - as part of a $60 million settlement Attorney General Martha Coakley reached with Goldman Sachs Group Inc...

Ignoring The Rule Of Caveat Emptor In The Application Of Consumer Protection Statutes

Posted on May 12, 2009
In a recent court victory (go here for court ruling) against a foreclosure rescue operator accused of preying on financially distressed homeowners and using equity stripping techniques to rip them off, the Washington State Attorney General's Office successfuly applied its state's Consumer Protection Act in seeking to have the operator's conduct to be found in violation of the statute...

Securitization A Key Stumbling Block To Completing Successful Short Sales

Posted on May 12, 2009
The Huffington Post reports:[A]ccording to one analysis, short sales resulted in loan losses of only 19 percent, compared with an average loss of 40 percent on homes sold after foreclosure. So why aren't these sales more widely used?***[Rep. Brad Miller (D-N...

New Mexico AG Files Separate Suits Against Lenders, Mortgage Brokers For Actions That Left Elderly Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Posted on May 12, 2009
In Santa Fe, New Mexico, KRQE-TV Channel 13 reports:New Mexico's attorney general is going after everyone from mortgage brokers to banks after accusing them of mortgage frauds that took advantage of two homeowners now facing foreclosure. In two civil lawsuits filed Friday morning the AG is asking a judge for immediate action to stop foreclosures on the two properties...

Gotti's Gotta Go, Says NY Appeals Court As Foreclosing Lender Gets Green Light To Give Late Crime Family Boss' Daughter The Boot From L.I. Mansion

Posted on May 12, 2009
In Brooklyn, New York, the New York Post reports:Here's the reality: the Gotti's gotta go. The bank has been given the go-ahead to foreclose on Victoria Gotti's palatial estate on Long Island -- the same used in the TV reality show "Growing Up Gotti" -- saying she owes a whopping $650,000 in mortgage payments, according to court paper made public [Monday]...

Sloppy Lender Lawyers Making False Statements Running Rampant In C. Florida Foreclosures? Chief Judge To Recruit Law Students To Review Court Files

Posted on May 11, 2009
In Central Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:Foreclosure lawyers want to take back property as fast as possible, and sometimes they do not let the facts slow them down. In case after case, lawyers representing banks are giving false statements in court about who owns mortgages, or whether the homeowner is willing to negotiate, or whether they have completed all the legal steps to put a

Central Florida Loan Modification Firm Added To Florida AG Lawsuit Hit List; Accused of Pocketing Upfron Fees In Violation Of State Law

Posted on May 11, 2009
From the Office of the Florida Attorney General:Attorney General Bill McCollum [Friday] announced that his office has filed a lawsuit against an Orlando loan modification company alleging the company was committing foreclosure rescue fraud. Three Angels Community Action Network(1) and company president Sherrard A...

NY AG Files Criminal Charges & Parallel Civil Suit Against Process Serving Firm & Its CEO Alleging Massive "Nail & Mail Sewer Service" Operation

Posted on May 11, 2009
From the Office of the New York Attorney General:Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo [...] announced criminal charges against Long Island-based American Legal Process (?ALP?) and its CEO and President William Singler for a fraudulent business scheme in which the company allegedly failed to provide proper legal notification to thousands of New Yorkers facing debt-related lawsuits, causing them

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