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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

Atlanta-Area County Marshal Continues Annual Tradition - Declares Moratorium On Holiday Evictions

Posted on December 07, 2008
In Fulton County, Georgia, WABE Radio 90.1 FM reports: Fulton County will suspend forced evictions over the holidays. Starting December 19th, through January 5th, the County Marshal has said he will not execute writs of possession.Fulton County Marshall Antonio Johnson says the holiday moratorium has become an annual tradition over the last several years...

AZ R/E Agent Admits Forgery On Subordination Agreement Making Seller-Held Note Junior To New Financing; Both Loans Now In Default

Posted on December 07, 2008
From the Office of the Arizona Attorney General: Attorney General Terry Goddard [last week] announced that former real estate agent Roy Keith Fife, 47, of Tucson, pleaded guilty to fraud and forgery charges at a hearing in Pima County Superior Court [...

Forged Deed & Subsequent Refinance Leaves Bronx Homeowner Facing Foreclosure, I.D. Theft Victim's Credit In Ruins

Posted on December 07, 2008
In The Bronx, New York, the New York Daily News reports: Phillip Powell, who lives in Baldwin, L.I., never even laid eyes on a house on E. 215th St. in the Bronx when one day he learned that he owned it. He received mail saying he owed payments on a $370,000 mortgage he had taken out on the single-family home...

San Antonio Feds Charge Foreclosure Rescue Operator For Allegedly Pocketing Upfront Fees & Allowing Clients' Homes To Be Lost In Foreclosure

Posted on December 07, 2008
In San Antonio, Texas, the San Antonio Express News reports: On Thursday ? almost 15 years after she first was put on notice over alleged fraud ? FBI agents arrested [Rosario Castro - aka Rosie] Divins on charges she ran a foreclosure-rescue scam that swindled [Isaac and Christina Vela](1) and at least three other families out of thousands of dollars and sometimes vehicles...

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More Trouble For Missouri "Contract For Deed" Operator As Homeowners File Federal Suit Seeking $60M In Damages

Posted on December 07, 2008
In Springfield, Missouri, the Springfield News Leader reports: A Nixa couple and a Nixa man sued by Greenleaf Cos. of Springfield for not paying rent have in turn sued Greenleaf and its affiliates in federal court, saying they have engaged in real estate fraud and conspiracy...

Widow Faces Foreclosure As Lender Claims Coverage On Husband's Mtg. Life Policy Expired, Despite Continued Acceptance Of Premiums

Posted on December 07, 2008
In Tallahasse, Florida, the Tallahassee Democrat reports: Eight months after her husband Ralph's death, retiree Joyce Aiello is facing the loss of the couple's Tallahassee home ? something they had taken deliberate steps to avoid. [...] Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance Inc...

Unconventional Miami-Area Housing Activist Comes Up With "Bailout" Plan; Gets Homeless Off Streets By Moving Them Into Vacant Foreclosed Homes

Posted on December 06, 2008
In Miami, Florida, The Associated Press reports: [Max] Rameau is an activist who has been executing a bailout plan of his own around Miami's empty streets: He is helping homeless people illegally move into foreclosed homes. ''We're matching homeless people with people-less homes,'' he said with a grin...

Detroit Firefighter Loses Life Battling Arson Blaze In Abandoned House

Posted on December 06, 2008
In Detroit, Michigan, the Detroit Free Press recently reported: [Walter] Harris, 38, of Sterling Heights was killed Nov. 15 when a roof collapsed on him as he fought a fire at [an] abandoned house. The father of six was a 17-year veteran of the department and spent his career at the station on East Grand Boulevard that houses Rescue Squad 3 and Engine Co...

Group Of Teenaged Arsonists Suspected In Central Florida Serial Torchings Of Vacant Homes

Posted on December 06, 2008
From Zellwood, Florida, Central Florida media outlets have reported: A serial arsonist has residents in one Orange County neighborhood living in fear. Two overnight fires near Round Lake Road in the Zellwood area were set on purpose and it's the same area where Eyewitness News reported someone set five fires last month...

Long Island Attorneys Volunteer Help To Poor In Landlord/Tenant Court

Posted on December 06, 2008
In Hempstead, New York, Long Island Business News reports: The second floor of the Nassau County District Courthouse in Hempstead is ground zero for the mortgage and foreclosure crisis on Long Island. That?s where Judge Scott Fargrieve presides over landlord/tenant court, typically the final step for evictions, disputes and post-foreclosure proceedings...

More On The Continuing Squeeze On Non Profit Legal Aid Programs

Posted on December 06, 2008
The squeeze on the country's non profit law firms continues as demand for services increases, funding hits the skids. Federal funds rate fiasco for legal aid: Three of Ohio?s six legal aid groups could be forced to cut their staffs next year because of measures the Federal Reserve has taken to shore up the nation?s struggling economy and keep credit flowing...

Miscellaneous Stories Connected To Ongoing Foreclosure Mess

Posted on December 06, 2008
The following links are to an assortment of stories that caught my eye that may be viewed as small, peripheral pieces of the "foreclosure mess" puzzle: Arson for copper: This is what it's come to?: People are burning down buildings in New Bedford, Massachusetts to get at the valuable copper wire inside their walls...

City Kicks 53 Residents Out Of Residential Hotel In Foreclosure As Power Shutoff Creates Fire Hazard; At Least 24 Kids Among Those Getting The Boot

Posted on December 06, 2008
In St. Petersburg, Florida, the St. Petersburg Times reports: When the electricity in their residential hotel was turned off the morning before Thanksgiving, Mary Mix and her three children scraped together money to buy candles. During the next few nights ? some of the most frigid this winter ? they piled under blankets to stay warm...

NYC Prosecutors Call For System Changes To Address Deed Theft After Empire State Building "Heist" By Reporter For Local Paper

Posted on December 05, 2008
In New York City, The Daily News reports: The city's top prosecutors called for sweeping changes in the system that let a Daily News reporter "steal" the Empire State building with a fake deed (see: It took 90 minutes for Daily News to 'steal' the Empire State Building)...

Fresno Cops Foil Fake Landlord Rent Scam; Charge Suspect With Renting Vacant Homes In Foreclosure Belonging To Others

Posted on December 05, 2008
In Fresno, California, The Fresno Bee reports: An elaborate scam taking advantage of the mortgage crisis unraveled, authorities say, when Kristen Ables found another family living in her Fresno house. "It was a mixture of disbelief and anger" that she felt on learning that she had been victimized, Ables said Wednesday as Fresno police announced the arrest of Sam Haley, 66...

Upstate NY Couple Forced Into Court To Stop Lender's Collection Attempts, Foreclosure Threats On Paid-Off Mortgage

Posted on December 05, 2008
In Voorheesville, New York, WNYT-TV Channel 13 reports: Georgianne Crabill's phone wouldn't stop ringing. "At work, they were relentless! They wouldn't let me off the phone!" Debt collectors demanded that she and her husband Bill - pay up.The Crabills had re-financed their home, and CitiFinancial insisted they owed nearly $20,000 on their original mortgage...

Florida Developers Cop Plea To Grand Theft Charges; Accused Of Pocketing $475K Of Customer Cash, Failing To Deliver

Posted on December 05, 2008
In Vero Beach, Florida, TC Palm reports: Two developers of an unfinished subdivision north of Vero Beach pleaded no contest to criminal charges of first-degree grand theft of $475,000 in deposits from customers at the Indian River Courthouse on Wednesday...

More On Abandoned Unfinished Residential Developments

Posted on December 05, 2008
The problem of abandoned residential developments languishing in an unfinished (and unwanted) state is described in these two Florida media reports: Central Florida: Some New FL Subdvisions are Awful Lonely (A couple hundred unfinished housing developments pockmark the region with empty lots and paved roads leading to nowhere...

Use Of Lease Option Arrangement As Exit Strategy For Overextended Landlords Looking To Stiff Mortgage Lender & Pocket Some Walking Away Cash Continues

Posted on December 04, 2008
In Washoe County, Nevada, KOLO-TV Channel 8 reports: A Sparks couple is just a step away from being homeless, after they say they were "ripped off" by their landlord. Shanna Mayer and Clinton Conroy leased a home in hopes of buying it ... but it turns out, the bank was already a step ahead...

Missouri Couple Sues "Contract For Deed" Operator For Allowing Home To Fall Into Foreclosure

Posted on December 04, 2008
In Republic, Missouri, the Springfield News Leader reports: A Republic couple who made monthly payments but nearly lost their home is suing Greenleaf Cos., accusing the Springfield company of breach of contract and questionable business practices.***In the lawsuit, [David and Susan] Foster say they bought a house from Greenleaf in August 2007 for about $252,000 on a contract for deed...

Trump "Convinces" Deutsche Bank To Fork Over $13.2M In Construction Cash To Finish Off Chicago Skyscraper

Posted on December 04, 2008
Buried in a recent Between The Bricks column in the New York Post is this blurb on the recent $3 billion lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against Deutsche Bank, in which (according to a recent Wall Street Journal article) the latter was accused of, among other things, "compromis[ing] the senior construction loan by selling pieces off to so many institutions, banks, junk bond firms, and virtually

Rhode Island Closing Agent Cops Plea To Pocketing Escrow Cash Intended For Payoff Of Existing Mortgage Loans; Title Underwriter Takes $1.3M Hit

Posted on December 04, 2008
In Providence, Rhode Island, the Office of the U.S Attorney announced: Angela Raposa, who owned Title America Closing Services, pleaded guilty today to a federal fraud charge, admitting that she used about $1.3 million from her company?s escrow account to pay for personal expenses...

Environmental Issues Arising At Abandoned Unfinished Developments; Insolvent Builders, Lenders Afraid To Foreclose Both Disclaim Responsibility

Posted on December 04, 2008
In Cartersville, Georgia, The Gainseville Times reports: The foreclosure crisis has been devastating to the U.S. economy, and now it appears the environment is suffering as well. Bert Langley, manager of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division?s Mountain District in Cartersville, said he?s seen numerous cases where a developer or builder abandoned a property, leaving no one to monitor

No "Miracle On 34th Street" As Empire State Building Victimized By "Deed Theft;" Reporter Easily "Swipes" Historic Midtown NYC Edifice Valued At $2B

Posted on December 04, 2008
On 34th Street in New York City, the New York Daily News reports: In one of the biggest heists in American history, the Daily News "stole" the $2 billion Empire State Building. And it wasn't that hard.The News swiped the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper by drawing up a batch of bogus documents, making a fake notary stamp and filing paperwork with the city to transfer the deed to the property...

Lenders Warming To Idea Of Bulk Sales As Way To Unload Foreclosed Inventory

Posted on December 03, 2008
The Wall Street Journal reports: As the glut of foreclosed homes swells, banks and other lenders are starting to warm to the idea of selling some of the homes in bulk to investors, a departure from the practice of selling homes one at a time.For the past year, investors have been eager to buy large numbers of homes from lenders at knockdown prices...

Non Profit Lawyers Save Day For 80+ Year Old New Mexico Couple Facing Foreclosure Over $2 In Late Payments

Posted on December 03, 2008
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Albuquerque Journal reports: Dixie and Paul Williams have much to be thankful for -- to wit, not being thrown out of their South Valley home for $2 in late mortgage payments. And they're thankful to the lawyers at the Senior Citizens' Law Office who helped make that happen...

Shorthanded Legal Aid Offices Bursting At The Seams With Foreclosure Defense Cases

Posted on December 03, 2008
National Public Radio reports: Everyone accused of a crime is entitled to a lawyer, whether they can afford one or not. But in civil cases, such as home foreclosures, there is no right to an attorney. Legal aid attorneys say some people being kicked out of their homes might have been able to stay if they'd had legal help ? help that isn't there for everyone...

B'klyn Foreclosure Sale Set Aside, Judgment Vacated As Process Server Screw-Up Leaves Court With No Personal Jurisdiction Over Defaulting House Owner

Posted on December 03, 2008
A case decided last month in a Brooklyn, New York trial court serves as a valuable reminder to defaulting homeowners (and their attorneys) that, in cases where a foreclosure judgment has already been entered (and even if a foreclosure sale has already taken place), it is still possible to void the sale and the judgment if the process server failed to properly serve the property owner...

Retired Maine Attorney Joins Fight Against Foreclosures; Volunteers Services With Local Legal Aid Program

Posted on December 03, 2008
In Maine, the Morning Sentinel reports: When Maine National Bank collapsed during the recession of the early 1990s, Tom Cox's job was to collect money from businesses that had borrowed from the failed bank.***Nearly two decades later, as Mainers face a new economic crisis, the 64-year-old retired lawyer has emerged on the flip side of debt collection...

More On Hedge Fund Suit Against Countrywide Over $8.4B Bank Of America Loan Modification Settlement

Posted on December 03, 2008
For those interested in reviewing the lawsuit filed in this matter, see: New York County Supreme Court - Index # 650474-2008: Greenwich Financial Services Distressed Mortgage Fund 3, LLC v. Countrywide Financial Corporation.Go here for links to Exhibits A through G of the above lawsuit...

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