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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

New Jersey Sets Aside $12M To Train, Pay For Attorneys, Counselors In Statewide Foreclosure Mediation Program

Posted on January 14, 2009
In Trenton, New Jersey, Legal Newsline reports: Eligible New Jersey homeowners will be able to use a new state-supported mortgage foreclosure mediation program(1) aimed at helping homeowners remain in their homes.***The program is supported by $12.5 million in state funds, $12 million of which will be used to train and pay for housing counselors and lawyers through the New Jersey Housing and

DC Man Gets 12+ Years In Deed Theft Scam Targeting Deceased Owners; Victimized Families Forced To File Civil Suits To Properly Restore Property Titles

Posted on January 14, 2009
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (District of Columbia): A District of Columbia man, Duane McKinney, [...] was sentenced [last week] to 150 months in prison on charges of fraud, theft, and monetary transactions,(1) [...].***The government's evidence at trial established that Duane McKinney obtained title to about $1 million worth of D...

Cramdowns & Lien Stripping Of Home Mortgages Under Existing Bankruptcy Law

Posted on January 13, 2009
Buried at the end of a recent story in The Wall Street Journal contains an excerpt referencing how the existing bankruptcy rules can be used when stripping second mortgages from "underwater" real estate(1) (either owner-occupied or investment properties), and how the current bankruptcy cramdown rules (unless changes currently under consideration are enacted) can only be used to modify (ie.

Two Loan Modification Firms Resove Issues With Colorado AG; Agree To Refund $30K To Homeowners, Pay $10K In Investigative Costs

Posted on January 13, 2009
In Denver, Colorado, Rocky Mountain News reports: Two companies collecting money to help homeowners avoid foreclosure have reached agreements with Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, [...].Suthers announced Sunday that Castle Rock-based Hawk Financial Services agreed to pay $26,500 in fees unlawfully collected from 31 customers before performing any service...

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San Diego Media Outlet Looks Into Area Loan Modification Firm

Posted on January 13, 2009
In San Diego, California, XETV-TV Channel 6 recently reported on My Safe House, a loan modification firm in Oceanside that charges homeowners an upfront fee of $2,995. Channel 6 spoke to a former telemarketer who worked for the firm and obtained a telemarketing script reportedly used by the firm to reel in financially strapped homeowners...

Homeowner's Complaint Alleging A Lease-Buy Back Foreclosure Rescue Scam Among Several Being Probed By Connecticut AG

Posted on January 13, 2009
In North Stonington, Connecticut, The Day reports on a financially strapped homeowner who did business with a Massacusetts company that led him to believe that it would help keep him from losing his long-time family home. [Connecticut AG Richard] Blumenthal said in a phone interview that he is investigating [Gary A...

Baltimore/D.C. Area High On Troubled Commercial Property Hit List

Posted on January 13, 2009
In Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore Business Journal reports: The Baltimore-Washington, D.C. region ranks fifth in the nation for metropolitan areas hardest hit by the nationwide credit crunch, with more than 160 properties in financial trouble or at risk for foreclosure, according to a new study...

Maryland Victim Of "Money Store" Equity Stripping Scam Loses Battle Against Lender Seeking Mortgage Foreclosure

Posted on January 13, 2009
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled last week against a homeowner fighting to save her home from foreclosure where her financial predicament was exacerbated by seeking help from a now-defunct foreclosure rescue operator.(1) The court decision addressed the application of Maryland's Protection of Homeowners in Foreclosure Act (PHIFA), and how it applied as against a foreclosing lender...

$100M Class Action Suit Filed Against L.I.-Based Loan Modification Company; Described As More Of A Sales Operation Than Professional Services Firm

Posted on January 12, 2009
In downstate New York, Crain's New York Business recently ran a story about American Modification Agency (AMA), a Long Island-based loan modification firm that, allegedly, has been the target of numerous complaints from homeowners claiming the company clipped them for thousands in upfront fees in exchange for failed promises of adjustments to the terms of their home loans to make their house

One More Arrested, Two Others Sought In San Diego-Area Alleged Land Patent, Foreclosure Rescue Scam; 17 Cheated Out Of $100K+, Say Prodecutors

Posted on January 12, 2009
In San Diego, California, the San Diego Union Tribune reports: Prosecutors are asking for the public's help in finding two people suspected of scamming homeowners in a foreclosure fraud scheme, officials announced Friday. Julita Whittingham and Edgardo Orcino are part of a group of people suspected of defrauding San Diego County homeowners out of more than $100,000 in 2007, prosecutors said...

Mortgage Servicers Feeling The Pain As Mounting Mortgage Delinquencies Drain Cash Reserves

Posted on January 12, 2009
Bloomberg News reports: Bank of America Corp., GMAC LLC, and WL Ross & Co. are among mortgage servicers that have endured billions of dollars in unexpected costs and added thousands of workers to handle rising foreclosures, denting a business once viewed as a safe haven from the housing market?s collapse...

Ohio Loan Officer Gets 20 Months For Role In Mortgage Scam Involving 365 Bogus Real Estate Closings, $13.3M+ In Illegally Pocketed Profits

Posted on January 12, 2009
In Dayton, Ohio, U.S. Attorney Gregory G. Lockhart (Southern District of Ohio) recently announced: Timothy Pearson, age 37, of Beavercreek, Ohio was sentenced to serve 20 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $171,211 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme...

Court-Supervised Foreclosure Diversion Program Begins Monday In Allegheny County

Posted on January 12, 2009
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, WTAE-TV Channel 4 reports: [B]eginning Monday, owner-occupied homes facing foreclosure will be specially flagged for attention, and the plaintiff will also have to identify the name, address and phone number of someone at the lender with authority to discuss the action...

Broome County Lawmakers To Address Mineral Rights Issue In Tax Foreclosures; Delinquent Homeowners Losing Natural Gas Rights When Curing Arrearages

Posted on January 11, 2009
In Broome County, New York, the Binghampton Press & Sun Bulletin reports: [Daniel D. Reynolds, the new chairman of the Broome County legislature] said he'll appoint a committee representing both parties in the next few days to look at Broome's practice of holding onto mineral rights to properties it obtains in tax foreclosure...

Elderly, Penniless Mom Tells Judge To Jail Son For Home Equity Ripoff; Man Accused Of Abusing POA To Pocket Proceeds Of Reverse Mortgage On Residence

Posted on January 11, 2009
In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports: An 82-year-old woman suffering from the mental and physical fallout of a stroke told a judge Thursday that her son should go to prison for stealing from her. About an hour later, her 61-year-old son was handcuffed, fingerprinted and sent away for two years...

Saintfield Couple Cops Forgery Plea; Accused Of Ripping Off 94-Year Old, Blind Mother Of Her Half Of Residence; Civil Suit Expected To Undo Deed Theft

Posted on January 11, 2009
In Saintfield, Northern Ireland, the Belfast Telegraph reports: A man has pleaded guilty to a �100,000 fraud in which he and his wife left his blind 94-year-old mother without her home. Just moments after a jury was sworn in to hear the case George Ignatius Martin and his wife Mary Martin changed their plea and admitted forging land registry documents to transfer the elderly pensioner?s home into

Spokane Grandson, Girlfriend Jailed For Duping Grandma Into Signing Over Deed To Home; Then Filing Eviction Papers To Give Her The Boot

Posted on January 11, 2009
In Spokane, Washington, ABC News reports: At 83, Betty Halligan had lived a long and happy life, but after her husband died she needed extra care. Betty Halligan was suffering from dementia and diabetes, so her grandson Michael Halligan and his girlfriend Daphne Wood moved into her Spokane, Wash...

Foreclosed Elderly Cancer Patient, Wife Locked Out Of Home Without Eviction Hearing; Lender Denies Having Locks Changed

Posted on January 11, 2009
In Bronson, Michigan, WWMT-TV Channel 3 reports: An elderly couple that lost their home say that was bad enough, but now they've told Newschannel 3 that they have been locked out of their home and can't get their belongings, including medical equipment...

Foreclosure Not A Basis For Tenant Evictions In San Francisco

Posted on January 10, 2009
In California, a story in San Francisco Bay Guardian serves as a reminder that, within the city of San Francisco, it's illegal for a bank or broker or anyone else to evict a tenant just because the ownership of a building changed hands, including an ownership change due to foreclosure...

San Bernardino DA Investigators Bag Suspect Charged With Buying Home & Car, Obtaining Credit Cards Using Stolen I.D. Of 4-Year Old Who Died In 1984

Posted on January 10, 2009
From the San Bernardino County, California District Attorney's Office: Investigators from the District Attorney?s Specialized Prosecution Group foiled an attempted identity theft by Luis Gorson, 29, of Compton on January 2, 2009. Gorson obtained the identity of a deceased 4-yearold male who had died in 1984...

Property Manager Arrested On Suspicion Of Pocketing Rents Without Paying Bills, Leaving Properties Facing Foreclosure, Tenants Without Utilities

Posted on January 10, 2009
In Visalia, California, the Visalia Times Delta reports: The owner of Moreno Property Management in Visalia faces possible felony embezzlement charges. Sylvia Gonzalez, 25, of Visalia, is suspected of collecting rent money and utility payments for properties throughout Visalia and then not making the payments, detectives with the Visalia Police Department said...

100s Of Iowa Tenants To Get The Boot As Buildings In Foreclosure, Maintenance & Utility Bills Financially Choke Landlord; Consequences Concern Cops

Posted on January 10, 2009
In Sioux City, Iowa, KCAU-TV Channel 9 reports: Hundreds of renters in Sioux City are being told to move because of financial and legal problems facing their landlord. The landlord, KJM Incorporated, also known as Meyer Company, is being taken to court for nearly $1 million in unpaid mortgages...

Unpaid Bills At 60 Unit Building In Foreclosure Leave Tenants Dealing With Accumulated Trash, Periodic Water Shutoffs

Posted on January 10, 2009
In Alton, Illinois, The Telegraph reports: Sanitation workers Monday cleared away more than a month's worth of garbage that overflowed large trash receptacles at Belle Manor apartments and disgusted its tenants. "It's a mess out here; it is ridiculous," said one of two tenants who called The Telegraph in recent days to complain about the mountains of smelly trash...

Theft & Burglary Stories Connected To Foreclosures, Vacant Homes

Posted on January 10, 2009
Theft & burglary stories with some connection to foreclosures and vacant homes: Brackenridge, Pennsylvania: A Brackenridge homeowner who recently moved out of her residence went back to check on the mail when she made a discovery that would end up putting the whole block on alert...

Major Lender, Top Senate Democrats Reach Understanding On Mortgage Cramdown Provisions Allowing Bankruptcy Judges To Modify Troubled Home Loans

Posted on January 09, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports: A Senate bill aimed at giving strapped homeowners more leverage in renegotiating their mortgages cleared a hurdle Thursday when Citigroup Inc. dropped its opposition. The legislation, which is being advanced by top Senate Democrats, would let judges set new repayment terms for mortgage holders in bankruptcy court...

FDIC Unloads $558M In Bad Loans For Less Than 50 Cents On Dollar To Firm Led By Ex-Countrywide Head; Price To Be Paid Out Over Time

Posted on January 09, 2009
Bloomberg News reports: Stanford Kurland, the former Countrywide Financial Corp. president, says his new company?s purchase of $558 million in home loans issued by a failed Nevada bank will be a springboard for further growth. Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company LLC ["PennyMac"], based in Calabasas, California, is paying less than 50 cents on the dollar for loans that the Federal Deposit

FTC, 3 Loan Orignators Settle Charges Of TILA & Reg Z Violations; Deceptively Advertising "Teaser" Rates

Posted on January 09, 2009
The Federal Trade Commission announced: Three mortgage loan advertisers that allegedly deceptively touted low monthly payments and low rates without fully disclosing loan terms have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that their ads violated federal law...

IRS Taxpayer Watchdog Urges Congress To Ease Laws Governing Mortgage, Consumer Debt Defaults & Cancellations

Posted on January 09, 2009
The New York Times reports: Congress should ease certain tax laws governing defaults on mortgages, credit cards and other consumer debt to help Americans who are struggling in the economic downturn, the watchdog agency of the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday...

Nebraska Senior Care Residents Among Those Affected By Financial Problems Of Oregon-Based Assisted Living Center Operator

Posted on January 09, 2009
In Seward, Nebraska, the Seward County Independent reports: Heartland Park Senior Living Community is among four senior assisted living centers in Nebraska fighting off foreclosure by filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Seward Senior Living LLC which goes by the Heartland Park name is owned by Sunwest Management Inc...

Lender To Foreclose On Leftover South Florida Condo Conversion Units

Posted on January 09, 2009
In Miami, Florida, the South Florida Business Journal reports: Coral Gables-based Great Florida Bank has filed its first major foreclosure lawsuit as it seeks to repossess 234 units in three separate projects across south Miami-Dade County.The three projects in Great Florida Bank?s foreclosure lawsuit are:The Cutler Gardens condo conversion ? A 35-year-old complex where the condo converter/

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