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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

Shootout At Foreclosed Home; Two Cops Injured While Serving Eviction Notice

Posted on February 01, 2009
In Otero County, New Mexico, FoxNews reports: Two police officers were injured during a shootout as they tried to serve an eviction notice at a New Mexico home facing foreclosure, according to the Alamogordo Daily News. The wounded deputies were hit by flying glass in the Friday night gunbattle after their windshield was shattered by bullets, said Otero County Sheriff's Deputy John Dalton.

Homeowner In Foreclosure Accuses Loan Servicer Of Jerking Her Around; Firm Backs Off After Letter From Local TV Consumer Reporter

Posted on January 31, 2009
In Charlotte, North Carolina, WSOC-TV Action 9 News reports: [C]rystal Price is like so many homeowners who've fallen behind on payments. In 2007 she was three months behind when her mortgage company gave her bad news. "They told me my home is up for foreclosure,? she said...

Information For California Tenants Renting Homes In Foreclosure

Posted on January 31, 2009
An article in La Prensa San Diego by attorneys Marc Whitham and Dolores López with the Housing Department at the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc. sets forth an easy to understand explanation of the legal process that tenants in California face when they find themselves renting a home that is in foreclosure...

Apartment In Foreclosure Spells Opportunity For One Brooklyn Renter

Posted on January 31, 2009
Buried in a recent story on squatters in foreclosed homes, the San Francsico Examiner tells the story of a New York City woman who found herself with a 3,000 square foot brownstone in a fancy part of Brooklyn all to herself - and rent-free. Originally renting the brownstone with five roommates from the apartment owner, junk-mail solicitations began arriving from foreclosure rescue operators

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Caretaker Cops Plea To Forging Deed To Dying Woman's Home, Then Splitting Proceeds With Lover - The Victim's Husband

Posted on January 31, 2009
In Salisbury, United Kingdom, the Daily Mail reports: A carer employed to look after an elderly woman with Parkinson's and dementia started an affair with the patient's husband and then took on her identity when she died.Shirley Forrester was handed a suspended prison sentence today for forgery after she posed as patient Elizabeth Hunt and signed legal papers in her name which allowed her and her

Another Foreclosing Lender Jumping The Gun? NH Man Finds Himself Locked Out Of Home Without Receiving Prior Notice

Posted on January 31, 2009
In Rochester, New Hampshire, Fosters.com reports on a recently-widowed homeowner facing foreclosure who, through his real estate agent, was in the process of working out a short sale on his home with the lender and a prospective buyer. One day, when returning home after being away for several days, he found himself locked out of his home...

"Please Turn Off The Water On Your Way Out," Town Officials Tell Owners Abandoning Homes Facing Foreclosure In Battle Against Bursting Water Pipes

Posted on January 31, 2009
In Goshen, New York, The Chronicle reports: A rash of busted pipes is one consequence of the foreclosure crisis in Goshen. Trustee Susan Bloom on Monday night reported that several water mains broke in foreclosed houses where the water was not turned off...

Dozens Of Sioux City Tenants In Buildings Owned By One Landlord In Foreclosure Face Boot Today

Posted on January 31, 2009
In Sioux City, Iowa, KMEG-TV Channel 14 reports: Dozens of families, living in a group of properties owned by Duane Meyer, will be kicked out of their homes Saturday as a results of foreclosures. And now, another round of properties could face the same fate...

Fannie, NACA Strike Deal To Modify Troubled Home Loans

Posted on January 30, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports: Fannie Mae has reached an agreement to work with one of its former critics, Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, to prevent foreclosures by reworking home mortgages to make them easier to afford. [...] The agreement with Fannie hasn't been announced but was confirmed by the company and by Bruce Marks, chief executive of the NACA, a Boston nonprofit with a

Loan Servicer Loses Mortgage Payoff Checks From Short Sale Of Home; Begins Foreclosure On Former Owners

Posted on January 30, 2009
WNYW-TV Channel 5 in New York City reports: A couple who fell on hard times was forced to sell their home for less than they owed on the mortgage just to avoid a credit disaster. But then their mortgage company lost the checks from the sale of the home and started foreclosure proceedings -- on a house they don't even live in anymore...

Minnesota AG Charges Two More Firms For Pocketing Upfont Fees From Homeowners Facing Foreclosure; Accused Of Making Empty Loan Modification Promises

Posted on January 30, 2009
In St. Paul, Minnesota, Fox9 reports: Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson filed lawsuits against two mortgage ?foreclosure consultants? Thursday, alleging they targeted homeowners facing foreclosure with ?illegal up-front fees? and ?empty promises to save their homes...

Impediments To Voluntary Loan Modifications

Posted on January 30, 2009
Contained in a recent report(1) issued by the Center For Responsible Lending (CRL) is a list of existing barriers that impede the effectiveness of voluntary mortgage loan modifications between loan servicers and financially strapped homeowners seeking relief from unaffordable house payments: Mortgage securitization: When servicing securitized loans, servicers are bound by the terms of contracts

Scam Artists Arrested At Lender-Sponsored Foreclosure Avoidance Clinic Passing Themselves Off As Bank Employees

Posted on January 30, 2009
Buried in a recent story in the Los Angeles Times is this excerpt highlighting one tactic used by some fraudulent loan modification / foreclosure rescue companies to scam unwitting homeowners seeking relief from unaffordable mortgages: [S]ome fraudulent companies make it seem as though they represent banks or even the government...

Iowa AG Issues Loan Modification / Foreclosure Rescue Warning

Posted on January 30, 2009
The Iowa Attorney General's Office recently issued a consumer advisory warning Iowans against falling for foreclosure rescue / loan modification scams. For more, see Beware of ?Foreclosure Rescue Scams? (A better bet: Call the free Iowa Mortgage Help Hotline at 877-622-4866).

Two Face Charges Of Pocketing $350K From Investors For Foreclosure Investments; One Alleged Victim Borrowed $100K Against Home To Invest

Posted on January 30, 2009
In Whatcom County, Washington, The Bellingham Herald reports: A Whatcom County developer and a Blaine real estate agent are facing felony theft charges in connection with what prosecutors say was a scheme to steal $350,000 in a phony home purchase transaction...

Freddie To Cut Down On Foreclosure Evictions; Will Allow Qualified Tenants To Temporarily Stay, Rent Homes After Foreclosure

Posted on January 30, 2009
USA Today reports: Freddie Mac on Friday plans to announce a first-of-a-kind plan that lets homeowners and tenants temporarily stay in homes in foreclosure by renting them back, an effort to stop many of the sudden evictions that have come along with the housing crisis...

NY AG Probe Targets Upstate Sale-Leaseback Foreclosure Rescue Operator, Says Firm's Lawyer; Company's Ch. 11 Bankruptcy Filing Dismissed

Posted on January 29, 2009
In Albany, New York, The Albany Business Review reports: Rivertown Investments LLC, an Albany, N.Y., company that bought properties on the brink of foreclosure(1) before going out of business last summer, won?t be able to liquidate its assets in bankruptcy court...

Miami Homeowner Marches Into Court, Gets Judge To Stall Foreclosure & Rip Up Lender's Court Filing; Receives Congrats From Other Lawyers In Courtroom

Posted on January 29, 2009
In Miami, Florida, msnbc.com reports: Luis Molina is not a lawyer and he has never played one on TV. But that didn?t stop him from putting on his best suit, marching into a Miami courtroom this month and going up against an attorney with 30 years of experience to stop a foreclosure proceeding against his family?s home...

Almost Every Loan File Reviewed Had Missing, Incomplete Documents, Says Ohio AG In Civil Suit Against Now-Defunct Mortgage Brokerage

Posted on January 29, 2009
From the Office of the Ohio Attorney General: A Cleveland-area mortgage broker failed to give consumers all the information they needed about their new loans, according to a lawsuit filed today in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray...

Courtroom 676: Ground Zero For Philly Foreclosure Prevention Program

Posted on January 29, 2009
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Daily News reports: [O]n any Thursday, City Hall Courtroom 676 looks and feels more like a swap meet than a court. Under a high, ornate ceiling, painted in palatial gold and dark red, the huge, marble-walled room, illuminated by four brilliant chandeliers, is filled with the constant buzz of deal-making, demands, counterproposals and compromise...

City Of Baltimore, Wells Fargo Slug It Out As Lender Seeks Dismissal Of Reverse Redlining Lawsuit

Posted on January 29, 2009
In Baltimore, Maryland, The Maryland Daily Record reports: Attorneys for the city of Baltimore and Wells Fargo traded arguments in federal court about the viability of the city?s first-of-its-kind ?reverse-redlining? lawsuit against the nation?s biggest consumer bank...

Courts, Public Defenders, Legal Aid Programs Feeling Budget Squeeze As Financial Resources Go Down As Demand For Services Skyrocket

Posted on January 29, 2009
CBS News reports on the state budget problems that are squeezing court systems, public defenders offices, and legal aid programs around the country. [P]ublic defenders and legal aid programs are facing their deepest budget cuts in years just as the recession creates more demand for their services...

Pro Bono Net Receives Sponsorship From International Accounting Giant

Posted on January 29, 2009
A recent PR Newswire press release contains the following announcement: Pro Bono Net, a national non-profit organization that works to increase access to justice through innovative uses of technology and increased volunteer lawyer participation, today announced it has received sponsorship from KPMG LLP as part of the U...

Texas Court Voids Home Title Transfer By 87-Year Old Widower To Caretaker; Evidence Proved Fraudulent Promises Were Made At Time Of Conveyance

Posted on January 28, 2009
In Beaumont, Texas, The Southeast Texas Record reports: Liberty County District Judge C. T. Hight correctly returned a home to an old man who signed it away, the Ninth District appeals court in Beaumont decided. Hight heard enough evidence to find that Peggy Ballard Williams defrauded Melvin Kaufman, three justices ruled...

Failure To Receive 60-Day Notice, Being Bulldozed Into Unfavorable Agreements Among Complaints From California Tenants In Homes Facing Foreclosure

Posted on January 28, 2009
In San Mateo, California, a story in the San Mateo County Times on the problems facing local tenants renting homes in foreclosure contained the following excerpt on the affect of new rules in effect to help tenants in these situations: [S]hirley Gibson, an attorney with the nonprofit Legal Aid Society of San Mateo, said the new rules have done little to stop the flood of renters coming to her for

Foreclosure Mediation Now Available In All 88 Ohio Counties

Posted on January 28, 2009
In Columbus, Ohio, WTTE-TV Channel 28 reports: The Ohio Supreme Court says a foreclosure mediation program it launched less than a year ago is now available in all 88 counties. The high court provides step-by-step instructions to common pleas courts around the state to try to reach solutions in foreclosure cases...

L.A. Mayor, State Real Estate Commisioner, Others Caution Public On Loan Modification Fraud; "Scam Peddler" Sightings Up Sharply

Posted on January 28, 2009
In Los Angeles, California, the Los Angeles Times reports: Alarmed by a huge increase in swindlers trying to take advantage of families whose homes are in foreclosure, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a host of bankers, legal aid lawyers and law enforcement officials [Monday] called on the public to beware of people peddling loan modification scams...

Three Months Jail Time For Two In SoCal Rent Scam; Judge Cuts Some Slack As Both Repay Victims; Craigslist Ads Used To Reel In Tenants

Posted on January 28, 2009
In Vista, California, the North County Times reports: Two Orange County men who posed as landlords and rented out foreclosed homes, taking thousands of dollars from unsuspecting victims, left a Vista courtroom in handcuffs Monday. Linda Smith, who had fallen prey to their scam, whispered a loud "yes" in an otherwise quiet courtroom as Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein sentenced Alexander

Countrywide To Temporarily Freeze All Pennsylvania Foreclosures As Part Of $150M Suit Settlement With State AG

Posted on January 28, 2009
Reuters reports: Countrywide Financial Corp has agreed to provide an estimated $150 million in mortgage relief and cash assistance for Pennsylvania homeowners to settle a state lawsuit over its lending practices, officials said on Wednesday.Countrywide, once the nation's largest mortgage lender and now part of Bank of America Corp, also agreed to freeze foreclosure proceedings until it determines

West Virginia Loophole Allows For Judicial Double-Dipping As Some Judges Simultaneously Collect Pension, Paychecks

Posted on January 28, 2009
In Kanawha County, West Virginia, an opinion column in The West Virginia Record comments: Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King doesn't want to talk about how he found a legal loophole to rip off the taxpayers and enrich himself. We don't blame him. When it's your job to serve as a trusted arbiter of disputes between others who put their fates in your hands, the last thing you'd want is for word to

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