Ohio Land Flipper Pleads Guilty In Federal Court
For prior stories on this case, see Dayton Federal Trial Of Property Flippers Postponed, Plea Deals Expected
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Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
The Wayne County Deed Fraud Unit has made arrests in two new cases involving a deed scam where homes are sold right out from under the real owners without them knowing about it. The announcement, made yesterday by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, is reported by Click On Detroit at ClickOnDetroit.com.
Reportedly, over 100 homeowners in Wayne County have been targeted in this scam where forged documents purporting to transfer title from the true owner to a scammer are recorded with the county's office for recording land records since 2005. These forged records are then used to defraud mortgage lenders out of the loan proceeds from subsequent phony realty transactions. Typically, the true owners only become aware of the scam when they begin receiving collection and legal notices from the mortgage lenders who were duped into making the loans.
Wayne County Sheriffs Office currently has three full time deputies assigned to combat deed fraud, according to Sheriff Warren C. Evans. Victims (and those who know victims) of deed fraud are encouraged to report the incidents to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office Deed Fraud Hotline at
To read of deed theft by forgery problems in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, see:
To read of a Boston area woman who almost had her home sold from underneath her, see: Boston Cops, Feds Sting Alleged Home Thieves.
Go here for other deed theft posts. deed theft zorro
To read more, see Appraisers Say Pressure on Them to Fudge Values is Up Sharply
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Links to online reference articles on the HETPA can be found in my January 22 HETPA post.
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In addition, according to the indictment, the deals involved:
In addition to these four members of the fraud ring currently under prosecution, three other members, who are named but not charged in the indictment, already pleaded guilty to related federal charges when the current charges were filed in September 2005 (presumably, they opted to "sing to the Feds" in exchange for possible leniency).
The trial in this case is set to start Tuesday in Federal Court before Judge Walter Rice.
In expressing the vigor in which the mortgage fraud task force is approaching their investigations in Montgomery County, a local police detective who helped organize the task force said of them,
For the entire story, see House Flipping Shell Game Special Report in the Dayton Daily News.
See also Mortgage scams built on promises leave nightmares in wake regarding the Federal case slated to start on Tuesday.
(Both articles contain a "Click-2-Listen" audio feature.)
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Labels: mortgage fraud flipping