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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

Town Rental Restrictions Leaves Real Estate Investor With Home He Can't Rent

Posted on February 17, 2009
In Northfield, Minnesota, the Northfield News reports:[I]n late 2007, the city council approved a rental ordinance that permits no more than 20 percent of homes in a block to be licensed as rentals. The idea was to limit rentals, which the council said tended not to be kept to the standard of owner-occupied properties...

Breaking Into Vacant Foreclosed Houses & Moving In The Homeless "The Modern Underground Railroad," Says Twin Cities' Activist

Posted on February 17, 2009
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Twin Cities Daily Planet reports:Poverty rights activists broke into at least a dozen vacant Minneapolis buildings [last] week and helped homeless families move in. ?This is the modern underground railroad,? said Cheri Honkala, National Organizer for the Poor People?s Economic Human Rights Campaign, the group organizing the ?takeovers...

50-State Report On Unfair & Deceptive Acts & Practices Statutes

Posted on February 17, 2009
From the National Consumer Law Center:Serious gaps and weaknesses have compromised consumer protection laws in most of the 50 states, and recent court rulings have opened the door to predators and abuses in billions of everyday transactions. So says a new report by the non-profit National Consumer Law Center: "Consumer Protection in the States: A 50-State Report on Unfair and Deceptive Acts and

More On World Savings' Whistleblower Paul Bishop

Posted on February 16, 2009
On CBS News' The Early Show this morning, World Savings whistleblower Paul Bishop spoke with Harry Smith about when he first noticed the company was taking on unstable loans. The interview was a follow-up on last night's 60 Minutes story in which Bishop described the kinds of mortgage loans his former employer was making, and how they were making them...

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Ohio Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Fight Back; Claim Lender Has No Right To Sue; Seek Class Action Status

Posted on February 16, 2009
In Sandusky County, Ohio, the Toledo Blade reports:Facing the loss of their home in the tiny northwest Ohio village of Gibsonburg, Jeffrey and Katrina Weickert pleaded for more time. Instead, lawyers for their mortgage holder asked a judge in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court to expedite foreclosure proceedings...

ABA Chief Nudges Obama Administration For Cash To Create 1,000 Attorney "Legal Corps" To Supplement Current Legal Aid, Pro Bono Efforts

Posted on February 16, 2009
The ABA Journal reports:Emboldened by the fact that there is not just one, but two lawyers at the executive branch helm, [American Bar Association] President H. Thomas Wells Jr. headed to the White House to see if he could make some progress on ABA initiatives...

Million Dollar Dallas-Area Homes Renting For Less Than $1,000/Month?

Posted on February 16, 2009
In Cedar Hill, Texas, The Dallas Morning News reports on a foreclosure-related scam that has gotten the attention of local police - scammers hijacking vacant homes and renting them out, pocketing cash in the process and leaving the unwitting renters out of luck...

John & Jane Doe Lawsuits Prohibited In Connecticut?

Posted on February 16, 2009
It is not uncommon when a party bringing a lawsuit is ignorant of the name of a defendant, he must state that fact in the complaint and simply designate such a party as a John or Jane Doe defendant.However, according to a recent decision by a Connecticut trial court, designating such unknown defendants in this manner is not allowed in lawsuits brought in the state courts of Connecticut...

Federal Judge, State Bar Slam Attorney For Stiffing Clients Referred By Loan Modification Firm; Lawyer/Foreclosure Consultant Ties Now Facing Scrutiny

Posted on February 15, 2009
San Francisco Weekly reports:Thanks in part to a recent SF Weekly column detailing the latest exploits of longtime con man Paul Noe II, a federal judge recently announced he would advise federal, state, and municipal prosecutors to investigate a suspicious statewide "foreclosure assistance" operation that targeted defaulted homeowners in the San Francisco Bay Area...

Cincinnati Bar, Ohio Supreme Court Slam Attorneys Teaming Up With Upfront Fee Loan Modification, Foreclosure Rescue Operators

Posted on February 15, 2009
In a 2008 court decision, the Ohio Supreme Court disciplined three attorneys for professional misconduct in connection with working with the customers of foreclosure rescue operator Foreclosure Solutions, L.L.C. Among the types of conduct that landed the attorneys in hot water were:using a person or organization to recommend or promote the lawyers? services,aiding nonlawyers in the unauthorized

California Bar Committee Issues Ethics Advisory Cautioning Attorneys Teaming Up With Loan Modification Firms

Posted on February 15, 2009
The California State Bar Association Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct has issued an ethics alert addressing the relationship between lawyers and loan modification & foreclosure consultants.[T]here is evidence that some foreclosure consultants may be attempting to avoid the statutory prohibition on collecting a fee before any services have been rendered by having a lawyer work

Legal Aid Saves Ohio Couple From Foreclosure; Files Suit Against Loan Modification Firm & Attorney Team For Taking Money For Bogus Help

Posted on February 15, 2009
In North Avondale, Ohio, the Kentucky Post reports on the case of Chris and Dorthy Gillium, a financially strapped couple who was facing foreclosure on their home when the decided to retain the services of a loan modification firm that was working in tandem with an attorney to purportedly help homeowners avoid foreclosure...

CBS Evening News On South Florida Loan Modification Firm Currently Facing Civil Charges From State AG

Posted on February 15, 2009
The CBS Evening News recently ran a story on South Florida loan modification firm Outreach Housing, which summarized their approach to financially strapped homeowners with this excerpt:[F]or homeowners the pitch went like this: They would pay Outreach Housing an upfront fee of about $1,200...

CBS' 60 Minutes On World Savings' Whistleblower

Posted on February 15, 2009
CBS' 60 Minutes ran a story Sunday night featuring the story of Paul Bishop, a plainspoken former loan salesman who is blowing the whistle on his former employer, one-time subprime lending giant World Savings, about the kinds of loans they were making to homeowners who couldn't afford to repay, and how they went about making the loans...

Vacant Home Hijackers On The Radar For Dallas-Area Cops, Prosecutors

Posted on February 14, 2009
Buried in a recent story from Dallas County, Texas on scammers hijacking vacant homes involved in the foreclosure process and renting them out, The Dallas Morning News references these recent efforts to prosecute the alleged perpetrators:[O]n Thursday, a judge convicted pastor Jackie Lewis, 53, of Cedar Hill, on one count of securing execution of a document by deception in connection with renting

The Work Of An Eviction Deputy Not Without Surprises

Posted on February 14, 2009
In San Diego, California, the North County Times reports on the experiences of two San Diego County sheriff's deputies in connection with foreclosures. The two men are among seven deputies in North County tasked with removing people from their homes.[T]here are surprises...

2nd Floor Walkway In 15-Unit Building In Foreclosure Comes Crashing Down; Structure Condemned, Residents Forced Out

Posted on February 14, 2009
In Truro Township, Ohio, The Columbus Dispatch reports:After years of complaints about code violations and management problems at an apartment complex in Reynoldsburg, a second-story walkway there collapsed yesterday just as a construction crew prepared to fix it, Truro Township Fire Battalion Chief Allen Deaver said...

Bernanke's Boyhood Home Falls To Foreclosure

Posted on February 14, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports:Travis Jackson walks through his modest ranch house, admiring the kitchen's built-in spice rack and the red-oak floors. He draws back the curtains, and sunlight illuminates the pride on his face. The young banker just bought Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's childhood home at a foreclosure sale...

Foreclosed Homeowner Commits Suicide As Sheriff's Deputy Stood Outside Home About To Carry Out Eviction

Posted on February 14, 2009
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, The Gazette reports:Wayne "Mike" Anderson knew what the knock at the door of his Stratmoor Valley home meant: He was being evicted. He wasn't ready to leave. Unemployed, awash in debt and hiding an October foreclosure from loved ones, the 55-year-old shot himself Wednesday morning as a sheriff's deputy stood outside...

Federal Class Action Suit Targets Use Of "Chinese Drywall" Used In Building Florida Homes

Posted on February 14, 2009
The South Florida Business Journal reports:A federal lawsuit alleges that fly ash residue from Chinese power plants was used in drywall that's the subject of growing scrutiny in Florida. The suit, which seeks class action status in U.S. District court in Fort Myers, alleges 10 million square feet of the drywall was used in Florida homes...

California AG Warns Against "Property Tax Reduction" Scams

Posted on February 14, 2009
In Sacramento, California, the Office of the California Attorney General announces:Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. [Thursday] issued a Consumer Alert to California homeowners about a ?blatant and costly scam? targeting homeowners with declining property values...

Race Bias In Twin Cities' Mortgage Lending, Says Report

Posted on February 14, 2009
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Twin Cities Daily Planet reports:Lenders discriminate. Housing is segregated. Communities of color are hit harder by the foreclosure crisis than anyone else. That?s the ugly face of racial discrimination in the Twin Cities revealed in a 54-page report released by the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota Law School...

County Commission Votes Against Clipping Landowners With Upfront Tax Penalties When Entering Into Natural Gas Leases

Posted on February 14, 2009
In Bradford County, Pennsylvania, WNEP-TV Channel 16 reports:Drilling for natural gas is becoming very profitable for landowners in the northern tier but in Bradford County it looked as though farmers and landowners would be penalized just to begin the drilling, whether there was gas or not...

Broward Sheriff Uses Roadside Checkpoints To Crack Down On Unlicensed Home Improvement Contractors

Posted on February 14, 2009
In Broward County, Florida, WTVJ-TV Channel 6 reports:It?s a scenario that happens too often in South Florida when residents and businesses are duped after hiring unlicensed contractors, but now the Broward Sheriff's Office is making sure you get what you pay for...

More Trouble For Shaky Auto Dealerships

Posted on February 14, 2009
In the San Francisco Bay Area, The Oakland Tribune reports:Four GMC Pontiac Buick dealerships, located in Dublin, Newark, Colma and San Jose, have abruptly closed their doors, as a fresh wave of shutdowns and consolidations roils the ranks of Bay Area auto dealers in the new year...

Nevada Dems, GOP Lawmakers Supportive Of Proposed State Foreclosure Mediation Bill

Posted on February 13, 2009
In Carson City, Nevada, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports:Conservative Republicans expressed tentative support [Wednesday] for a Democratic bill to require banks and other lenders to participate in mediation hearings with homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure...

Elderly Homeowner In Foreclosure Allegedly Victimized By Predatory Loan Commits Suicide

Posted on February 13, 2009
In East Palestine, Ohio, The Youngstown Vindicator reports:A 72-year-old woman who feared she?d lose her home to foreclosure hanged herself to death, the family lawyer said. [She] died the morning of Jan. 24 at her home, just days after receiving her second summons and foreclosure complaint from her mortgage lender, said Atty...

North Carolina Couple Loses Home To Foreclosure After Loan Modification Firm Allegedly Beat Them Out Of $1,300

Posted on February 13, 2009
In Raleigh, North Carolina, WRAL-TV Channel 5 reports on a local couple who found themselves stuck with an "exploding" adjustable rate mortgage on their home that doubled their house payment within six months of obtaining the loan, and who needed help:That was beyond what they could handle, so the Mizers looked for refinancing...

Unwitting Investor Involved In Alleged $100M Mortgage & Investment Fraud Left Holding The Bag

Posted on February 13, 2009
Buried in a recent News10.net story on an alleged $100 million mortgage and investment fraud operation based in Sacramento, California is this excerpt describing one of the apparently unwitting investors who was duped into participating in the investment program:One Sacramento-area investor who asked not to be identified told News10 she and her husband bought four properties in California,

Avoiding Income Taxes On Debt Cancellation Not Automatic; Must File Required Form; New Law Applies Only To Loans Used To Buy, Improve Primary Home

Posted on February 13, 2009
In a story from KUSA-TV Channel 9 (Denver, Colorado), IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson is reported as giving this reminder on avoiding income taxes on the cancellation of debt when a homeowner loses their primary residence to foreclosure, or when the debt cancellation is incident to either a loan modification or a short sale of the their primary residence:[T]he amount of debt that is

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