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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

Lawyer, NYC Dominatrix Bagged In Alleged $50M Mortgage Scam; Scores Of High End Homes End Up Foreclosed; Fetish Customers "Posed" As Straw Buyers: DA

Posted on March 26, 2009
In Suffolk County, New York, Newsday reports:A former Suffolk legislator, a Manhattan dominatrix and several other people were charged Wednesday in what Suffolk prosecutors said was a $50 million web of mortgage fraud that began in a Manhattan fetish club and ended with scores of pricey Southampton homes ownerless and in foreclosure...

Mueller: FBI Swamped By Mortgage Fraud Cases

Posted on March 26, 2009
New York Newsday reports:FBI Director Robert Mueller told a congressional panel Wednesday that financial fraud investigations are straining the bureau's resources to fight crime. Mueller said his agency has seen mortgage fraud cases balloon to more than 2,000, in addition to more than 566 open corporate fraud investigations...

Seventh Defendant In Maryland-Based Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Scam Cops Plea; Responsible For $16.8M+ In Lender Losses

Posted on March 26, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney in Maryland:Joy Jackson, age 41, of Fort Washington, Maryland, pleaded guilty today 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...

Feds File Civil Charges Against Two New Jersey Loan Modification Firms Promoting "HOPE"

Posted on March 25, 2009
From the Federal Trade Commission:At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. district court has ordered two companies to stop falsely advertising that they are part of a government-endorsed mortgage assistance network and that they successfully modify mortgages for almost all of their clients or else give refunds...

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Hundreds Show Up At Miami Loan Modification Firm Headquarters Clamoring For Refunds Of Their Upfront Fees

Posted on March 25, 2009
In Miami, Florida, WFOR-TV Channel 4 reports:Hundreds of people crowded outside a building in Miami on Tuesday trying to get their money back from Lincoln [Lending] Services, a mortgage "rescue" company. Florida's attorney general filed suit against the company (press release, lawsuit) Monday, alleging it has illegally collected thousands of dollars in up front fees from people looking for help

State Bar Cautions Attorneys On Working With Loan Modification Firms

Posted on March 25, 2009
The Florida Bar News reports:Florida lawyers are being approached about working with nonlawyers offering foreclosure-related services to consumers, but the proposals present a veritable minefield of ethical problems. Bar Ethics Counsel Elizabeth Tarbert said the Ethics Hotline has received many calls from attorneys who have been approached by companies or individuals that call themselves

Ex-Brookyn Mortgage Company Exec Gets 97 Months For Pocketing $43M+ In Refinancing Proceeds, Leaving Fannie Mae Holding The Bag

Posted on March 25, 2009
From the U.S. Attorney's Office (Brooklyn, New York):[L]eib Pinter, a former executive of Olympia Mortgage Corp., was sentenced [last week] to 97 months in prison for orchestrating a scheme to defraud Fannie Mae in connection with mortgage loans which Fannie Mae owned but were refinanced through Olympia...

Madoff Using Florida Homestead Protection To Shield Palm Beach Mansion?

Posted on March 25, 2009
A recent story in the Palm Beach Post addresses the possibility that the admitted $50+ billion Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff may be attempting to use the Florida law prohibiting a forced sale of a homestead to protect a Palm Beach mansion titled in his wife's name:[Federal prosecutors] served notice [...

Tenants In Apartment Building In Foreclosure Face An Early Boot As Unpaid Bill Results In Water Shutoff

Posted on March 25, 2009
In Avondale, Ohio, WLWT-TV Channel 5 reports:One group of Avondale residents said the foreclosure crisis is hitting close to home -- and they don't even own their home. Several people living at the Glenwood Commons complex said Friday that they have been without running water for four days because of a $10,000 bill that's gone unpaid...

Loan Mod Firm Took Upfront Fees For "Forensic Analysis" Of Loan Docs, Says Florida AG; Accuses Company Of Violating UPL, Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Laws

Posted on March 24, 2009
From the Florida Attorney General's Office:Attorney General Bill McCollum [Monday] filed a lawsuit against a Miami company and its owner alleging the company is engaged in foreclosure rescue fraud. According to the lawsuit, Lincoln Lending Services, LLC targeted Hispanics facing foreclosure and charged up-front fees for loan modification services, both in violation of the Foreclosure Rescue Fraud

ABC News' 20/20 Probes Into San Diego Loan Modification Firm

Posted on March 24, 2009
A recent investigative report on ABC News' 20/20 program probed into the activities of San Diego, California loan modification firm People's First Financial:[L]ast year, [Jay] Nichols was employed as a salesman at what he describes as an aggressive loan modification company, People's First Financial in San Diego...

Virginia Feds Turn Up Heat On Foreclosure Rescue Scams

Posted on March 24, 2009
In Newport News, Virginia, the Daily Press reports:[A]lex J. Turner, the FBI's special agent in charge of the Hampton Roads region, said the bureau was shifting resources to fight foreclosure scammers. [FBI special agent Tom] Tierney wouldn't provide details of how many cases the FBI is actively investigating in Hampton Roads, saying only that the number is "substantially" higher than a year or

San Bernardino DA Arrest 2, Seek 3 Others In Alleged Cash Back Mortgage Fraud; Accused Of Using Stolen I.D. To Finance Purchase Of Two Homes

Posted on March 24, 2009
From the San Bernardino County, California District Attorney's Office:[I]nvestigators with San Bernardino County District Attorney?s Real Estate Fraud Unit arrested Michael Moon Park, 60, and his wife, Bu Yun Park, 60, of Helendale, on felony charges of identity theft, forgery, grand theft, money laundering, and conspiracy...

Northern Florida Bar, Law Students, Legal Aid Team Up To Train Local Lawyers In Foreclosure Defense

Posted on March 24, 2009
In Jacksonville, Florida, The Financial News & Daily Record reports:An upcoming class being offered by the Jacksonville Bar Association, Florida Coastal School of Law and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid is aiming to help local attorneys meet the needs of one of the groups hit hardest by the down economy: foreclosure defendants who have turned to JALA for assistance in saving their homes...

Advanced Consumer Rights Litigation Boot Camp

Posted on March 24, 2009
From The Ultimate Litigation Boot Camp website:The Advanced Consumer Rights Litigation Boot Camp is an intensive two and one-half day learning experience that teaches you all you need to know about the litigation experience. You will learn the art of drafting a complaint, taking depositions with an actual court reporter and continue all the way through the litigation experience ending in a real

More Mortgage Lending Insiders Blow The Whistle On Shady Subprime Loan Practices

Posted on March 23, 2009
Dateline NBC ran a story last night in which it:[G]ets to the bottom of how bad loans and greed wrecked the U.S. economy in this hour-long investigation. Hear from Countrywide insiders and whistleblowers who have never spoken publicly before.For the story, see 'If you had a pulse, we give you a loan' (Inside the fiasco that led to the mortgage mess and Countrywide's collapse) (read story) (watch

California AG Bags Two In Alleged Loan Mod Scam Involving 160+ Victims; Suspects Charged With Grand Theft, State Foreclosure Consultant Law Violations

Posted on March 23, 2009
From the Office of the California Attorney General:Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. [Thursday] announced the arrest of two scam artists -- Mary Alice Yraceburu and Marianne Curtis -- who "coldly and heartlessly" conned over one hundred and sixty victims out of thousands of dollars for non-existent loan modification services...

NY Feds Indict Two In Equity Stripping, Straw Buyer Scam

Posted on March 23, 2009
In The Bronx, New York, the Daily News reports:A Bronx real estate broker who hosted a radio show on WBLS and WLIB inviting distressed homeowners to contact her for help was charged Thursday with ripping them off instead. Lavette Bills, head of MTC Real Estate, was charged along with Kirk Lacey, a Jamaican who lives in Florida, in a brazen $800,000 mortgage fraud scheme that allegedly preyed on

Investigative Report: Firm Uses Quit Claim Deed Home Transfers Into Trusts As Part Of Loan Modification Efforts

Posted on March 23, 2009
In San Diego, California, an investigative report by the San Diego Union Tribune attempts to shine light on one area loan modification firm:[E]dmundo Rubi now does business under the names Apocalypse Trust and Amerisian Trust. Since July, he and a pair of real estate brokers have persuaded more than a dozen desperate families in San Diego County to transfer ownership of their homes to the trusts

Illinois Attorney Disbarred For Actions In Alleged Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Scam

Posted on March 23, 2009
In Aurora, Illinois, The Beacon News reports:[A]urora attorney Edward Varga was disbarred for neglecting 18 bankruptcy cases and failing to refund the clients' fees in those cases. He failed to appear for his disciplinary hearing, according to the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission...

Lender Files Civil Lawsuit Against Players In Alleged South Florida Flipping Scam

Posted on March 23, 2009
In Broward County, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:In the two years Patrick R. Newman lived in South Florida, he bought and sold more than a dozen condos ? flipping some several times within hours or days ? in a mortgage fraud strategy that allegedly duped a bank into approving millions of dollars in questionable loans...

Feds Charge Title Agent With $900K+ Heist From House Closings; Homeowners Left In Foreclosure; Underwriter Says Suspect Unauthorized To Issue Policies

Posted on March 22, 2009
In Louisville, Kentucky, The Courier Journal reports:[A] former lawyer, Wavy Curtis Shain, 26, was charged [last week] with carrying out various schemes to defraud banks and mortgage companies. He is accused of using businesses he owned and operated, Derby City Title and Capital Distribution LLC, to carry out the schemes...

Michigan Police Seek Scam Artist Using Extortion Threats To Squeeze Cash From Homeowners In Foreclosure

Posted on March 22, 2009
In Genessee County, Michigan, WJRT-TV Channel 12 reports:Genesee County Sheriff Bob Pickell is alerting homeowners about a suspicious man who's preying on foreclosure victims. An investigation is underway after a Genesee County woman complained that a man came to her door urging her to get out of her house or to give him money...

Another Florida Court To Implement Mandatory Mediation In Home Foreclosure Actions

Posted on March 22, 2009
In Pensacola, Florida, the Pensacola News Journal reports:A judge's order signed [last] week could bring relief to local home owners and the local court system, both overwhelmed by mortgage foreclosures. First Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Kim Skievaski signed the order, effective April 1, that will send all new foreclosure lawsuits in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties into

NJ Couple Duped Out Of $2,800 By Loan Modification Firm Promoting "HOPE" - Thought Company Was Associated With Gov't

Posted on March 22, 2009
In Ocean County, New Jersey, The Press of Atlantic City reports:[I]n a statement describing [loan modification firm] Hope Now's offenses, the [New Jersey Attorney General's] office mentioned a couple in Eagleswood Township, Ocean County, "who had more than $2,800 billed to their credit card by the defendants, received no loan-modification services and ultimately confronted foreclosure after they

Administration Launches New Website To Help Financially Strapped Homeowners

Posted on March 22, 2009
The Miami Herald reports:The Obama administration has launched a new website, makinghomeaffordable.gov, meant to help homeowners who need help with their mortgage getting a lender to modify their loan terms or refinance more easily. The website explains the administration's recently announced foreclosure prevention programs and helps homeowners determine which plan they might qualify for through

New Jesrey Man Cops Plea To Recruiting Straw Buyers In Mortgage Fraud Scam

Posted on March 22, 2009
In Newark, New Jersey, The Star Ledger reports:A truck driver from Paterson admitted in federal court to recruiting people who posed as home buyers for a mortgage-fraud scheme that led to a dozen guilty pleas. Appearing in U.S. District Court in Newark, Renford Davis, 47, said he worked with real estate agents, lawyers, loan officers and others to falsify mortgage applications as part of a scheme

The Evictors: A Day In The Life

Posted on March 21, 2009
The following assorted links are to stories covering those tasked with the job of conducting evictions:Orlando, Florida: A day in the life...the ?eviction lady?. Most residents of Orange County know Peggy Leonard as the ?eviction lady.? She starts her days early, armed with dog biscuits for abandoned canines, hand sanitizer and flea spray for the grimy, foul-smelling homes she often encounters,

Wyoming Man Who Threatened Federal Judge, IRS In Defense Of Home In Tax Lien Foreclosure Gets 27 Months

Posted on March 21, 2009
In Gillette, Wyoming, The Associated Press reports:A 60-year-old Gillette man has been sentenced to over two years in prison for threatening a federal judge and the Internal Revenue Service over the seizure of his home. Laurence E. Wolff was sentenced Friday by U...

Foreclosure Rescue - Criminal Indictments

Posted on March 21, 2009
In an attempt at doing a little housekeeping, I have placed links to the following indictments involving alleged foreclosure rescue scams on this post. I need them all in one place for future reference, and as I find more, they will end up on this page...

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