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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

Closing Agent Gets 33 Months For Swiping $1.2M+ In Escrow Cash, Leaving Existing Mortgages Unpaid

Posted on December 24, 2008
The U. S. Attorney's Office in Miami, Florida recently announced the sentencing of closing agent John Mohan, 38, of Delray Beach, FL, to 33 months? imprisonment in connection with his September guilty plea to a one-count Information charging him with wire fraud...

Florida Closing Attorney Gets 63 Months For Pocketing $3M+ In Escrow Money Intended Mostly For Payoff Of Existing Mortgages

Posted on December 24, 2008
The U.S Attorney's Office (Southern District of Florida) recently announced the sentencing of attorney Joseph J. Weisenfeld to 63 months in prison based, following his guilty plea to wire fraud charges. An excerpt from the press release: According to the Information and statements made during the plea hearing, Weisenfeld, a licensed attorney, represented individuals and/or entities (mostly buyers

Architect Of Cash Back, Straw Buyer Scam Gets 10+ Years; Involved $3M+ Of Fraudulent Loan Activity, Says DA

Posted on December 24, 2008
In Ventura, California, the Ventura County District Attorney's office announced last month the sentencing of Manuel ?Manny? John Perez, Jr. to a term of 10 years, 8 months following his convictions in an alleged cash back, straw buyer scam under the guise of his wholly-owned businesses, Case Bonita Realty, Creative Mortgage Solutions and Elite Escrow...

Presidential Pardon Purchase Possible As Bush Gives Pass To Developer Convicted In Mortgage Scam Screwing HUD While Daddy Gives $28K To RNC

Posted on December 24, 2008
On Long Island, New York, Newsday reports: Isaac Robert Toussie, the Brooklyn developer who served time in prison for masterminding a massive Suffolk real estate scam, was pardoned by President George W. Bush yesterday, effectively wiping his criminal record clean...

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S. Florida Man, Others Charged With Using Unwitting Mother-In-Law's I.D. & Submitting Simultaneous HELOC Applications To Suck The Equity From Her Home

Posted on December 24, 2008
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami, Florida announced the return of a five count grand jury indictment charging eight participants(1) with a bank fraud scheme that resulted in the approval and disbursement of two home equity loans, totaling approximately $1 million...

Let Courts Modify Bad Loans Says Consumer Bankruptcy Group; Quality, Sustainability Of Current Modifications Depends On The Individual Servicer

Posted on December 23, 2008
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: With fresh evidence that voluntary mortgage modifications aren't working, a national lawyers' group is urging the government to let the courts fix bad loans. "Court supervision of loan modification is needed, and unlike so many of the responses to the foreclosure crisis so far, there will be no cost to the taxpayer," Henry Sommer of Philadelphia, president of

Fine Print Buried In Debt Relief Firm's Contract Leaves Orlando Couple Screwed Out Of Thousand$

Posted on December 23, 2008
A recent story in the Orlando Sentinel warning against phony debt relief companies and other scams contained this excerpt on how one area couple was left screwed over after dealing with one of these firms: [Orlando bankruptcy lawyer Anne-Marie Bowen] recently worked with a young couple as clients who had paid a debt-relief company thousands of dollars to fend off creditors...

California Lawmaker Urges AGs For Probe Into Loan Modification Firms Targeting Distressed Homeowners Charging High Fees, Producing Low Results

Posted on December 23, 2008
In Riverside County, California, The Desert Sun reports: [C]iting complaints from constituents about fraudulent and suspicious mortgage-reduction schemes, [California Congresswoman Mary] Bono Mack sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and California Attorney General Jerry Brown, urging that comprehensive steps be taken to address the problem and ensure those who commit mortgage

Alabama Issues Warning On Dealing With Loan Modification Firms / Foreclosure Rescue Operators; Says Charging Upfront Fees In State Prohibited

Posted on December 23, 2008
In Birmingham, Alabama, the Birmingham Business Journal contained this warning in an excerpt on a story on loan modification firms targeting Alabama homeowners: The [State of Alabama Banking Department's] Bureau of Loans Supervisor Scott Corscadden said consumers must [...

Portland Cops Warn Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Of Shady Offers Of Help

Posted on December 23, 2008
A recent CNBC.com story contained this blurb on how one police department is getting involved in an attempt to protect its residents from foreclosure rescue / loan modification scams: The situation has gotten so bad that, in some cities, the state police are getting proactive...

Elderly Victim Of Equity Stripping Deal Wins Hollow Victory As Court Ruling Comes Too Late To Allow Recovery Of Home; Scammers Claim To Be Broke

Posted on December 23, 2008
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports: Telsche Paulson, 86, lost her south Minneapolis duplex and now lives in a rented house in Farmington. A suit against a mortgage firm that offered to help Paulson avert foreclosure, alleged that the ?refinancing? was really a sale, and the firm stripped $155,000 in Paulson?s equity in the deal...

Central Florida Foreclosure Rescue Operators With Massachusetts Connections Charged With Grand Theft, Racketeering In Alleged Equity Stripping Scam

Posted on December 23, 2008
From Fall River, Massachusetts and Orlando, Florida, The Herald News reports: Father and daughter John and Shastine Pavao, along with other family members, participated in a four-year criminal scheme to strip equity from needy people?s homes, steal their homes and evict them, defraud lenders and resell the properties, Florida law enforcement officials allege...

Texas Legal Aid Firm Files Suit Alleging Developer Tricked Seven Families Into Signing Over Deeds To Property They Just Agreed To Buy

Posted on December 22, 2008
In San Juan, Texas, The Monitor reports: Seven families are suing a developer, saying he tricked them out of the property they had just agreed to purchase. The lawsuit against William Schwarz alleges he used deceptive practices to trick low-income, Spanish-speaking families into signing the titles to their property over to him the same day the families made down payments on the land...

Denver Pastor Charged In Flipping Scam; Used Two Unwitting Churchmembers As Straw Buyers On 8 Homes Ultimately Ending In Foreclosure, Say Authorities

Posted on December 22, 2008
In Denver, Colorado, KMGH-TV Channel 8 reports: A Denver pastor, indicted for alleged mortgage fraud, turned himself into authorities late Thursday. The indictment alleges that Harold Joe Hicks used surrogates to purchase property and then falsified mortgage applications to get lower interest rates...

Little Known Defense In Foreclosures Of FHA-Insured Mortgages Highlighted In Florida Homeowner's 4-Year Fight To Save Home

Posted on December 22, 2008
In Jacksonville, Florida, MSNBC.com reports on the story of Vickie Lewis, an area homeowner fighting a foreclosure action filed against her by Washington Mutual, and who has been living with the uncertainties of being in foreclosure limbo for the last four years...

Ohio AG Files Suit Against Loan Modification Firm For Violations Of State Consumer Statutes; Homeowners Clipped For Upfront Fees Averaging $650

Posted on December 22, 2008
From the Ohio Attorney General's Office: The Ohio Attorney General filed a lawsuit [last Friday] to stop a foreclosure rescue business from continuing to victimize consumers throughout the state. The lawsuit, filed in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, alleges that James R...

Illinois AG, Cook County SA Say Firm Filed Phony Mechanics Liens Started Foreclosure On Homeowners Refusing To Be Squeezed

Posted on December 22, 2008
From the Office of the Illinois Attorney General: Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Cook County State?s Attorney Anita Alvarez [Wednesday] both filed lawsuits against a Chicago mechanic?s lien filing service for filing invalid liens against property owners and for intimidating homeowners either to pay debts they don?t owe or to overpay for debts incurred with contractors...

Nothing Civil In Civil Court As Schoolyard Brawl Breaks Out Between Attorneys In Rival Class Actions; Colleagues Jump In To Bust Up Donnybrook

Posted on December 22, 2008
In New Orleans, Louisiana, The Times Picayune reports : Two attorneys competing for clients, prestige and a bounty of legal fees opened a hearing at Orleans Parish Civil District Court [last week] with a schoolyard brawl that shocked the buttoned-up crowd and ended with one led away in handcuffs on charges of contempt...

Arrest Warrant Issued For Unlicensed California Contractor Suspected Of Illegally Slapping Phony Mechanics Liens On Homes In Foreclosure

Posted on December 21, 2008
In Vallejo, California, the Vallejo Times Herald reports: A $30,000 arrest warrant has been issued for a Benicia man who officials believe has been trying to profit illegally from Vallejo's foreclosure crisis. A team from the Solano County District Attorney's Office and Vallejo Police Department on Wednesday went to arrest James Paul Jones in the Vallejo home he's been occupying and found him

New Los Angeles Ordinance Prohibits All Foreclosure Evictions Until Property Is Sold To New Owner

Posted on December 21, 2008
In Los Angeles, California, CBS2 reports: Renters whose residences have gone into foreclosure cannot be evicted until the property is sold to a new owner under a city law signed Friday by [Los Angeles] Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The one-year ordinance, spearheaded by Council President Eric Garcetti, will impact 300,000 apartment buildings and single-family homes...

Pittsburgh Assisted Living Retirement Community Faces Foreclosure; 150 Residents Paying $300K To Get In Face Loss Of Home, Investment

Posted on December 21, 2008
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, KDKA-TV Channel 2 reports: Some local senior citizens who thought they were set to live out their golden years in the lap of luxury are facing a frightening reality. The assisted living community where they live, Covenant at South Hills, is in foreclosure and they may lose their homes and considerable investments...

Colorado Regulator Brings Administrative Charges Against Two Alleging Cash Back, Mortgage Scam Involving $45M In Fraudulent Loan Activity

Posted on December 21, 2008
In Denver, Colorado, the Rocky Mountain News reports: The state's Division of Real Estate has sent "notices of charges" to two brokers the agency claims are the masterminds behind a $45 million Front Range mortgage fraud scheme.Erin Toll, director of the real estate division, alleges the two brokers would sell homes at inflated values based on an inflated appraisal...

Man Facing Foreclosure Jerked Around In Attempt To Reinstate Loan; Servicer Allegedly Pocketed $3,200 Payment, Then Failed To Honor Workout Agreement

Posted on December 21, 2008
In Hamilton County, Ohio, the Kentucky Post reports on the story of Yusuf Salaam, an area homeowner who fell behind in his mortgage payments, and the alleged jerking around he received from his loan servicer. According to the story: Salaam's case began when he got behind in his mortgage payments and sought help...

Attorney Accused Of Pocketing Closing Funds Due To Lien Holders Seeks "Free Pass" From Prosecution As Psych Pros Contest Competence To Stand Trial

Posted on December 21, 2008
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Tribune Review reports: Two mental health experts had differing opinions Wednesday on whether a once-prominent Fayette County trial attorney is competent to stand trial on theft charges.Adam Sedlock, a Uniontown psychologist, testified [...

The Foreclosure Squeeze Continues For Condominium / Homeowner Associations

Posted on December 20, 2008
The continued squeezing of the operating funds of condominium homeowner associations as a result of financially strapped unit owners (many of whom may be facing foreclosure) failing to pay their required maintenance fees continues, as evidenced by these stories: Cape Coral community fights rising fees linked to neighbor's foreclosures: Homeowners who say they were recently hit with a $600

Recent U.S. Department Of Justice Housing Discrimination Actions

Posted on December 20, 2008
The following links are to announcements by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice of recent civil criminal housing discrimination actions over the last 3+ months: November 26, 2008: West Virginia Man Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Charges for Allegedly Burning a Home - Daryl Lee Fierce, 69, of Charleston, W...

More From The Periphery Of The Foreclosure Crisis

Posted on December 20, 2008
The following links lead to an assortment of stories related to foreclosures from around the country: Gillette man found guilty for threatening letters: A Gillette, Wyoming man was found guilty of 6 counts for threatening a federal judge and other officials over the seizure of his home...

Another Foreclosure Screw-Up As Lender Approves Short Sale, Then Locks Out New Owner From Home A Week After Moving In

Posted on December 20, 2008
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, The Journal Gazette reports: [First-time homebuyers Brian and A.J. Spitznaugle] had arranged what is known as a short sale, an increasingly common transaction these days. The owner of the house was in default on the mortgage, so the bank that held the mortgage, Chase, agreed to sell the house to the Spitznaugles for slightly less than was owed...

Foreclosure Eviction At Wrong Home Avoided As Typo On Paperwork Discovered At 11th Hour

Posted on December 20, 2008
In Bakersfield, California, KBAK-TV Channel 29 reports: A Bakersfield man was just hours away from being kicked out of his house, and it was all over a minor mistake on an eviction order. A finance company in San Diego had one wrong number in the address on the eviction form...

Second Mortgage Holder Grabs Bank Accounts, Garnishes Wages Of Florida Grandmother Facing Foreclosure

Posted on December 20, 2008
In Stuart, Florida, WPBF-TV Channel 25 reports on the story of a financially strapped grandmother with two mortgages on her home. Facing foreclosure on the first mortgage, her bank accounts were unexpectedly grabbed and her wages garnished by the holder of the second mortgage...

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