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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

Washington State Officials Shut Down Adult Home; Accuse Owner Of Leaving Country While Facility Faced Foreclosure; Residents Left "In Imminent Danger"

Posted on March 17, 2009
In Kent, Washington, the Kent Reporter reports:The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services has announced the suspension of the license of a Kent Adult Family Home due to "numerous violations that jeopardized the safety and well-being of residents," according to paperwork from the state agency...

Landlord's Financial Distress Causing Stress, Confusion For Tenants Around The Country

Posted on March 17, 2009
msnbc.com reports on Irvine, California-based landlord Bethany Holdings Group, which is reported to have abandoned a dozen apartment complex in the Phoenix, Arizona area as well as a number of buildings in other states after defaulting on hundreds of millions of dollars in loans...

Queens Widow Fights Off Lender's Attempt To Foreclose Predatory Loan With Help From ACORN "Home Defender" Campaign

Posted on March 17, 2009
Writer and producer Joseph Huff-Hannon reports:The community organization ACORN launched its nation-wide "Home Defender" Campaign on February 19 with a series of actions across the country. In New York the campaign was kicked-off with a rally at the house of Myrna Millington of Laurelton, Queens...

Locksmith Takes A Bullet From Renter While Changing Locks At A Foreclosed Home

Posted on March 17, 2009
In Phoenix, Arizona, KTVK-TV Channel 3 reports:The Valley foreclosure problem turns violent when police say a man shot a person who was sent by the bank to change the locks. The man living in the home was renting and authorities say the owner did not tell him the home was under foreclosure...

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Alarm Bells Warn Of New Wave Of Mortgage Fraud As "Quick Defaults" On FHA Loans Begin To Spike

Posted on March 16, 2009
The Washington Post reports:[T]his decade's housing boom rendered the agency irrelevant. Americans raced to aggressive lenders, seduced by easy credit and loans with no upfront costs. But the subprime mortgage market has crashed and borrowers are flocking back to the FHA, which has become the only option for those who lack hefty down payments or stellar credit...

Watch Out For Loan Modification Scams Using Forged Documents Simulating The Letterhead Of Lenders, Government Agencies

Posted on March 16, 2009
From the Office of the California Attorney General:California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. [Thursday] warned that scam artists have "sunk to a new low" and have used the forged letterhead of major lenders to con worried Californians into paying thousands of dollars for non-existent loan modification services...

NAACP Targets Wells Fargo, HSBC In Separate Class Actions Alleging Violations Of Fair Housing, Civil Rights, Equal Credit Opportunity Acts

Posted on March 16, 2009
The NAACP announces:[Friday], the NAACP filed separate lawsuits in U.S. District Court in California against two of the country?s largest lenders, Wells Fargo, and HSBC. These lawsuits allege systematic, institutionalized racism in sub-prime home mortgage lending...

Loan Modification Issue Has State Bar's Phone Lines Burning; Lawyers Seek Ethics Guidance As Homeowners' Complaints Flood In

Posted on March 16, 2009
Buried in an article in the March, 2009 issue of the California Bar Journal was this excerpt on how the phone lines over at the State Bar offices are burning up due to the loan modification issue:[T]he bar?s Ethics Hotline, a free confidential research service for attorneys, has been receiving between one and two dozen calls a day for the last six months dealing with the residential mortgage

NH Couple Beats Back Debt Scavenger's Attempt To Collect On Zombie Debt From Old Foreclosed Mortgage

Posted on March 16, 2009
In Manchester, New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Sunday News reports:[S]even years after they lost their home to foreclosure in 1994 -- during the last recession -- Daniel and Diane Lessard started getting calls from a company they'd never heard of, telling them they owed thousands of dollars...

Distressed Owner Transactions: Common Questions

Posted on March 16, 2009
Thomas A. Glatthaar, senior vice president and senior underwriting counsel with Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, recently wrote in The New York Law Journal and addressed eight common questions, the answers, and the justification for these answers that attorneys may have when dealing with financially distressed real estate located in New York...

Possible Victim Of Alleged New Jersey Loan Modification Scam Found In Wisconsin

Posted on March 16, 2009
In Green Bay, Wisconsin, WGBA-TV Channel 26 reports:On[e] viewer [...] emailed NBC26 saying she sent "New Hope Modifications", a company based out of New Jersey, $1,500 so they could help with a mortgage payment she was falling beyond on. "They made it sound like they could help us out by re-modifying the loan, or getting a lower payment," said Tina...

Attorneys: Are You Current On Your Malpractice Insurance Premiums???

Posted on March 15, 2009
An article in Texas Lawyer cautions attorneys on the increased risk of legal malpractice suits during tough economic times:Economic downturns often increase the risk that lawyers will face unhappy clients complaining of legal malpractice. While some lawyers may think they have nothing to fear since their practices do not involve areas of law many blame for the economic collapse, such a belief is

Class Action Lawsuit Flied Against Owner Of Loan Modification Firm Currently Facing Felony Theft Charges

Posted on March 15, 2009
In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Las Vegas Sun reports:A nine-page class action lawsuit was filed [Thursday] against a former Las Vegas talk show host who was arrested in connection with an alleged mortgage rescue scam. Las Vegas attorney James Stout filed the lawsuit on behalf of Ana and Hilpolito Villafuerte and other unnamed plaintiffs...

"Old Gray Lady" Victimized In Multi-Million Dollar "Home" Equity Stripping Deal? Or Did She Lure "Unwitting" Billionaire Into An Equitable Mortgage?

Posted on March 15, 2009
In New York City, The New York Times (aka the Old Gray Lady) reports:The New York Times Company said [last] Monday that it had raised $225 million through a sale and leaseback of part of its headquarters building, one in a series of moves to pay down its debts and increase its cash cushion during a drastic slump for the newspaper industry...

Remove Straightjacket From Legal Aid Advocates

Posted on March 15, 2009
A Washington Post editorial comments on the recent news that the omnibus appropriations bill signed last week by President Obama set aside $390 million for Legal Services Corp., a group involved in providing wide-ranging civil legal assistance to the growing ranks of those in need...

Congress Moves To Establish Financial Product Safety Commission

Posted on March 15, 2009
In Washington, D.C., Harvard Law School News reports:Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren was on hand in Washington, D.C. [last] week as U.S. senators introduced legislation to create a new government agency, the Financial Product Safety Commission, to help consumers obtain financial products and services without predatory or deceptive financial practices...

Points To Consider When Contemplating Abandoning An Underwater Home

Posted on March 15, 2009
A recent article in The New York Times examines some of the considerations for underwater homeowners thinking of walking away from their homes. For more, see Thoughts on Walking Away From Your Home Loan.

Countrywide To Argue In NH Lawsuit That It Has No Legal Obligation To Modify Loans Despite Assurances To The Contrary

Posted on March 15, 2009
In Merrimack County, New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Sunday News reports:With more and more folks hoping for loan modifications to save their homes, what obligation does a lender have to work with borrowers in good faith? That's the crux of a case coming up in Merrimack County Superior Court tomorrow...

New York Chief Judge To Give State Civil Legal Services High Priority

Posted on March 15, 2009
In an op-ed article in The Journal News (New York's Lower Hudson Valley), Anne Erickson, president and CEO of the Empire Justice Center, writes:Re "Lippman has long list of reforms to pursue," (March 4 story), it's quite refreshing to see newly appointed Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman has put civil legal services funding as a top priority...

Default On $131M Note Throws Apartment Buildings In Three States Into Foreclosure; Tenants Face Threats Of Utility Shutoffs, Sewage Seepage

Posted on March 14, 2009
In Portsmouth, Virginia, The Virginian Pilot reports:The management of two large Churchland-area apartment complexes has not paid utility bills recently and appears to have abandoned them - prompting a court to appoint a receiver for the properties. The complexes are the 196-unit Chelsea Point, formerly called The Villas, in Portsmouth, and the 208-unit Vacaro Apartments, formerly known as the

Bank Illegally Ransacks Home & Changes Locks, Says Homeowner In $150K+ Lawsuit

Posted on March 14, 2009
In Central Oregon, KATU-TV reports:Tammy Glenn?s central Oregon home on Pine Hollow reservoir has always brought her peace and happiness. The small A-frame home is right on the water, and it?s been a relaxing break from the everyday grind of running her hardware business ? until now...

Illinois AG Tags Unlicensed Contractor With Civil Suit; Firm Accused Of Pocketing Money, Failing To Satisfactorily Perform Work

Posted on March 14, 2009
Frrom the Illinois Attorney General's Office:Attorney General Lisa Madigan [...] filed a lawsuit in Ford County Circuit Court alleging that a Gibson City, Ill., contractor solicited roofing contracts without a license and collected up to $18,090 in fees for work that he failed to perform or completed in a substandard manner...

Watch Out For Junk Mail Simulating Official Government Documents Peddling Property Tax Reduction Scams

Posted on March 14, 2009
The Office of California Attorney General Edmund Brown has issued the following consumer alert:Companies using official-sounding names like "Tax Review," "Tax Adjusters" and "Tax Reassessment" seek to scam homeowners who are worried about their property taxes and declining property values...

South Florida Homeowner Facing Foreclosure Out $7,000 After Hiring Firm In Failed Loan Modification Attempt

Posted on March 14, 2009
In Lehigh Acres, Florida, The News Press reports:Yolande Tanelus was in danger of losing her home and after paying nearly $7,000 to a foreclosure rescue company, she's in even worse financial trouble. Tanelus worked two jobs to pay the $2,872 mortgage on her home in Pompano Beach...

Central Florida Mandatory Mediation Order Excludes Osceola County

Posted on March 14, 2009
In Osceola County, Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports:Homeowners facing foreclosure in Osceola County may be shut out of a process that could have provided some relief to them, because the judge who oversees their cases opposes it.***Late last month, 9th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Belvin Perry, who oversees state courts in Osceola and Orange counties, issued an administrative order that

Elderly South Florida Couple Held Hostage By Broken Elevator

Posted on March 14, 2009
In Hollywood, Florida, WTVJ-TV Channel 4 reports:An elderly couple living in the Southbrook Condominiums in Hollywood said they're being held hostage in their third story home because a broken elevator has gone two months without fixing. Olga Marino and her 90-year-old husband both require wheelchairs in order to get around and said they're forced to take the stairs, which is a safety hazard...

Mortgage Servicing Industry Reform Needed In Effort To Address Foreclosure Crisis

Posted on March 13, 2009
Ms. Margot Saunders, Counsel, for the National Consumer Law Center testified Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit calling for reform in the mortgage finance industry.(1)Included among the industry players that "need reforming" are those in the mortgage servicing industry, on whom Ms...

Feds Turn Up Heat On Home Loan Scams

Posted on March 13, 2009
The New York Times reports:Spurred by rising public anger, federal and state investigators are preparing for a surge of prosecutions of financial fraud. Across the country, attorneys general have already begun indicting dozens of loan processors, mortgage brokers and bank officers...

Maryland Feds Score Another Mortgage Fraud Guilty Plea, Snag Suspect In Another Alleged Scam

Posted on March 13, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney in Maryland:Bethesda Womam Pleads Guilty In Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Recruited Straw Purchasers and Prepared False Documents to Buy Properties, Resulting in Over $2.5 Million in Losses to 10 Individuals and Banks):Kara McIntosh, age 46, of Bethesda, Maryland, pleaded guilty [last week] to mail fraud arising from the fraudulent purchase of properties in Maryland

State AG Files Civil Suits Against Two South Jersey Loan Modification Firms Promoting "Hope" - Won't Rule Out Future Criminal Action

Posted on March 13, 2009
In Trenton, New Jersey, KYW Radio 1060 (Philadelphia) reports:New Jersey officials have filed three separate lawsuits, two in Camden County Superior Court, alleging mortgage fraud on a large scale. The actions were announced Wednesday in Trenton during a midday press conference by Attorney General Anne Milgram, who says she decided to take the civil route in attempts to shut the operations down

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