New Century Financial Halts All Ohio Foreclosures; Fires 3,200, Flies For Ch. 11 Protection

The Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio) reported last week at cincinnati.com that:

• New Century Financial Corp. has agreed to halt all foreclosures in Ohio while state regulators and law enforcement officials determine if any of the loans violated predatory lending laws, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann’s office said.

For more, see Lender halts Ohio foreclosures.

Los Angeles Business reports:

• New Century Financial Corp. has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and has agreed to sell its servicing assets and platform to Carrington Capital Management LLC and its affiliates for about $139 million, the company said Monday.
• It also announced plans to reduce its workforce by about 3,200, or 54 percent, immediately.

For more, see New Century files for bankruptcy, agrees to sell servicing assets.
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Foreclosure Rescue Victim Wins $3.3+ Million Verdict Against D.C. Operator

The Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia law firm Hogan and Hartson LLP has announced that it:

• "has obtained a substantial jury verdict, including $3.3 million in punitive damages, against the perpetrators of a "pre-foreclosure" scheme in the Washington metropolitan area. After a week-long trial in the District of Columbia Superior Court, the eight-person jury found that the defendants — Vincent Abell, his company Modern Management, and his agent Calvin Baltimore — defrauded the plaintiff Maria Wilson and wrongfully took her home for a tiny fraction of its value. The jury also found that the defendants' scheme, in which they approach homeowners facing foreclosure and offer to help them "keep" their homes through a fraudulent sale-leaseback transaction, violated the D.C. Consumer Protection Act. The jury awarded Wilson compensatory damages of $60,000, and assessed punitive damages totaling $3.3 million against the three defendants."

For more, see Hogan & Hartson Wins $3.3 Million Verdict in Pre-Foreclosure Scam Case.

Editor's Note:

Because consumer protection laws typically call for an attorney fee award to be granted to the prevailing plaintiff (in this case, the foreclosure rescue victim), the foreclosure rescue operator in this case will, in all likelihood, be ordered to pay an additional amount to the homeowner's attorney for legal fees for violating the D.C. Consumer Protection Act. The amount could conceivably amount to several hundred thousand dollars or more (see, for example, the Nebraska case in Voiding A Title Transfer In A Foreclosure Rescue Transaction, where the attorney fees that the foreclosure rescue operators were ordered to pay added up to over $375,000).
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Florida Foreclosure Rescue Operators Found Guilty In Federal Fraud Trial

Five of seven indicted members of a Central Florida foreclosure rescue operator group were found guilty of mortgage fraud last Thursday in a Tampa, Florida Federal Court, according to an article in the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Those convicted include Ramzy Moumneh and Kamal Moumneh (aka Kamal Renno), who owned and operated First Hanover Mortgage Corp., that was purportedly in the business of assisting financially strapped homeowners facing foreclosure to keep their homes. They also allegedly controlled other entities involved in the subject transactions.

Also found guilty were:

• Chuong X. Dam, a business associate of the Moumnehs.
  
• Demetrios J. Voiklis (aka James Voiklis), who, according to the indictment, is an attorney who did business as Juris Title, and who acted as a closing agent for real estate transactions, and
  
• Kimberly Brothers, who worked as a closing agent for Voiklis and Juris Title.

The case against a sixth co-defendant, Amy Hudd (aka Amy Paukner) was severed during the trial due to health problems and, unless she decides to plead guilty in the hope of getting some leniency, is expected to be tried separately (in which case, and unless there's a hung jury, she'll either be found not guilty and walk free, or she'll be found guilty and probably get hammered by the judge at her sentencing). The seventh member of the group, Lucretia Junge, waived her right to a trial, pleaded guilty, and testified at the trial against the others involved.
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The foreclosure rescue plan that was being arranged allegedly involved deceiving the homeowners into signing deeds conveying their homes to third party investors, acting as a straw buyers, with the understanding that the homeowners could lease back their home and ultimately buy it back after making twelve monthly payments. In the process, the homeowners ' equity in their homes were allegedly stripped, with the money derived therefrom ending up in the operators' pockets. According to the indictment, the investors / straw buyers:

• Did not make any actual investment,
• Were people with good credit,
• Were falsely told that they would not be personally liable for the loans being obtained,
  
• Were paid a fee by the conspirators for acting as straw buyers,
• Were falsely held out to the mortgage lenders financing the purchases as "bona fide purchasers" who intended to personally repay the loan when, in fact, they were not bonafide purchasers and had no intention on repaying the loans.
  

The indictment further alleged, among other things, that both the homeowners who signed away their homes and the straw buyers were neither given a chance to read the documents they were asked to sign, nor were they given copies of the documents they signed. Additional allegations involved phony claims of liens made by the conspirators on the homeowners' properties, use of false loan applications and inaccurately prepared HUD-1 closing statements, and false representations to the mortgage lenders that the homes would be occupied by the straw buyers.

To read the media report, see Five convicted in home equity fraud.

For those seeking a greater understanding of how this scam worked (ie. prosecuting attorneys, civil attorneys representing homeowners victimized by this type of foreclosure rescue deal, investors wanting to learn what not to do), you may want to check out the Indictment - U.S. vs. Moumneh, et al.
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New York City Neighborhoods Not Spared From Subprime Problems

A recent New York Daily News article reports that, in some neighborhoods throughout New York City, "[a]s many as 10 homes per block faced foreclosure last year." The cited reason for the increased problems faced by NYC homeowners:

• "[s]ubprime mortgages offered by unscrupulous real estate brokers and predatory lenders, according to a new study on the epidemic of citywide foreclosures."

The new study, by the nonprofit Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP), also contains the expectation that, based on the rate current of NYC foreclosure filings, over 15,000 foreclosure filings are expected this year, more than double the total two years ago. To read more, see Set up for a fall (Subprime mortgages lead to record foreclosures in the city's poorest nabes).

Editor's Note:

It sounds like New York State regulators are going to have their hands full enforcing the state's Home Equity Theft Prevention Act, which was signed into law last year and went into effect on February 1, 2007. Maybe regulators should consider organizing some type of "undercover sting" to catch those who both prey on homeowners facing foreclosure and violate the new law in the process.

While I know of no state that conducts undercover stings in connection with enforcing their anti home equity theft statutes, I do know that for some time now, the State of California, through their Contractors State License Board, periodically conducts these stings throughout the entire state (in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies) as an effective tool in the enforcement of their home improvement contractor licensing law. See, for example:

• Stings sweep up unlicensed contractors in Central Valley
• L.A. City Attorney Secures Conviction Of Unlicensed Contractors In Home Improvement Scam
• Alleged Unlicensed Contractors Arrested In Sting (California Blitz Leads to Arrests, Fines, Citations Statewide)
• Sting Leads To Arrest Of Alleged Unlicensed Contractors
• Seven Local Contractors Arrested in Licensing Sting
• State Contractors Board Teams with Tulare County District Attorney's Office to Sting Illegal Operators

Video: Alleged Unlicensed Contractors Arrested In Sting

The local media and organizations like the Better Business Bureau may also be of some help. See, for example, Business bureau's TV show takes on contractor fraud, an article appearing on the San Diego Union Tibune's SignOnSanDiego.com website, which reports on a 30 minute educational documentary produced by the San Diego Better Business Bureau (and which aired on local San Diego TV stations) geared to inform consumers on protecting themselves from contractor fraud.

The program chronicled the experience of more than 20 San Diego-area families scammed by one smooth-talking swimming pool contractor and included footage of shoddy workmanship and unfinished jobs, as well as sound bites from Better Business Bureau and law enforcement officials involved in the undercover investigation.

In conclusion, and while on the subject of undercover investigations, I have recently reported on the NBC Dateline program, which recently began airing a new series, Dateline: To Catch An I.D. Thief, which is the product of a one year undercover investigation on identity theft. See Dateline NBC Going After Identity Theft.

It may be that making a case for violating the anti home equity theft statutes could be tougher and more expensive than enforcing state licensing laws against unlicensed contractors. But with home foreclosures being the current problem that it is, high profile undercover stings may be an effective deterrent both to those violating the anti home equity theft statutes as well as to those thinking about it. Since the State of California has an established track record of regularly conducting undercover stings in enforcing their home improvement contractor statutes, and because the state Attorney General's office has recently announced that they are keeping an eye on foreclosure rescue activity (see California AG Closely Watching Foreclosure Rescue Activity), I have to make them the strong favorite to be the first state in the U.S. to conduct these stings in enforcing the California anti home equity theft statutes.

However, if New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg decides to get involved, possibly by exercising his influence with state govenment and with the local NYC district attorneys, or possibly by offering his cooperation to state regulators by making the services of NYC Police Department economic crimes investigators available in possible joint investigations throughout the city with state regulators and/or investigators from the local NYC DAs and state Attorney General's office, I might have to reconsider my position.

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Dateline NBC Features Mortgage Fraud Con Artist Matthew Cox

Dateline NBC featured a story on multi state mortgage fraudster Matthew Cox and how he lured women to become his co-participants in his scams on last night's program. To watch the first segment of the program, and for links to all six program segments, see "Thief of Hearts".
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Straw Buyers Plead Guilty To Federal Fraud Charges

Anchorage, Alaska residents Bekim Hasipi, Robin Dorman and Jan Marquiss pleaded guilty in an Alaska Federal Court to one count each of wire fraud for false statements made in applying for mortgage loans. They were allegedly part of a seven person mortgage fraud ring currently being prosecuted on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, mail fraud and making false statements to financial institutions. Still currently under indictment include Kourosh Partow, who is accused of wrongdoing while he was a manager at the Anchorage branches of Countrywide Home Loans and American Home Mortgage, neither company being accused of wrongdoing.

The others include Azem Limani, Dzevid Limani and Agim Delolli.

Sentencing of the straw buyers has been postponed pending the outcome of the prosecution against the remaining defendants (my guess is prosecutors would like to see how effectively the straw buyers testify against their alleged confederates before recommending to the judge how hard they should be "spanked"). For more, see 3 plead guilty to Anchorage fraud (Mortgage Crime: Prosecutors say four others are part of the loan ring).

For story updates, see:

• Loan fraud nets 18-month sentence (Mortgages: Man was also fined $190,000 in a scheme involving "straw buyers") (Anchorage Daily News - 10-19-07),
• Mortgage banker gets more than 2 years in prison (Associated Press - 8-27-07).

Straw Mortgage Company Used In Alleged Identity Thefts

Four people were arrested in Vista, California recently, as well as two others currently in state prison, on suspicion of ensnaring over 100 victims who collectively lost about $500,000, in connection with the operation of an identity fraud ring. They are suspected of using a bogus mortgage company, First Choice Mortgage, to collect personal identification information from the victims, which was then used to purchase goods that were then either sold or returned for refunds.

Michael Alexander Hartsell, Oscar Barbosa, Daniela Dominique DiLorenzo, Patricia Ann McIntosh, William Andrew Padworski, and Natasha C. DiLorenzo have all been charged with being part of the ring.

Reportedly, the two members currently in state prison received the victims' I.D. data that was collected through the straw mortgage company, using prison computers to process the information.

To read more, see Four arrested in Vista on suspicion of being part of identity theft ring, appearing in North County Times.
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Hospital Employee Steals Patients' Identity Information

CBS4 in Miami, Florida and The Miami Herald report that an employee at Baptist Hospital in Miami stole credit information from hospital patients. Hospital officials are investigating how many patients have been affected. Adrian Green of Homestead, Florida, whose position at the hospital was to register patients, has been arrested. His job gave him access to the sensitive identification information of thousands of patients. For more, see:

• Worker arrested in Baptist privacy breach, or
• watch the CBS4 Video - Baptist Hospital Patients Had Credit Information Stolen
• Go here to see United States Vs. Adrian Green - Arrest Affidavit.

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Canada Cities Fight Identity Theft With "Community Shredding Day"

Local police and the Better Business Bureau in Vancouver, British Columbia marked the end of Fraud Prevention Month with "Community Shredding Day" as a way to encourage the shredding of personal documents to combat identity theft, as reported on the website of CKNW-AM Radio 980. For more, see Beat identity theft by shredding.

The Guardian (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada) reports:

• "To mark the end of Fraud Prevention Month, Capital One and Shred-it have teamed up to sponsor the National Canadian Community Shred. This was the second year the two companies have joined forces."
• "The event was held Saturday in more than 20 cities across Canada. Citizens could bring all of their unwanted personal documents to the event to be shredded."
• "In Charlottetown, there was a Shred-it truck parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot."

For more, see Identify theft a growing problem.

(revised 4-1-07; 11:22 am)

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Four Nailed In Alleged Central Florida Mortgage Fraud, Identity Theft

An Orange County, Florida family of four has been arrested and accused of engaging in a combined identity theft and mortgage fraud scheme by allegedly taking personal information from unsuspecting homebuyers and using it to illegally obtain loans, according to a report appearing on the WFTV Channel 9 Orlando website.

Victor Ortiz-Rivera, his wife Minerva Rolon-Garcia, and daughters Nixalis Gotary, who allegedly acted as the mortgage broker, and Nydia Ortiz, who allegedly notarized the documents, were all accused with helping families obtain home loans and then using the victims' personal information to immediately get a second loan without the victim's knowledge. Investigators have yet to determine how many people were victimized. So far, at least six victims have come forward; the investigation is ongoing.

To read more, see Homebuyers Used As Pawns In Mortgage Fraud Scheme.
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Florida, Texas, North Carolina Lawmakers Considering Mortgage Fraud Legislation

The Florida legislature is considering a bill in the state House of Representatives, HB 359, that will make mortgage fraud a criminal offense, according to an Associated Press article reported on the Florida Association of Realtors website, at floridarealtors.com. The pending law reportedly focuses on the act of mortgage fraud in real estate closings. To read more, see Mortgage fraud problem targeted.

The Texas legislature also is considering a bill, HB 716 introduced by Rep. Burt Solomons, which would impose specific criminal penalties on individuals convicted of perpetrating mortgage fraud, according to an article in the East Texas Review. To read more, see Solomons targets mortgage fraud schemes.

The North Carolina legislature has two bills pending, N.C. House Bill 817 and N.C. House Bill 313, which propose measures to make it easier to prosecute real estate professionals for mortgage fraud, make mortgage fraud a felony, and require inclusion on the recorded mortgage document the name of the mortgage broker or loan originator. See Proposed Legislation (Efforts to curb foreclosures) (Charlotte Observer)
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Tips On Dealing With Foreclosure

A recent article on CNNMoney.com has suggestions on how to deal with falling behind on your mortgage payments. For more, see How to fend off a foreclosure (Homeowners behind in their mortgage payments can get help from lenders eager to get bad loans off the books)
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Additional Mortgage Fraud Charges Against Public Servants, Attorney

A northwest Indiana federal grand jury has tacked on eight more charges and a second real estate scam to the pending mortgage fraud indictments of Lake County Councilman Will Smith, former county tax collector Roosevelt Powell, and politically connected Gary, Indiana attorney Willie Harris. They have been accused of fleecing the Gary Urban Enterprise Association. To read more, see Charges emerge in second GUEA real estate scam, at nwitimes.com.
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Connecticut Attorney Sentencing Postponed To Today

The sentencing of former Connecticut attorney John Claydon, guilty of fleecing some of his clients of at least $2.8 million from 33 people around the State of Connecticut, was postponed on Wednesday until today, according to The Connecticut Post Online. However, his former clients/victims testified Wednesday as to the effect his thefts of their life savings have had on their lives. To read more, see Ex-clients lash out at crooked lawyer.

Go here for other posts on John Claydon.
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Commentary On Homebuilder Beazer Homes USA

For commentary from the folks at The Motley Fool on the potential problems at Beazer Homes USA, see:

• Beazer's Just the Beginning (by Seth Jayson, 3-28-07)
• Leave It to Beazer (by Rick Aristotle Munarriz, 3-28-07)

TheStreet.com's (and of MSNBC) Jim Cramer also chimes in on Beazer with If Beazer Bamboozled.

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FBI, Observer Investigate Homebuilder Beazer Homes USA

SmartMoney.com reports:

• The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office in Charlotte, N.C., along with the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, launched an investigation of Beazer Homes last week, FBI agent Ken Lucas said Tuesday. Lucas, a spokesman for the FBI's Charlotte field office, said the inquiry involves "fraud in general," and more specifically is related to corporate, mortgage and investment issues.

For more, see Mortgage Fraud Probe Targets Beazer.

The Charlotte Observer has recently done a four part investigative report on North Carolina homebuilder Beazer Homes USA. The report, appearing in The Observer over a four day period earlier this month, points out a number of glaring points that give rise to questions about how Beazer conducted business.

For example, the report states that :

• "Beazer built about 2,900 homes in Mecklenburg [County, North Carolina] between 1997 and 2006. At least 388 have foreclosed. That is a rate above 13 percent, the highest among the county's 10 most prolific builders during that period ..."

• "The Beazer foreclosures are concentrated in 10 developments, each of which has a foreclosure rate of 20 percent or higher. Together they contain about 1,150 homes and at least 280 foreclosures."

• "The Federal Housing Administration, which insured most of the mortgage loans, failed to address the problems. The government has paid more than $5 million to cover defaulted loans in [one neighborhood]. It continues to insure new Beazer loans."

• "The FHA loans that Beazer Mortgage arranged often were aggressive. The company provided down payments for most of its borrowers, leaving them with little stake in the homes. It also arranged loans with monthly payments that started low but rose sharply after the first and second years, a feature known as a buydown."

Parts of the report, with such titles as:

• One builder, hundreds of foreclosures,
• Failed mortgages fly under the radar
• The Prices: Homes with Beazer loans cost more
• The Loans: Data wrong on some applications

only begin to give a reader a taste of what The Observer's revelations contained. To read more, including links to the entire four part report, see Sold a Nightmare (Concord subdivision proves lucrative for builder and costly for 1st-time owners).

Video: Chris and Amy Wood's financial struggle
Video: Lea and Mark Tingley's problems
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Four Tactics Predatory Mortgage Servicing Companies Use To Squeeze Homeowners

A recent article in Realty Times describes four tactics used by predatory mortgage servicing companies to squeeze money out of vulnerable homeowners and describes these servicers as "[n]othing more than shakedown artists operating in a largely unregulated arena, who have figured out a way to wring millions of dollars out of nervous consumers." The article also points out, as others have, that the focus on predatory practices in the home mortgage financing industry appears to be on the predatory lenders; and not the predatory mortgage servicers, who appear to be getting a free ride from lawmakers. To read more, see The Subprime Servicing Scam: Beware.

Go here , go here , and go here for posts on questionable mortgage servicing practices. questionable mortgage servicing practices tactics zebra

Texas Mobile Home Dealer Pleads Guilty Of Theft

William Alt, aka Billy Alt, owner of the now-defunct mobile home dealer Pleasant Homes of Texas, pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $300,000 in payments made by home buyers, according to a story in the Tyler Morning Telegraph. His firm was given mobile homes by mobile home builders to be sold by him on consignment. He failed to remit to them money paid to him by his customers.

Alt pleaded guilty to two felony counts of theft and two felony counts of misapplication of fiduciary property. For more, see Ex-Owner Of Mobile Home Firm Pleads Guilty To Theft.
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Observations On Today's Identity Theft Posts

For those of you who read today's posts, it should be obvious to you that today was Identity Theft Day here at The Home Equity Theft Reporter. I want to conclude the day with a few observations based on these posts that I hope you will give me your indulgence on.

We have learned (or have had confirmed) that if you are about to go on an out-of-town trip, you can't check into a hotel or motel without the risk of an employee there swiping your I.D. information. If you travel abroad, you might have to wonder why the clerk at the passport office is smiling at you. Since we are currently in income tax season and you want to get your taxes done before leaving on your trip, maybe you should think twice about have them done by your friendly accountant or tax preparer. If you decide to do them yourself and you need to make copies of your documents, would it be wise to go to your local neighborhood Copy Center and risk having the photocopier pilfer your I.D. information? If you've been recently wronged by someone and want to take legal action, will the attorney you hire check to see that you have good credit before he/she takes your case?

If all these things stress you out to the point that it gives you a heart attack and you need to be rushed to the hospital, remember one thing. As you are being wheeled into the emergency room, be sure and ask if the intake clerk or nurse's assistants are "bonded and insured." And if you survive the hospital, make it home to recuperate (assuming no one has stolen your home yet), and are looking for something to pass the time, you can always open, read, and shred all that junk mail that you allowed to pile up at home (assuming you haven't dumped it all in the garbage unopened, in which case you might want to rush out and buy yourself an identity theft insurance policy before the dumpster divers get a hold of all that unopened, unshredded mail).

As a concluding note, financial experts often advise that you should check your credit periodically, just to make sure your identity hasn't been stolen. It may be a good idea to also check your local county property records office periodically, just to make sure your house hasn't been stolen, either!
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Discarded Unopended Junk Mail Poses An Identity Theft Risk

For this post, see my March 23, 2007 post, or for the online news article, see Junk mail ID theft warning.
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Identity Theft Insurance A Good Idea?

See my March 10, 2007 post on identity theft insurance, or for the full article, see What Is Identity Theft Insurance?.
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Nursing Assistant, Others Plead Guilty In Identity Theft

This post is a rerun of my February 1, 2007 post. It involved an I.D. theft in connection with a theft of hospital patients' personal identity information that the accused then used to fraudulently obtain mortgage loan proceeds. To see the full article, see Four Sentenced for Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Reports U.S. Attorney.
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Disbarred Attorney Arrested For Identity Theft

Former Rockford attorney Lisa Anne Leitter has been charged with 17 counts of identity theft for allegedly running up credit card debts on accounts she opened up in her secretary's name, according to an article in the Rockford Register Star at rrstar.com.

She was also the subject of an administrative investigation as a result of a complaint filed by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission in 2006 based on similar allegations. She had also been alleged by the Commission to have (1) stolen her former partner's identity and (2) bilked clients out of money as well. That investigation ended with her disbarment as an attorney. To read more, see Former attorney faces identity theft charges.
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Dateline NBC Going After Identity Theft

NBC's Dateline program, which has recently garnered much attention recently for its To Catch A Predator investigation, has launched a new investigation, To Catch An I.D. Thief, which premiered last night. NBC's investigative reporter/super sleuth Chris Hansen is at it again in this year-long investigation; this time (at least in part 1 of the series) masquerading as a delivery man in his attempt to infiltrate identity theft networks, using such devices as "bait cards", an undercover "online store" (HansenDiscountElectronics.com), and a "delivery service" (CH Delivery) in his quest to nail the bad guys (with the help from the folks at CardCops.com).

Go here for the Preview Video on NBC's Today Show (5:56).

For the full episode, go here To Catch An I.D. Thief - Part 1 for links to the following program segments:

1. ‘To Catch an ID Thief’ (4:24)
2. Underground den of thieves (8:58)
3. 'Hansen Discount Electronics' (3:51)
4. CH Delivery (10:53)
5. Where's Wendy (8:07)
6. Harsh Truth (4:19)

Go here for the program Transcript: On the hunt for ID thieves.

Go here for the Dateline: To Catch An I.D. Thief webpage.

Part 2 is scheduled to air next Tuesday, April 3 at 8:00 p.m. EST (as they often say: "check your local listings").
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Culprit Copiers Pose Identity Theft Risk

Expert are warning that the modern photocopier could pose a risk in identity theft, according to an Associated Press article published on the WRTV Channel 6 (Indianapolis, Indiana) website. According to the report:

• That's because most digital copiers manufactured in the past five years have disk drives -- the same kind of data-storage mechanism found in computers -- to reproduce documents. As a result, the seemingly innocuous machines that are commonly used to spit out copies of tax returns for millions of Americans can retain the data being scanned.

Add the modern public photocopier to the list of people, places and things one must approach with suspicion. To read more, see Hard Drives In Copiers May Keep Your Papers (Photocopiers Use Hard Drives To Store Scans)
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Emergency Room Clerk Arrested For Identity Theft

This story was originally posted last Saturday. For the origional post, see Alleged Identity Theft Scam Targets The Dead. For the media story, see Identity theft targeted the dead (Three arrested; more than 100 names stolen)
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Tax Preparation Employees Arrested For Identity Theft

I posted a story on this case this past Sunday. I'm mentionong it again to keep all these I.D. theft stories together. Go here for my 3-25-07 post; or see Pair accused of using Latinos' tax preparation information to steal identities (Pair worked at Latino services business in 2006) for the link to the story.
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Pennsylvania Passport Clerk Charged With Identity Theft

Postal worker Kim McKnight Jimenez of Exeter Township, Pennsylvania was charged with unlawfully obtaining 18 credit cards by using postal customers’ names and Social Security numbers, according to a recent story in the Reading Eagle, at readingeagle.com. The names on the cards Jimenez obtained matched those of people whose passport applications she handled. Authorities say that in addition to the 18 victims they know about, there could be other victims who have yet to discover that their identities have been compromised. For more, see Postal worker faces charges in identity theft.
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Motel Employee Charged With Identity Theft

Oklahoma woman and motel employee Shaniak Nikole Walker was charged with committing identity theft, according to The Sun. She is accused of using the credit card of a Motel 6 guest to pay a $65.02 bill owed to Aaron Rents in Midwest City, Oklahoma. Credit goes to the Midwest City Police Department for investigating a case that others might not have bothered with. (It's close to the point where you can't use your credit card anymore.) To read more, see Woman charged with identity theft.
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Strong Arm Homeowner Association Collection Tactics Suspected

AHRC News Services has issued a March 21, 2007 Press Release from the California law firm Gottschalk & Associates that reports:

• The Law Offices of Gottschalk & Associates announced today that it is launching a RICO investigation of attorneys and management companies for homeowners associations in California.

The issue involved appears to be the alleged, excessive padding of legal and collection fees (and other costs of rules enforcement) by the management companies and homeowner association-hired attorneys when they attempt to (a) collect association maintenance fees from those unit owners who have fallen behind on their payments, and (b) otherwise enforce the association rules and regulations. In effect, it appears that the association-hired attorneys and management companies are being accused of using the threat of the possible loss of the equity in a property owner's home as leverage against the homeowner in collecting excessive fees and charges.

(A similar tactic is used by predatory mortgage servicing companies in attempting to improperly squeeze money out of a homeowner - click here for posts on predatory mortgage servicing).

Reportedly, there is an existing complaint in the Orange County, California Superior Court under the RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) and other claims that is set for trial in July 2007 against the law firm of Swedelson & Gottlieb, David Swedelson and Sandra Gottlieb individually, Association Lien Services and others.

The Press Release further requests that:

• Homeowners who currently live or formerly lived in homeowners' associations that have information of potential claims against Swedelson & Gottlieb and Peters & Freedman are requested to forward debt collection letters, bills for excessive fees not due and copies of their complaints and lawsuits and to advise whether you wish to be considered as a Plaintiff Class Representative in a class action. Homeowners who already are represented by an attorney are requested to have their attorneys contact Gottschalk and Associates with the information.

To read more, see the March 21 AHRC Press Release.

For another report on foreclosure lawsuits filed by homeowners associations and their attorneys, see the Houston Chronicle, A growing housing trend (Foreclosure suits filed by homeowners groups add up)

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Note:.

The American Homeowners Resource Center ("AHRC") is described in their website as a public interest interactive website for homeowners who live in homeowners associations which is intended to help these homeowners protect themselves from, what in effect is, the abusive, overreaching, and egregious conduct engaged in by some of those who run the associations (ie. the association directors and officers), and the management companies, attorneys and others who are hired by them.

Is Your Mortgage Interest Rate Fixed Or Adjustable? 1 In 3 Have No Clue, Says Poll!

34 percent of homeowners recently polled by a firm commissioned by Bankrate.com do not know what type of mortgage they own, according to a recent article reported by the Florida Association of Realtors. To read more, including other key findings from the poll, see ARM or FRM? 34% of homeowners don’t know.

To view the complete poll results, go to Bankrate.com Mortgage Poll.
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Cash Back And Other Incentive Deals Available From Builders/Developers

For those of you who follow sales incentive programs being offered by builders/developers in their attempts at unloading their inventory, I came across a few this past weekend from South Florida that caught my eye (pages may be slow-loading):

• Up to $20,000 Cash Back
• Zero Down Moves You In; $30,000 Any Way You Want It
• Up to $15,000 in Decorator Credits, $0 Closing Costs, Free HOA For 2007
• Up To $30,000 Cash Back, $o Closing Costs, One Year Free HOA, One Year Guaranteed Rent, Full Condo Management
• $30,000 Cash Back, No Closing Costs, $5,000 Down

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