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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

"My Dream Is Done Now" Laments Steel City Man After Losing Recently Repaired Home To Demolition, Despite Removal From City's 'Tear Down' List

Posted on January 11, 2011
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports:When Andre Hall bought a house in the West End, he thought he "finally had a piece of Pittsburgh." On Monday, Hall, 40, returned to do repair work on the house at 3224 Motor St. to find workers demolishing it...

Ostensibly Time-Barred 'Fair Debt' Violations In Sewer Service Suit May Remain Viable Where 'Equitable Tolling' Suspends Running Of 1-Year Statute

Posted on January 10, 2011
In denying a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging, among other things, violations of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"), a Federal court in Brooklyn, New York ruled that consumer/plaintiffs may have viable claims under the ("FDCPA") against the defendants despite the expiration of the 1-year statute of limitations set forth in that statute, where the limitations period was '

Federal Court: Servicer's Conduct Stiffing Homeowner Seeking Loan Modification May Be Unfair, Deceptive Practice; Allows Lawsuit To Continue

Posted on January 10, 2011
In San Francisco, California, Courthouse News Service reports:Homeowners who say Wells Fargo Bank duped them into loan-modification programs to stave off foreclosure survived a legal challenge to their case in San Francisco federal court.U.S. District Judge Joseph Spero pared the class's suit [last week], rejecting claims for breach of contract but upholding allegations that the bank's

HAMP Suits Targeting BofA Roll On As SW Ohio Non-Profit Law Firm Files Action On Behalf Of Local Homeowner

Posted on January 10, 2011
In Cincinnati, Ohio, The Enquirer reports:A West Price Hill man on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit against Bank of America and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging that his home was unlawfully forced into foreclosure.The Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio filed the suit in U...

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Stiffed Upstate NY Tax Collectors, Indian Nations Continue Lower Court Litigation Over Unpaid Real Estate Taxes, Despite Pending Supreme Court Ruling

Posted on January 10, 2011
In Rochester, New York, The Syracuse Post Standard reports:The Cayuga Indian Nation has asked a federal court in Rochester to stop Seneca County from foreclosing on five nation properties for unpaid back taxes, a lawyer for the Cayugas said [last week]...

Mass. High Court Ruling "A Train Wreck For F'closure Industry" As Banks Slammed In Bay State Beat Down; 'Clouds' Over Title To Homes Darken Statewide

Posted on January 09, 2011
In Boston Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reports:The state?s highest court [Friday] upheld a controversial Land Court ruling that calls into question the ownership of hundreds, possibly thousands, of foreclosed properties in Massachusetts and could affect how foreclosures nationwide are conducted...

Banks Want Court To Scrap Proposal To Halt NJ Foreclosures; Ask Judge To Believe Screw-Ups In Process Can Be Fixed Without Stalling Court Proceedings

Posted on January 09, 2011
In Trenton, New Jersey, Bloomberg reports:Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other U.S. banks told a New Jersey court that defects in their processes for seizing homes in the state can be remedied without halting foreclosures.The banks have taken steps to improve their procedures, making a suspension unnecessary, they said in documents filed [last week] in state court in Trenton, New

Iowa AG Pulls U-Turn, Reneges On Vow To "Put People In Jail!" In 50-State AG Robosigner Scandal Probe; Now Calls Matter "Inherently Civil"

Posted on January 09, 2011
Blogger David Dayen writes in Firedoglake:Iowa AG Miller Breaks Promise, Calls AG Investigation ?Inherently Civil? and Not Criminal.This is a very disappointing and two-faced statement from Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. It wasn?t even a month ago that he met with foreclosure victims and homeowner advocates and pronounced, "We will put people in jail...

Federal Judge Gives Go-Ahead To Civil Suit Alleging RICO Claims In Massive Sewer Service Racket Against Zombie Debt Buyer, Law Firm, Process Server

Posted on January 09, 2011
In Brooklyn, New York, AOL Daily Finance columnist Abigail Field reports:Federal Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin just issued an opinion in a consumer class action case that should send chills down the spines of debt collectors, perhaps including foreclosure-mill law firms and their process servers, nationwide...

Clerical Error On Deed Of Trust Leaves Innocent Homeowner Facing F'closure, Despite Never Missing A Payment; Lacks Cash To Cough Up $5K For TRO Bond

Posted on January 09, 2011
In Boise, Idaho, KBOI-TV Channel 2 reports:The American dream has turned into a nightmare for Donna Lee of West Boise. She pays her mortgage each month but is facing foreclosure anyway. When she bought her home from a developer, there was a clerical error on the deed of trust that shows she should be living in a different unit...

Orange County DA: Squatting Couple Hired PI To Locate Vacant Foreclosed Homes, Then Drafted Fake Lease To Obtain Utility Service For $2.6M House

Posted on January 08, 2011
In Newport Beach, California, The Associated Press reports:Prosecutors say an Orange County couple squatted in a foreclosed home in a ritzy Newport Beach neighborhood more than three months before they were discovered and arrested. The district attorney's office said Thursday that 42-year-old Chris Wayne Duncan and 36-year-old Robin Ann Duncan face charges of second-degree burglary and other

MERS Continues Efforts To Allegedly 'Buy Off' Congress By Beefing Up Its Gang Of Lobbyists

Posted on January 08, 2011
The Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets Blog reports:One company embroiled in the nation's property foreclosure crisis is not unprepared for a fight. In Washington, D.C., Merscorp Inc. has retained several well-heeled lobbyists and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in lobbying efforts since the start of the mortgage crisis and economic meltdown...

Beware Of Sovereign Citizen Movement Peddling Worthless Service To Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Posted on January 08, 2011
In Orlando, Florida, WKMG-TV Channel 6 reports:The words are stamped in red across every page of the bank foreclosure notice.Statements such as "United States is a for-profit corporation and is bankrupt," or, "No consent to forced seizure by sale or takings," cover the foreclosure papers without any apparent purpose...

Massachusetts AG: Landlord's Craigslist Ads Discriminating Against Families w/ Young Kids Due To Lead Contamination In Apartments Violates Law

Posted on January 08, 2011
From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:A Melrose-based realty trust and its manager violated Massachusetts law by allegedly posting a discriminatory rental advertisement on the popular classified advertising website Craigslist.org (?Craigslist?), according to a lawsuit filed by AG Coakley?s Office...

Illinois Law Allowing Active-Duty Servicemembers To Apply For 90-Day Foreclosure Delay Goes Into Effect

Posted on January 08, 2011
The Huffington Post reports:The state of Illinois has faced an especially grim foreclosure picture in the last several years, and the outlook is likely to get bleaker in the first quarter of 2011. [...] But thanks to a new law that went into effect on New Year's Day, one especially vulnerable group of Illinoisans will be allowed a temporary reprieve...

Acquitted Cop Killer Vows "We Will Defend Ourselves!" If Crim'l Defense Lawyer Attempts Eviction After F'closing On Family Farm Over Unpaid Legal Fees

Posted on January 08, 2011
In Kingston, Tennessee, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports:The lawyer who won Leon Houston's freedom holds a prize he can't cash. Not a single bidder showed up Tuesday when former defense lawyer Jim Logan stood on the Roane County courthouse steps and auctioned a little less than 100 acres of the Houston family farm for unpaid legal fees...

Squatting 'Gang' Of 30 Snatches Vacant 10-Bedroom, �10M London Mansion; Pending Eviction Action Of No Concern As Group Has Sights On 'Roomier' Abode

Posted on January 08, 2011
In London, England, the Daily Express reports:A LATVIAN squatter living in a �10 million mansion has offered to ?open? houses for others to take over ? and is planning to move into a bigger home himself. Jason Ruddick, 21, moved into a four-storey Victorian mansion with a 30-strong gang, many of whom are also from eastern Europe...

Federal Reserve To Support Tougher Rules Regulating Mortgage Servicing Rackets; Reverses Earlier Stance

Posted on January 07, 2011
The Huffington Post reports:The Federal Reserve has reversed its opposition to new rules reining in foreclosure abuses, and will support stronger regulations on the nation's largest banks, according to a source familiar with the matter.***Problems in the packaging and sale of mortgage bonds helped inflate the housing bubble and facilitated the sale of predatory loans nationwide...

BofA's "Pennies On The Dollar" Settlement With Fannie, Freddie Over Sale Of Crappy Mortgages A "Backdoor Bailout" Of Bank By Federal Government?

Posted on January 07, 2011
The New York Post reports:Bank of America is getting blasted with accusations of a "backdoor bailout" for its $2.8 billion settlement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over billions of bad mortgages. Fannie and Freddie, which are wards of the government, accepted pennies on the dollar to settle a dispute over billions of faulty mortgages the bank sold to the pair during the housing bubble...

Colorado AG Scores $181K+ Judgment Against Foreclosure Rescue Operator For Clogging Courts With Frivilous Filings, Clipping Homeowners w/ Upfront Fees

Posted on January 07, 2011
In Denver, Colorado, The Denver Post reports:A man accused of running a company called "America's Foreclosure Defense" and preying on elderly and vulnerable people has been ordered to pay $181,266 in restitution and fines to the state, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced Tuesday...

Ex-Ohio AG Files Class Action Suit Alleging Lenders' Law Firm Files Frivilous Foreclosures

Posted on January 07, 2011
In Cleveland, Ohio, WKYC-TV Channel 3 reports:Ohio's former embattled attorney general Marc Dann is taking on his first high-profile lawsuit since a sexual harassment scandal forced him to resign from the job in 2008. Dann and co-counsel James Douglass Tuesday filed a class-action lawsuit against a law firm he says files frivolous foreclosures...

Big Bear Homeowner Scores Small Claims Win Over BofA In Alleged Fraudulent Bait & Switch Loan Modification Scam

Posted on January 07, 2011
In Big Bear City, California, BigBearGrizzly.net reports:Dave Graham got fighting mad. The Big Bear City resident took Bank of America?s mortgage division, BAC Home Loans Servicing LP, to small claims court claiming fraud. Graham won his case Dec. 17...

Massachusetts High Court Ready To Rule On 'Ibanez/LaRace' Case; Validity Of Thousands Of Bay State Foreclosures Hang In Balance

Posted on January 07, 2011
In Boston, Massachusetts, Bloomberg reports:Massachusetts?s highest court is poised to rule on whether foreclosures in the state should be undone because securitization-industry practices violate real estate law governing how mortgages may be transferred...

Rubber Stamping Florida Judge Changes Public Position On Exempting F'closing Banks From Complying w/ Procedural Rules, The Lets Them Break Them Anyway

Posted on January 06, 2011
AOL Daily Finance columnist Abigail Field writes:Over the holidays, I wrote about judges in Lee County, Fla., and how they appear to prioritize completing foreclosures over the rule of law. The most extreme example was an order in one case by Judge James R...

Florida AG Outlines Its Evidence Of Fraudulent Court Filings In Foreclosure Cases With 98-Page Presentation

Posted on January 06, 2011
The Palm Beach Post reports:Sweeping evidence of the case the state attorney general's office has built in its pursuit of foreclosure justice for Florida homeowners is outlined in a 98-page presentation complete with copies of allegedly forged signatures, false notarizations, bogus witnesses and improper mortgage assignments...

A Mortgage-Backed Security Map: The Fantastic Fate of One Man's Loan

Posted on January 06, 2011
A recent story from PBS Newshour featured the case of homeowner Daniel Edstrom, who is employed by a company who happens to perform securitization audits, who decided he'd look into the history of his own mortgage.He reportedly spent a year mapping his mortgage, came up with this flowchart showing how his mortgage was ripped apart during the securitization process, and observed:"If someone steals

Michigan Couple Victimized By Illegal Trashout Linked To Wrongful Bank Foreclosure Of 'Mortgage-Free' Home Settle Lawsuit

Posted on January 06, 2011
In Grand Rapids, Michigan, The Grand Rapids Press reports:A couple who said a bank wrongly foreclosed on their $14,000 fixer-upper have settled their lawsuit. Rick and Sherry Rought of Gowen bought the house near Big Rapids in 2009 for their daughter, Hannah, while she attended Ferris State University...

Change In Judicial Mood On New Jersey Robosigning Scandal Reflected In Recent Rulings

Posted on January 05, 2011
The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel reports:New Jersey courts have started clamping down on lenders' ability to enforce mortgage documents by raising concerns when the lender cannot establish that it possesses the original note at the time a foreclosure action is commenced or that it is a holder in due course under the Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC")...

Indiana AG Asks State High Court To Implement Procedural Rules To Address Robosigner Scandal

Posted on January 05, 2011
In Indianapolis, Indiana, WRTV-TV Channel 6 reports:The Indiana attorney general on Monday asked the Indiana Supreme Court to implement new regulations regarding the handling of foreclosures in the state. The proposed changes, which would not require legislative action, are in response to mortgage companies that admitted they improperly filed documents with courts to process foreclosures...

Fannie, Freddie Score $2.5B+ From BofA To Settle Crappy Loan Buyback Demands; Requests For $10B+ From Other Banks Still Outstannding

Posted on January 05, 2011
The New York Times reports:Bank of America announced Monday that it had paid more than $2.5 billion to buy back troubled mortgages and resolve related claims from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ? deals that may prompt a wave of such settlements by big banks...

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