Thursday, March 08, 2012

Brooklyn Trial Judge Indefinitely Suspends F'closure After Bankster Puts Two Separate Notes & Assignments Into Evidence To Support Same Action

In a recent ruling by Brooklyn, New York trial court Justice Herbert Kramer, a foreclosure action was suspended indefinitely when two separate notes with attendant assignments were put into evidence by the foreclosing bankster in support of said foreclosure action.

Judge Kramer was apparently pissed off enough by the apparent fraud that he announced in his ruling that he reporting the matter to the District Attorney, Kings County, the Attorney General of the State of New York and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, presumably for possible criminal prosecution.(1)

The attorneys representing the bankster in this case who will undoubtedly have a few questions to answer when criminal investigators hunt them down (presumably after they wipe the egg off their faces) are Alissa L. Wilson, Esq., and the law firm Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC, 250 Mile Crossing Blvd., Rochester, NY 14624.

For Justice Kramer ruling, see HSBC Bank USA, N.A, v. Sene, 2012 NY Slip Op 50352 (NY Sup. Ct. Kings County, February 28, 2012).

Thanks to Deontos for the heads-up on the court ruling.

(1) The following excerpt provides an insight into Justice Kramer's feelings with regard to the foreclosure fraud problem and the rampant littering taking place in courtrooms committed by the banksters with their phony document filings:

  • This Court emphatically now joins the judicial chorus who have been wary of the paperwork supplied by plaintiffs and their representatives. There is ample reason for Chief Judge's requirement for an attorney affirmation in residential foreclosure cases. As stated by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman,"we cannot allow the courts in New York State to stand idly and be party to what we now know is a deeply flawed process, especially when that process involves basic human needs-such as a family home-during this period of economic crisis."

S. Fla Realtors Make 'Bank-Owned' Status Mandatory Disclosure To Buyers, Other Agents In Response To Banksters' Practice Of Withholding Ownership Info

In West Palm Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:
  • Starting [this week], a service used by real estate agents to list homes for sale will require that agents disclose whether a bank owns the property. The change comes two days after The Palm Beach Post reported that some banks, including Wells Fargo, tell real estate agents not to disclose the bank's ownership on the Multiple Listing Service.


  • Until now, the MLS in this region did not require agents to describe a home as being "bank owned," but in other parts of the country, the information is required. Some agents who sell bank-owned property privately said they feared losing business if they went against the wishes of the banks.


  • Last week, Tyler Smith, vice president of REO Community Development for Premier Asset services, a Wells Fargo division that sells bank-owned property, said the directive to agents was done so buyers would not avoid bank-owned real estate. Smith said Wells Fargo has been improving the condition of its properties.


  • Even though a home's ownership can be obtained through public records, some agents say they would prefer to have the information disclosed on the MLS before they take a client to a home.

For more, see Starting today, MLS real estate holdings must disclose bank ownership.

See also, Agents advised to keep 'bank-owned' quiet.

Florida Federal Judge 'Green-Lights' Force Placed Insurance Class Action Suit Against Wells Fargo, QBE

American Banker reports:
  • A class action just approved in federal court involving force-placed insurance(1) increases the likely cost to banks in terms of reputational damage and cash settlements.

For more, see Wells Fargo's Force-Placed Suit Raises Financial, Regulatory Threats.

For an earlier post on this story, see South Florida Homeowners Seek Class Action Status In Lawsuit Tagging Loan Servicer Over Dubious, Force-Placed Insurance 'Gravy Train'.

(1) For more on the banksters' force placed insurance racket, see:

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

3 Church Members, Pastor Face Charges In Alleged Vacant Home Hijacking Racket As Criminal Prosecutions Of Adverse Possession-Claiming Scams Gain Steam

In Jacksonville, Florida, WJXT-TV Channel 4 reports:
  • Four people -- one of them a recent Jacksonville mayoral candidate -- were charged over the weekend with taking over vacant homes, either to live in themselves or to rent them out to others. "They were living in them, or presented them as their own," Sheriff John Rutherford said Monday. "They squatted there."


  • Warren Lee, 46, who ran for mayor last spring, was charged with grand theft, scheme to defraud and acting as a real estate agent without a license. Police called Lee the mastermind of the scheme to take over homes and rent them to others.


  • Marcellous Dunbar, 31, who was previously charged with grand theft after being found living in a $500,000 Oakleaf Plantation home in Clay County, also faces grand theft and other charges in the five Jacksonville cases announced Monday.


  • State Attorney Angela Corey said Dunbar threatened Channel 4 reporter Tarik Minor, claiming the reporter was trespassing the rightful owner of the Oakleaf house to get off the property, and the homeowner sought the help of Clay County deputies for protection when moving in. In Channel 4's coverage of Dunbar and Lee last year, they claimed they were doing this to help homeless people or veterans.


  • Also arrested in the Jacksonville cases were Cleveland Stephens and Rhonda Johnson.


  • "These people simply moved into these vacant residences and claimed them as their own, and then became the landlord of these residences," Rutherford said. "The phenomenon of literally stealing someone's house and either living there or renting it out is pretty rare."


  • The sheriff said the investigation began five months ago when neighbors of the homes involved became suspicious and contacted authorities. "It is unfair that people who have lost their homes in foreclosure, who are fighting, literally, to keep themselves afloat, are having now to deal with someone cutting the locks and moving into their homes," Corey said. "It's offensive, and beyond that, it's a criminal act."


  • Dunbar claimed to Channel 4 last year that he legally took over the property through the controversial Florida statute of adverse possession, which allows change of ownership to an abandoned home. Authorities said he was not in legal possession of the home, which had just been sold to a Navy family. Authorities said Dunbar left the home trashed.


  • Police said all four were members of the Fishers of Men World Harvest Church, of which Dunbar was pastor. One of those arrested told a detective that God "wanted them to have the property."

For the story, see 4 'squatters' charged with grand theft (1 of 4 charged Monday was candidate for mayor of Jacksonville last year).

Takedowns Of Scammers Peddling Sale Leaseback Foreclosure Rescue Deals Continue As Sacramento Feds, Local DA Score Another Guilty Plea

In Fresno, California, the Central Valley Business Times reports:
  • John Marcus Desenberg of Westlake Village preyed on families in crisis, sucking away what little money they had after gulling them into thinking he was rescuing them from foreclosure. Instead, they lost thousands of dollars each – and their homes.


  • Monday, following a lengthy investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, Mr. Desenberg pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud in U.S. District Court in Fresno. He also agreed to the forfeiture of all property and proceeds obtained as a result of his crimes, including but not limited to a personal money judgment in the amount of $300,000.


  • Mr. Desenberg, doing business as Creative Lending Solutions, devised a scheme targeted at distressed homeowners. It was part of the scheme that Desenberg would get referrals from individuals who marketed a “Fresh Start” program via the Internet, radio, and by advertisements sent through the U.S. mail to California homeowners nearing foreclosure, explains U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.


  • He would then contact other individuals with whom he did business in order for them to find an investor to purchase the home from the distressed homeowner. Once this investor was found and the home was sold to the investor, the homeowner would be allowed to stay in their home and would purportedly work on repairing their credit during the specified time period.


  • At the end of the period, the distressed homeowner would be given the option of purchasing their home back from the investor.


  • But what looked like a rescue turned out to be a trap. Mr. Wagner says investigators found that it was part of the scheme that Mr. Desenberg fraudulently induced homeowners to sign an approval form authorizing some of the sale proceeds to be given to Creative Lending Solutions as payment for fees, including but not limited to a finder’s fee and a consultation fee in an amount typically ranging from $15,000 to $20,000. He also held back money from the distressed homeowner for the purported payment of the mortgage for a specified time period, which was typically twelve months.


  • Mr. Desenberg promised the homeowners that he would monitor their situation for the twelve month time period, and that either he would make the mortgage payments out of the hold-back reserve money or that he would ensure that the investor made the mortgage payments, the government says. But the promises were hollow. He did not monitor their situation and did not ensure the mortgage payments were made. Most homes ended up in foreclosure and victims lost more than $300,000, says Mr. Wagner.

For the story, see Guilty plea in Central Valley foreclosure ‘rescue’ scam (His Creative Lending Solutions was more creative than victims realized; Could get decades in prison).

(1) For more on this type of foreclosure rescue ripoff, see:

Five S. California Suspects Get Taken Down, Face Multiple Felony Grand Theft Charges For Allegedly Running Loan Modification Ripoffs

In Santa Ana, California, KABC-TV Channel 7 reports:
  • Five Orange County men have been charged with scamming Southern California homeowners seeking help to save their homes from foreclosure. Prosecutors say the five took upfront fees from homeowners promising to deliver loan modifications. They allegedly kept the money and disappeared.


  • The men are charged with at least seven felony counts of grand theft, plus other charges. Jacob John Cunningham, 24, of Irvine; Justin Dennis Koelle, 23, of Costa Mesa; Andrew Michael Phalen, 25, of Mission Viejo; Dominic Adam Nolan, 30, of Irvine; and John D. Silva, 27, of Irvine, were all arrested and charged.

Source: 5 OC men charged in SoCal foreclosure scam.

Phoenix Man Gets Five Years For Peddling Bogus Foreclosure Assistance In Racket That Raked In $3M From 1,800 Victimized Homeowners In Ten Months

In Phoenix, Arizona, KNXV-TV Channel 15 reports:
  • A Phoenix man has been sentenced to 5 years in prison Monday for defrauding at least 1,800 distressed Valley homeowners in 2009 and 2010 in a mortgage scheme that made his company almost $3 million.


  • Luis Belevan pleaded guilty in October to conspiring with Brian Prehoda to target Hispanic homeowners during the mortgage crisis, convincing them to pay an up-front fee of $1,595 to their company with the false promise of mortgage assistance.


  • According to the Department of Justice, Belevan told homeowners and mortgage lenders that his company, The Guardian Group, LLC, has the financial backing of a $40 billion hedge fund. An investigation by the FBI found that the company had no financial backing at all.


  • In just 10 months of operation, the company managed to defraud at least 1800 distressed homeowners and make nearly $3 million – an amount he has been ordered to repay as restitution to the victims.


  • The mortgage crisis in the greater Phoenix Metropolitan area has been devastating to homeowners and the economy," said FBI Special Agent in Charge James L. Turgal Jr. with the Phoenix Division. "Belevan preyed on distressed Hispanic homeowners who were trying to avoid foreclosure on their homes.” The scheme, he said, “resulted in financial losses to homeowners with no resolution of their mortgage concerns.”


  • Belevan was also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release following his prison sentence. His associate, Prehoda, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2012.

Source: Phoenix man sentenced to 5 years in prison for defrauding Hispanic homeowners.

NC AG Scores Consent Judgment Putting Loan Modification Outfit Out Of Business In State

From the Office of the North Carolina Attorney General:
  • A Winston-Salem foreclosure assistance outfit that promised to save struggling homeowners from foreclosure is permanently banned from offering foreclosure assistance or credit repair services in North Carolina, Attorney General Roy Cooper announced [].

***

  • Late Monday, Wake County Superior Court Judge Michael R. Morgan signed a consent judgment between Cooper and Edward “Eddie” Phillip Long, Jr., doing business as Credit Enhancement Services, banning Long from offering foreclosure and loan modification services in North Carolina. Long will also pay $5,600 for consumer restitution.


  • Cooper’s office filed suit against Long in May 2011 and since then Credit Enhancement Services has ceased operating. As alleged in the complaint, Long charged upfront fees of between $300-$500 and promised to obtain favorable loan modifications to save customers’ homes from foreclosure. Despite Long’s assurances, many homeowners were unable to obtain loan modifications, and some lost their homes to foreclosure.

For the North Carolina AG press release, see Winston-Salem foreclosure assistance operation banned from NC (Cooper urges homeowners to seek free help from qualified housing counselors instead).

Idaho AG Lets Law Firm Using Potentially Deceptive Mail Solicitations To Peddle Purported Participations In Mass Joinder Lawsuits Off With Hand Slap

From the Office of the Idaho Attorney General:
  • A Utah law firm that files multi-plaintiff lawsuits against mortgage servicers has agreed to change how it solicits clients in Idaho, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said []. Wasden’s office reached a settlement agreement with Corvus Law Group, LLC, which maintains an office in Post Falls, Idaho. Pursuant to the agreement, the firm has modified its direct mail ads to comply with the Idaho Consumer Protection Act and to better inform potential clients about the law firm’s services.


  • The Attorney General’s Office began investigating Corvus Law Group after receiving complaints from consumers about the law firm’s direct mail solicitations. Labeled a “Form CLG 0127 Litigation Settlement Notification,” the form also claimed the consumer was eligible to participate in a pending multi-plaintiff lawsuit against the consumer’s purported mortgage servicer. According to consumers, it was not until they called the toll-free number on the form and spoke to a Corvus Law Group representative that they learned a lawsuit had not been filed and that to participate in a potential lawsuit, the consumer first had to pay Corvus Law Group a $5,000 retainer fee.


  • The settlement agreement prohibits Corvus Law Group from using deceptive advertising methods, such as envelopes that appear to originate from the government, and from claiming that the recipient of the solicitation is a party to a lawsuit or a settlement.


  • In its legal services solicitations to Idaho consumers, the firm also must disclose the name and Idaho State Bar number of at least one Idaho licensed attorney who will represent the consumer. Corvus Law Group also must pay the Attorney General $3,000 to reimburse him for the cost of the investigation.

For the Idaho AG press release, see Law Firm Agrees to Change Direct Mail Ads.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

No Red Carpet Treatment For MERS In NYS

Lexology reports:
  • New York government officials are continuing their assault against foreclosure actions where Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”) was the assignee of the mortgage, and challenges to foreclosures involving MERS are increasingly gaining traction in New York courts.


  • Recently, the New York State Attorney General filed a complaint against MERS and several banks alleging fraud and deception in foreclosure proceedings. People v. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., No. 2012/2768 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Feb. 3, 2012).


  • In addition, three New York trial courts have decided motions involving standing and other issues in such actions. CIT Group/Consumer Fin., Inc. v. Platt, 33 Misc. 3d 1231(A) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2011); U.S. Bank N.A. v. Bressler, 33 Misc. 3d 1231(A) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2011); Bank of New York Mellon v. Martinez, 33 Misc. 3d 1215(A) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2011).


  • Two courts ruled against the foreclosing banks, finding they did not have standing to foreclose where MERS assigned a mortgage without express authority to do so or sufficient documentation evidencing that the note was also transferred. Although the third court dismissed a lack of standing defense, it did so solely for procedural reasons.

For more, including a summary of the three above-referenced New York trial court rulings, see New York continues assault on MERS (may require subscription; if no subscription, GO HERE; or TRY HERE - then click the appropriate link).

Loan Modification Racket Operator/Church Pastor Gets Four Years In Foreclosure Rescue Ripoff; Congregation Members Among Those Targeted In Scam

In Sacramento, California, The Sacramento Bee reports:
  • An Elk Grove man has been sentenced to four years in state prison for illegal conduct in loan modifications. Rodney Andrews, 57, pleaded no contest last month to embezzlement, theft by false pretenses, diversion of construction funds and unlawful use of personal identifying information. He was sentenced [] by Sacramento Superior Court Judge John Winn.


  • At the time he committed the offenses, Andrews operated a company known as Andrews Investment Group, which offered loan modification services. He was also a pastor at the Comeback Christian Church, where he solicited members of the congregation and low-income property owners to refinance their homes, lower their mortgages or stall out their foreclosures, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release.


  • Authorities said he collected upfront fees in violation of a statues passed by the California Legislature to prevent individuals from preying on vulnerable home owners facing foreclosure or unaffordable mortgage payments. He also failed to provide proper notification as required by law, did not provide the services he promised and did not use the funds he obtained for the represented purposes.


  • The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office Real Estate Fraud Unit.

Source: Elk Grove man headed to prison for loan modification activities.

Suspected NYS Loan Mod Racket Finds Itself On State AG's Radar After Media Gets Hold Of Deceptive Solicitation Peddling Foreclosure Rescue Services

In Spring Valley, New York, The Journal News reports:
  • Rosemarie Jean Baptist thought a letter offering to help modify her mortgage was a godsend, until she grew concerned about requests for money. “I was looking for a modification for a long time,” said the Spring Valley woman, who estimated that she is about $22,000 behind in her mortgage payments. “When they told me not to pay my mortgage for three years and give them my bank account number, all this stuff made me suspicious.”

***

  • [State Sen. David Carlucci, D-Clarkstown] said a state law effective Dec. 19, 2010, requires property consultants to provide information about the availability of free state-funded services in their advertisements. The Green Law Group’s letter to Jean Baptist dated Jan. 12 did not contain such information. Additionally, state law prohibits loan-modification consultants from taking upfront fees.


  • On Thursday a firm representative denied inappropriate conduct. “We’re not preying on anybody at all,” said Randy, who hung up the call after he was asked for his full name. “We don’t charge to do a modification. We charge for foreclosure prevention.”

***

  • Jean Baptist said one of the reasons she called the Green Law Group is because she had unsuccessfully sought a loan modification from her lender. Peter Spino, manager of foreclosure services at Community Housing Innovations, which also offers free loan modification services, read the Green Law Group’s solicitation and called it misleading.


  • The Journal News sent a copy of the Green Law Group’s solicitation to the state Attorney General’s Office [...]. Spokeswoman Jennifer Givner declined to comment on the letter but noted that her office is aware of concerns raised about the Green Law Group.

For the story, see Mortgage loan-modification offer called 'suspicious'.

Monday, March 05, 2012

Federal Judge: Mtg. Assignments Must Be Recorded Upon Each Transfer; MERS F'closure Losses Continue In Oregon; Issue Begs State High Court Ruling

In Portland, Oregon, The Oregonian reports:
  • A federal judge has yet again issued a ruling that effectively questions the validity of scores of foreclosures in Oregon, a crisis the Legislature could resolve in the mortgage industry's favor this week if bank lobbyists and House Republican leaders have their way.


  • In an opinion issued Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon rejected a magistrate judge's finding and rulings by two of his colleagues that big banks could avoid recording notices in local land records each time a loan is sold to other lenders or investors.


  • Simon sided with two other federal judges in Oregon in ruling that lenders have violated state recording law. They've done this, they say, by logging sales within its nationwide Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. and declaring MERS a “beneficiary” of the loan.

***

  • Simon ruled that under state law, lenders must file a notice in county records each time they sell or transfer a note, or a promise from a borrower to pay. MERS, he ruled, can file those notices on the lenders' behalf, if a lender has authorized it to do so. MERS cannot, however, simply log those notices within its own database without also recording it publicly, he found. In millions of loans nationwide, it has.


  • In acting as he did, Simon overruled lower Magistrate Janice Stewart's previous findings and recommendations in the case. His ruling also conflicts with opinions in other cases issued by his equals in Oregon -- Judge Michael Mosman and Judge Marco A. Hernandez.


  • But it aligns with rulings in other cases by Judge Owen Panner and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Alley. Panner's ruling, which also came last year as lawmakers debated the MERS issue, is on appeal to the U.S. Ninth District Court of Appeals.

***

  • The differences of opinion in these courts underscore how crucial an Oregon Supreme Court ruling will be, unless the legislature changes state law entirely this week.(1) A ruling by the state's highest court is still likely months away.

***

  • Simon said Oregon courts “reaching back more than a century” have found that the note and its security instrument may not be passed on to separate parties. In these cases, the security instrument is the trust deed.


  • Simon wrote that Bank of America and MERS wanted him to interpret Oregon law in a way that makes Oregon deed of trust law “virtually meaningless.” If he did, lenders could designate anyone to act in their interests, “no matter how remote, disinterested or obscure,” he wrote. “The Oregon Supreme Court would be unlikely to endorse such a broad interpretation.” Such an interpretation, he said, could open borrowers to unauthorized foreclosure and wrongful sale of their property.

***

  • Kelly Harpster, a Lake Oswego attorney who represents homeowners, called Simon's ruling "the most thorough and thoughtful analysis of the MERS issue that has yet been published ... However, the opinion is not binding on any judge in state or federal court. They are free to adopt Judge Simon's reasoning or reject it."


  • If the stalemate in Salem holds, Oregon's High Court will have to resolve this disagreement. In the meantime, foreclosures in the state will likely take longer, slowing any recovery in the housing market.

For more, see Federal court ruling against MERS foreclosure in Oregon comes (again) as Republican lawmakers try to validate it.

For the ruling, see James v. Recontrust Company, Case 3:11-cv-00324-ST (D. Ore. February 29, 2012).

(1) Even if the state law is changed, an Orgeon Supreme Court ruling is still crucial in order to straighten out the mess already created by MERS for those foreclosures that have taken place prior to the effective date of any possible change in the law that might be passed by the state Republican lawmakers (and their filthy henchman-lobbyists).

U.S. Appeals Court Boots Nevada AG Foreclosure Suit Back To State Court; Rejects BofA's Attempt To Shop For Friendlier Federal Forum

Reuters reports:
  • A federal appeals court on Friday granted Nevada's request to send its lawsuit alleging mortgage modification and foreclosure abuses against Bank of America Corp back to Nevada state court. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision by a lower court, which had concluded that the lawsuit belonged in federal court.(1)


  • Nevada's complaint, filed in Clark County, Nevada, in January 2011, alleges that Bank of America misled consumers about the terms of its home mortgage modification and foreclosure processes. Nevada also accused the bank of violating terms of a consent judgment it and several of its subsidiaries had entered into with the state in February 2009. After Bank of America removed the lawsuit to federal court, Nevada's request to send it back to state court was denied.


  • Chief Judge Robert Clive Jones of the District of Nevada ruled that the lawsuit belonged in his court because the lawsuit was a class action, which gives federal courts jurisdiction. But the three-judge panel for appeals court disagreed, finding that a case filed by a state's attorney general did not qualify as a class action. It also ruled that Nevada had an interest in keeping the lawsuit in its own state.


  • "Nevada's strong sovereign interest in enforcing its state laws -- and its state-law-created Consent Judgment -- in the courts of its own state weighs in favor of remand to state," the panel wrote. Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.(2)

Source: Court sides with Nevada in BoA foreclosure case (9th Circuit sends case back to Nevada state court; Lawsuit alleges mortgage abuses against Bank of America).

For the court ruling, see State of Nevada v. Bank of America Corp., No. 12-15005 (March 2. 2012) (for publication).

For an earlier post, see Desperate BofA Resorting To Forum Shopping In Search Of Better Outcome From Federal Court In Response To Nevada AG's Recent Misconduct Allegations?

(1) A September, 2011 article in the Reno Gazette-Journal (article no longer available on their website, but a copy can be found here) on this story contained the following excerpt on Bank of America's blatant attempt to forum-shop this case into federal court so the case can be heard by 'friendlier judicial ears'):

  • But with Bank of America successfully kicking up the original case to federal court earlier this year -- and potentially skipping the state courts -- Nevada's amended complaint against the bank faces a more uncertain outcome, if past federal judgments are any indication.


  • "This is such a big deal because 99-plus percent of these cases in federal court are disposed of without evidence ... and in summary fashion," said Geoffrey Giles, a Reno lawyer. "Banks are actually winning these cases hands down and they will do anything to get their case removed to federal court because they know they can get a better deal. It's the most rank example of forum shopping."


  • Forum shopping is the practice of trying to get a case heard in a court that is more likely to render a favorable verdict. The case's removal from state court to the U.S. Ninth Circuit was opposed by Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. Bank of America violated state law -- not federal law -- so the case should be decided by Nevada courts, Masto said.

***

  • At the heart of Giles' appeal and Masto's argument to have the Bank of America case remanded is a long-standing debate on whether federal courts should be allowed to remove cases directly related to state law from state courts. The debate is at the center of an ongoing case, "Chapman vs, Deutsche Bank," which is being heard at the Nevada Supreme Court.


  • The case could potentially put the brakes on state court cases being snatched by federal courts, with the exception of class-action lawsuits. "The issue is, should federal judges be making rulings on Nevada state law?" Giles said. "You basically have federal courts telling Nevada how its foreclosure statutes work and that's wrong. That should be up to the Nevada Supreme Court, but federal courts have consistently refused to buy those arguments."

(2) An ABA Journal article (see Judge Says Firm Must Explain ‘Fraudulent’ Removals or Pony Up $25K) offers this observation on the legal maneuver used by BofA to find a friendlier forum to defend against a lawsuit, one commonly used in civil cases by big-time corporate defendants and their white-shoe law firms in lawsuits brought by (possibly under-financed) individuals and other plaintiffs on behalf of individuals, of moving a case from a state to a federal court:

  • [I]t is widely believed that plaintiffs, particularly individuals rather than corporations, fare better in state courts where they have greater likelihood of getting to a jury and often benefit from more favorable interpretations of law. Defendants in turn tend to prefer the federal courts. Thus removals can become a cat-and-mouse game in which a plaintiff names a party having nothing to do with the matter as one of the defendants to prevent the other side from removing the matter to federal court. That court can find fraudulent joinder and keep the case or remand it.

  • But studies have shown a greater increase in recent years of defendants removing cases to federal court, only for them to be dispatched back to state court for erroneous removal. One researcher, a third-year student at New York University School of Law, found that most often in such situations, the plaintiffs are individuals. And the rate of their cases being remanded back to state court is higher, too, wrote Christopher Terranova in last summer’s edition of the Willamette Law Review (PDF).

  • He adds that “the delays and costs of that extra procedural step to federal court are more costly and burdensome for most individual plaintiffs than they are for bigger defendants with more assets."

For the above-referenced Willamette Law Review article, see Erroneous Removal As A Tool For Silent Tort Reform: An Empirical Analysis Of Fee Awards And Fraudulent Joinder (article also available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1073402).

For an example of one Federal judge excoriating a lawyer and law firm for, according to the judge, their history of fraudulent removal requests of cases from state court to Federal court, see Hollier v. Willstaff Worldwide, Case 6:08-cv-01382-TLM-CMH (W.D. La. 2009):

  • Sadly, the Court is not surprised by G.W. Premier’s counsels’ tactics in this proceeding as Ungarino & Eckert, L.L.C.’s reputation proceeds it. This case is but one in a long line of fraudulent and improper removals that Ungarino & Eckert, and more specifically Matthew Ungarino, have filed in this and other districts. [...] [For more, see Hollier v. Willstaff Worldwide (pp. 4-9).]

Feds Score 2nd Guilty Plea In Memphis-Area Foreclosure Sale Surplus-Snatching Ripoff

In Memphis, Tennessee, The Commercial Appeal reports:
  • A restaurant employee accused of conspiring to steal more than $1 million in surplus tax funds from Chancery Court pleaded guilty Friday in federal court. Correy Isom, 36, pleaded guilty as charged to three felony counts involving conspiracy, theft and money laundering in a hearing before U.S. Dist. Court Judge Jon McCalla. Isom, who was represented by attorney Coleman Garrett, will be sentenced later.


  • Last month former Chancery Court bookkeeper Brandon Gunn, 47, who also pleaded guilty, was sentenced to four years in federal prison and was ordered to make restitution of more than $1 million in tax foreclosure funds he embezzled from the office between 2008 and 2011.


  • Gunn was involved in an office function in which delinquent property taxes are paid by selling a homeowner's property, with the remainder or surplus to be placed in an escrow account the homeowner can claim.


  • The embezzlement scheme came to light when one homeowner seeking to claim a surplus discovered that it had been paid to a company set up by Gunn. Gunn admitted to writing 38 checks, ranging in amounts from $5,761 to $72,241, and sending them to his company or to other entities linked to him between May 2008 and March 2011.


  • Like Gunn, Isom likely will be ordered to make payments toward restitution. In response to the systematic theft, the county is implementing new financial software and other office accounting measures.

Source: Second man pleads guilty in Memphis Chancery Court theft case.

Fort Worth DA: Adverse Possession Vacant Home Hijackings "A Goofy Scam To Excuse Criminal Behavior" After Grand Jury Indicts 8; One Faces Life In Jail

In Fort Worth, Texas, the Star Telegram reports:
  • Eight people have been indicted by a Tarrant County grand jury for illegally taking possession of other people's vacant or abandoned homes, the Tarrant County District Attorney has announced.


  • "A burglary by any other name is still a burglary,'' District Attorney Joe Shannon said in a written statement. "Any invasion of a person's home is a serious matter."


  • The eight so-called squatters filed affidavits with the county to try to claim the properties. A state law allows persons to claim abandoned properties as long as they pay property taxes, provide maintenance for the homes and meet other requirements. After a while, if no owner contests the claim, the squatter may get to keep the property.


  • But Shannon chalked such actions up to "a goofy scam to excuse criminal behavior." In early November, he instructed the county clerk's office, which is responsible for accepting the affidavits, to deny them because he said they were fraudulent. He said such behaviors "will be dealt with by this office, our courts and juries."


  • One of the squatters - Anthony L. Brown, 62 -- is facing up to life in prison because of his prior criminal history. He and seven others are also facing one count of burglary of a habitation and one count of theft ranging from $100,000 to $200,000. The bulk of the indictments carry a penalty of up to 20 years to life in prison.


  • Among the indicted are Jasmine Williams, 22, and David Cooper, 25, who are accused of illegally taking possession of a $400,000 Arlington home. Others include relatives Andrew James LaTour II, 31, and Alicia Renee LaTour II, 30; and Sandra Selena LaTour, 51, Selena Kareen Brown, 29 and Andre Brown, 30.


  • A ninth squatter, Billie V. Henderson, 64, has been charged with criminal mischief for changing the locks on a Grapevine house in an effort to try and take possessions. His case was not presented to the grand jury because it is a misdemeanor charge.


  • Homes the squatters claimed were in Mansfield, Arlington and Grapevine. Shannon and other officials at the district attorney's office are also making presentations to various neighborhood associations to educate the public about the abuses, a spokeswoman said []. No further information was provided regarding the indictments because the cases are pending.

Source: Tarrant grand jury indicts eight squatters.

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Foreclosure Rescue Operator Gets 33 Months For Peddling Predatory Sale Leaseback Deals That Stripped Home Equity From Financially Strapped Homeowners

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Newark, New Jersey):
  • A Scotch Plains, N.J., man was sentenced [] to 33 months in prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme he organized through Elite Financial Solutions, a purported home foreclosure rescue company he owned and operated, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Stephen French, 53, previously pleaded guilty [...] to one count of wire fraud conspiracy, admitting he caused more than $1 million in losses through the scheme.

***

  • According to documents filed in this and related cases and statements made in court:

    Beginning in February 2005, French devised a scheme to use Elite to fraudulently induce financial institutions to provide mortgage loans to unqualified borrowers, enabling French and his co-conspirators to earn consulting fees from the sales of properties financed by the loans.

    Michael Martino, 47, of Bloomfield, N.J., who as an employee of Elite was responsible for recruiting straw buyers for properties in foreclosure, was sentenced on March 15, 2011, [...] to a year and a day in prison. Martino previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy [...].

    French, Martino, and others at Elite targeted New Jersey homeowners who could not make mortgage payments and were facing foreclosure. They would promise the homeowners that Elite would help them keep their homes and repair their damaged credit.

    The homeowners would be instructed to permit title to their homes to be put in the names of straw buyers for one or two years. French promised to improve their credit ratings during that time, help them obtain more favorable mortgages, and ultimately return title to their homes.

    French, Martino, and others at Elite told the homeowners that equity withdrawn from their homes would be kept in escrow and used to pay the mortgages and expenses and to repair their credit. Instead, Elite took a “consulting fee” of $25,000 per property, and the remaining equity was deposited into bank accounts French controlled.

    French, Martino, and others at Elite paid the straw buyers $10,000 for use of their names and credit histories in the transactions, and submitted fraudulent loan applications to mortgage lenders in the straw buyers’ names in order to ensure the loans would be approved. In addition to the prison term, Judge [William J.] Martini sentenced French to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $1,957,525.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Former owner and operator of phony mortgage rescue company sentenced to prison for role in fraud scheme.

(1) For more on this type of foreclosure rescue ripoff, see:

Feds Squeeze Guilty Plea From Another Scammer Peddling Bogus Equity Stripping Sale Leaseback Deals To High Equity, No-Cash Homeowners In Foreclosure

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Norfolk, Virginia):
  • Ray D. Gata, 56, of Chesapeake, Va., pleaded guilty [] in Norfolk federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a fraudulent foreclosure rescue scheme.

***

  • According to court documents, from November 2006 until February 2011, Gata and a conspirator engaged in a foreclosure rescue scheme that defrauded homeowners and mortgage lenders.


  • The conspirator promised homeowners that he could save them from foreclosure by arranging a sale of their homes to Gata and other straw borrowers. To further entice the homeowners, the conspirator promised that they could remain in their homes after the sale, pay rent, and he would resell the homes back to them once they were more financially secure.


  • The conspirator and Gata profited from this scheme by taking all of the proceeds from the home sales. To complete the scheme, the conspirator and Gata executed false closing documents that showed the proceeds of the sale going back to the homeowners when, in fact, the proceeds were going to Gata, the conspirator, and the other straw borrowers.


  • The homeowners received nothing from the sale of their homes while the conspirator, Gata and others received in excess of $170,000. In almost every case, the conspirator required the homeowners to pay more in rent to cover a larger mortgage, and ultimately evicted these homeowners from their homes.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Chesapeake Man Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud Scheme.

(1) For more on this type of foreclosure rescue ripoff, see:

Mortgage Broker Gets One Year For Role In DC-Area Sale Leaseback Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Scam

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (District of Columbia):
  • Rasheeda M. Canty, a former mortgage broker, has been sentenced to a one-year prison term for her role in an extensive mortgage fraud scheme involving properties in the District of Columbia and Maryland, [...].

***

  • The judge also ordered her to pay $339,643 in restitution. Canty also must forfeit $342,572, which represents the amounts of commissions she received from lenders on the fraudulent transactions. As part of her plea agreement, Canty agreed that the scheme led to losses of at least $1 million.


  • According to the Statement of Offense filed by the government, to which Canty agreed, Canty was a mortgage broker with an office in Lanham, Maryland. As part of her job duties, Canty completed and filed, often by mail or interstate wire transactions, loan applications to financial institutions on behalf of individuals involved in real estate transactions.


  • Over a two-year period starting in about April of 2005, Canty and others conspired to defraud financial institutions whose deposits were insured by the FDIC for the purpose of influencing the financial institutions to approve mortgage loans. She and others perpetrated this scheme by identifying distressed homeowners whose properties in Washington, D.C., and Maryland were facing imminent foreclosure and offering to purchase their properties.


  • The conspirators told some of the homeowners that they could repurchase their properties within one year. Canty prepared fraudulent letters to have derogatory information deleted from the sellers’ credit reports so that their credit scores would be increased, thus allowing the sellers to qualify for the re-purchase of their properties.


  • The conspirators then sought unsophisticated individuals, with good credit scores or credit scores that could be fraudulently raised, to act as “straw purchasers,” also known as “credit partners,” for these transactions, often in exchange for a $5,000 to $10,000 fee to the straw purchaser for the use of his or her personal information to purchase the respective property.


  • The straw purchasers understood that one of the conspirators would make the monthly mortgage payments, and the straw purchaser would not be otherwise financially responsible for the property or required to live there. On some occasions, the conspirators used the identification of innocent, unknowing victims to make these purchases.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Maryland Woman Sentenced to One Year in Prison For Her Role in Extensive Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Defendant Submitted Fraudulent Information to Obtain Loans).

(1) For more on this type of foreclosure rescue ripoff, see:

Miniature Horse Ranch Operators Who Sold, Then Leased Back Property To Dodge F'closure Now Face Eviction; New Owner Says He Needs To Unload Premises

In Penngrove, Caliifornia, The Press Democrat reports:
  • The owners of the Penngrove miniature horse ranch called Lovepatch Farms face a daunting deadline — come up with $500,000 or vacate the 2 1/4-acre property.


  • The Mill Valley family that only two years ago helped Lee Romero and Cory Vandergeld avoid foreclosure by purchasing the ranch and leasing it back to them must now sell the property for business reasons.


  • After 30 years of living on the Palm Avenue ranch, moving all their belongings, 41 horses, numerous indoor and outdoor stalls, paddocks and fencing seems inconceivable to the aging couple.

***

  • [A]fter refinancing their property three times Romero and Vandergeld, like so many others, found themselves under water and unable to pay their bills.

***

  • Ray Kaliski, a member of the Mill Valley family that bought the property in 2009 so that the ranch could survive, said his family paid $412,000 in cash for the property to give Romero and Vandergeld time to get their finances in order.


  • Romero and Vandergeld were friends of Kaliski's sister, Barbara Norman, who with her father used to own and run Winners' Circle Ranch on Lakeville Highway. Several of the horses now at Lovepatch were purchased from Winners Circle.


  • After buying the Penngrove property, Kaliski said his family began an expensive remodel of the house, putting in new flooring, a new outdoor bathroom for visitors, new heating, remodeling the kitchen and replacing the siding on the house, among other things.


  • The family asked for $2,000 a month in rent, but Romero said that all the remodeling work affected their ability to schedule tours and they quickly fell behind in their rent payments. And the horses, which cost roughtly $1,200 a month to feed, have increased the couple's financial burden.


  • Last year, Romero and Vandergeld worked out an agreement that would allow them to pay $1,500 a month in rent, with $500 going to cover some of the back rent owed. The two, who have been paying that amount since last September, have been trying to cover their expenses with revenue from several other on-site businesses.


  • Romero and Vandergeld run an online distribution business for building supplies. She also does Web page design and sews and sells halter identification tags. “We've been trying to do everything to make money,” Romero said. “What they're going to do is make us destitute,” said Vandergeld.


  • But Kalaski said his family has been more than generous, remodeling the ranch home and giving them a break on the rent, which he said should be around $2,500 a month. “I never offered to give them the place for free,” he said. “We talked about the fact that we would offer it to them before we would offer it to anyone else.”


  • In an email to the couple sent Jan. 30, the family said it would take $500,000, which is $35,000 less than “comparables.” A 60-day notice asking Romero and Vandergeld to vacate the property expired last week. Kaliski said his family needs to sell the property.


  • We had the money available at the time,” he said. “But since that time, we've made some significant investments with other properties here that's drained our liquidity ... Now we need to convert that property into cash. “It's strictly a business decision,” he said.


  • Romero said the family has given her a “drop-dead deadline.” “They said that if we agree to pay rent February, March and April, they will extend the time we have to leave until April 30,” she said. “We're going to try and get financing. We're going to give ourselves X amount of time to get financing.”

For the story, see Four-legged tenants facing eviction.

Saturday, March 03, 2012

Small Dog Takes $20K 'Bite' Out Of HOA In DOJ Suit Alleging Association Refused To OK Support Animal To Help Disabled Combat Vet Cope With Depression

From the U.S. Department Of Justice ('DOJ'):
  • The Justice Department [] announced a $20,000 consent decree that resolves a lawsuit alleging that a Park City, Utah, condominium association and its management company violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to grant a resident’s request for a reasonable accommodation.


  • The lawsuit, filed on Nov. 21, 2011, in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, alleges that the Fox Point at Redstone Association, Property Management Systems and on-site property manager Derek Peterson refused to grant a reasonable accommodation so that Thomas Burton, a disabled combat veteran of the first Gulf War, could keep a small dog in the condominium he rented to help him cope with the effects of depression and anxiety disorder.


  • The lawsuit further alleges that the defendants refused to waive their pet fees and insurance requirements and issued multiple fines that eventually led to the non-renewal of Burton’s lease.


  • Under the consent decree, which was entered by the U.S. District Court in Utah, the defendants will pay $20,000 in monetary relief to Burton.

For the Justice Department press release, see Justice Department Settles Disability Discrimination Case Involving Disabled Veteran in Utah.

For the lawsuit setting forth the allegations, see United States v. Fox Point at Redstone Ass'n, Inc, et al. (go here for the $20K consent decree).

NYCHA Set To 'Gently Boot' 1000s Of Public Housing Hogs As Some City Tenants Use Federally Subsidized Rental 'Safety Net' As Comfortable 'Hammock'

In New York City, the New York Post reports:
  • About 55,000 city public- housing tenants are living in apartments far larger than they’re legally entitled to — and only a handful are cooperating with efforts to move them into smaller units, the head of the [New York City] Housing Authority ['NYCHA'] said [].


  • That’s a sizable number,” declared agency Chairman John Rhea at a hearing of the City Council’s Committee on Public Housing. “This is not a small issue.” He warned that tenant hoarding of huge apartments “fundamentally jeopardizes” the operation of the nation’s largest public-housing agency and its 178,882 apartments. The waiting list for city housing has 160,000 names.


  • And that doesn’t include the thousands of Housing Authority families crowded into apartments too small for them because turnover is so low for the largest units, which can be up to six bedrooms.


  • Councilwoman Rosie Mendez (D-Manhattan), the committee chair, said she knows of a family of three holding onto a six-bedroom apartment in her Lower East Side district. Mendez said the family was once filled with kids who have since moved out, leaving a mother and her two adult children. “They need to be moved to accommodate someone else who is in her situation [of years ago],” said Mendez.


  • The number we didn’t get [at the hearing] is how many people are in crowded or severely crowded apartments,” she added. “It really is a problem.”


  • Officials said that more than 25,000 single tenants are occupying two-bedroom units, which require a minimum of three residents under federal guidelines. Complicating matters is the fact that seniors are living in 30,000 of the 55,000 underutilized units and are generally reluctant to leave.


  • This is leading to unbelievable anxiety,” Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan) said. Rhea agreed, but said his agency has no option in the matter because it stands to lose federal funding if the rules continue to be violated.


  • Right-sizing apartments is a very delicate issue,” Rhea conceded. “Having said that, we have an obligation to act. The reality is we need compliance.” He said the problem was “not aggressively handled” in prior administrations.

***

  • Comments posted by angry tenants on the Internet indicate the Housing Authority is in for some fights.


  • I’m all by myself in a two-bedroom app and I have lived here 26 years and I understand how people feel about families that needs apts but I’m not going to transfer from a community I’ve known my whole life . . . to move to bad neighborhood with a high crime rate and one day get shot,” a tenant identified as LinkCalderon wrote on the city-data.com forum site.


  • On the other side, JayBrown80 recommended gripers pipe down because they’re all receiving government subsidies. “I totally support the safety net for those people who cannot help themselves,” he wrote. “But it’s a safety net, not a safety hammock where you get comfortable and stay there for the rest of your life.”

For the story, see Trough time booting public-housing hogs.

Indiana County Scores $1.5M In New Tax Revenue In Battle Against Fraudulent Homestead Exemption Claims

From a joint Lexis/Nexis and Tax Management Associates press release:
  • LexisNexis® Risk Solutions and Tax Management Associates, Inc. (TMA) [] announced that Delaware County, Ind. has discovered almost $1,500,000 in new revenue by leveraging the companies' Homestead Exemption Fraud Detection program.


  • The program -- the result of an alliance created by the companies -- combines LexisNexis analytics technology and public records databases with TMA's investigative capabilities to help counties detect Homestead Exemption fraud and discover new revenue.


  • Under the program, LexisNexis identified 3.6 percent of the applications in Delaware County's Homestead Exemption program were potentially fraudulent by examining key indicators of fraud such as:

    1) Exemptions filed by owners for rental properties;
    2) Individuals with multiple exemptions for multiple properties within Indiana;
    3) Individuals with multiple exemptions for multiple properties across multiple states;
    4) Businesses receiving exemptions; and
    5) Family members receiving exemptions under deceased property owners' names.


  • TMA further investigated the LexisNexis findings, verified the information and prioritized the accounts for collection by Delaware County.

For more, see LexisNexis and Tax Management Associates Identify Fraud and Discover Nearly $1,500,000 in New Revenue for Delaware County, Indiana (Alliance Leverages Data and Investigation Capabilities to Combat Homestead Exemption Fraud).

Florida Homestead Claims An Issue For Temporary Bay State Residents Registered To Vote In Massachusetts

In Essex, Massachusetts, the Gloucester Times reports:
  • Town voting officials are once again examining Essex's voting rolls with evidence that at least four people who are registered to vote in Essex, including a town official, claim primary residence in Florida, according to public records.


  • Steven and Margaret Hartley and Kristine and John True have filed for homestead exemptions on their Florida residences, which offer tax breaks as well as legal protections that can be applied only to a primary residence. Yet all four are registered to vote in Essex, records show.


  • A homestead exemption in the state of Florida prevents a home from being seized as part of bankruptcy filing, and protects the owner from being forced out of his or her home to cover debts, including potential long-term, health care needs. It also comes with substantial tax benefits: it allows the taxpayer to deduct $50,000 from the assessed value of the home, lowering the tax bill.

***

  • Both the Hartleys and the Trues are residents of Conomo Point, which is officially designated as summer housing only. Neither the Trues nor the Hartleys have another residence in Essex, and neither couple has permission to live on Conomo Point year-round.

For more, see Florida papers raise new red flags over Essex voting.

FTC Scores Preliminary Halt To Bill Collector Collecting 'Phony' Debts As Court Order Stops Outfit That Already Pocketed $5M+ From Alleged Victims

From the Federal Trade Commission:
  • At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. district court has halted an operation that the FTC alleges collected phantom payday loan “debts” that consumers did not owe. Consumers received millions of collection calls from India, and that since January 2010 the operation took in more than $5 million from victims, according to the FTC.


  • In tough economic times, many consumers turn to high-interest, short-term payday loans between paychecks. The FTC alleges that information submitted by consumers who applied online for these loans found its way into the hands of the defendants.


  • Often pretending to be law enforcement or other government authorities, the callers working with the defendants would falsely threaten to immediately arrest and jail consumers if they did not agree to make a payment on a delinquent payday loan, the FTC’s court papers stated.


  • Claiming to be law enforcement, such as a local police department, the “Federal Department of Crime and Prevention,” or simply a “federal investigator,” the callers typically demanded more than $300, and sometimes as much as $2,000.


  • At other times, the callers said they were filing a large lawsuit against the consumer because of the delinquent payday loan or would have the consumer fired from his or her job, according to the FTC.


  • But the consumers did not owe money to defendants – either the payday loan debts did not exist or the defendants had no authority to collect them because they are owed to someone else, according to the FTC.


  • The court order stops the illegal conduct and freezes the operation’s assets while the FTC moves forward with the case.

For the FTC press release, and links to related court documents, see Court Halts Alleged Fake Debt Collector Calls from India, Grants FTC Request to Stop Defendants Who Often Posed as Law Enforcement.

For more on bill collectors attempting to collect on fake debts, see FTC Consumer Alert: Who's Calling? That Debt Collector Could Be a Fake.

Meth Lab Explosion Leaves Home Uninhabitable; Premises Suspected To Be In Foreclosure Drags Down Quality Of Life For Surrounding Neighbors

In Lilburn, Georgia, WGCL-TV Channel 46 reports:
  • Many residents in a Lilburn neighborhood are fed up with what's left of a home on Spring Mill Drive. One year ago, a meth lab explosion inside killed three children, and damaged the home beyond the point of being inhabitable. The people living there were either arrested or fled from authorities, and haven't been found.


  • Initially shocked by the tragedy, neighbors have become weary of the house as it falls into disrepair, without an owner to take care of it. Several windows are boarded up, and signs of damage from the explosion are visible.


  • "Can't really do anything to the house, and I don't know, maybe technically we're not even supposed to be in the yard," said nearby resident Donna Sowell. She said some of her neighbors have taken their own lawn mowers to occasionally trim the grass, and take care of fallen tree limbs. But the structure, itself, is out of their hands.


  • Most people in the neighborhood now assume the property went into foreclosure after the explosion, and is owned by a bank.


  • "It affects the quality of life for everyone on this street," said Sowell. "I'd hate to be trying to sell a house, and (the former meth lab house is) the first thing perspective buyers see coming into the neighborhood."

Source: One year after meth lab explosion, home lingers as eye sore.

Bank Has 2nd Thoughts On Completing Foreclosure Action After Homeowner Vacates; Premises Becomes Uninhabitable, Taking Down Neighbors' Quality Of Life

In Cleveland, Ohio, NewsChannel 5 reports:
  • For one woman, moving into a southeast Cleveland neighborhood in the 1980s was a dream come true. But years later, the dream spiraled into sleepless nights. "Despair. Frustration. Why did this have to happen?" Jennifer Simmons said.


  • Renting somewhere else now, Simmons cries over the home that slipped away. Foreclosure knocked on her door after she had taken loans against the house and fell behind in payments. "They served me papers at work, at my job, at home, in the mail. Everywhere," Simmons said.


  • Simmons moved out, and vandals hit the house within days. They turned it into a nightly stop, stripping away everything that was not nailed and some things that were, even the furnace. "People took the water meter out of the house and it caused the house to flood for three weeks straight," Simmons said.


  • Two years later, the bank called and said it was dropping foreclosure proceedings. But by then, the house was uninhabitable.


  • And the bank came back and said, 'Hey Jennifer, you can have your home back,’" said Jim Szakacs, director of the Nehemiah Mission, a church group helping people and properties. At no charge, the mission cleaned away debris and propped up the house to keep it from caving in.


  • "This used to be a kitchen. I'm looking around at the kitchen and utility room. I used to cook holiday meals in here," Simmons said. Simmons loves the house, even now. It was home . County ownership records still carry her name. "I can't look at pictures of Christmases past and holidays… The last holiday before I moved out and I cry. I can't look at the pictures anymore," Simmons said.


  • So now an abandoned house becomes a falling domino, taking with it lives of others. "What happens to the neighbor next door, to his property values because of this house?" Szakacs said.


  • Ask neighbor Rick Johnson, who has seen enough to know he has seen too much. "You go around any corner, there's at least seven empty houses on the street. Everybody used to own these houses around here. It wasn't like rental, stuff like that. They owned these houses now. Neighborhood tore. It's tore up bad," Johnson said.


  • It’s the story of a house which is a ghost of what it was, and of a woman who had sweet dreams before foreclosure. Problems of the abandoned house now ripple down the street, affecting the lives of those around it.

For more, see Cleveland woman gets her foreclosed home back after it's destroyed by vandals.

Friday, March 02, 2012

Review Of Bankster Annual Stockholder Report Necessary To Glean Some Substantive Terms Of National Foreclosure Fraud Settlement

Blogger David Dayen writes in Firedoglake:
  • It’s embarrassing that the most information we’ve yet received about the foreclosure fraud settlement comes from an annual report to stockholders by Wells Fargo. In other words, we had to wait for the banks to tell us what was in the settlement, I guess because the regulatory officials who negotiated it weren’t entirely proud of their work.


  • The Wells Fargo notice (it begins on page 74) isn’t legal language, and it states clearly that “the terms… do not become final until approval of the settlement agreement by the U.S. District Court and execution of a consent order.”


  • But it provides more detailed information than the broad sketch that has been released. For example, we have the first breakdown that I’ve seen of the credit system for principal reductions.

For more, see Wells Fargo Shareholder Report Reveals Information on Foreclosure Fraud Settlement.

Participants Sentenced For Roles In Reverse Mortgage Scam Conspiracy That Targeted Elderly Victims

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Atlanta, Georgia):
  • A group of mortgage fraud conspirators have been sentenced to prison [...] in federal district court on multiple charges relating to a “reverse mortgage” scheme targeting the elderly.


  • KELSEY TORREY HULL, 39, of Lithonia, Georgia; JONATHAN ALFRED KIMPSON, 28, of Lithonia, Georgia; JAMES MICHAEL GREEN, 44, of Lilburn, Georgia; HERBERT BUSH, 31, of Atlanta, Georgia; WILBUR “SONNY” LETAK, 44, of Atlanta, Georgia; KEVIN CLAUDE BARNETT, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia; were all sentenced for their roles in the scheme.(1)


  • United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “HUD’s Home Equity Conversion Program was designed to enable seniors to buy a home or to stay in a home at a time in their lives when it may be very difficult for them to obtain a conventional loan. These defendants took money out of the hands of the elderly and then put them in houses worth only a fraction of the amounts represented. This case represents yet another variation of mortgage fraud we are combatting through investigation and prosecution.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Fraudsters Sentenced To Prison For "Reverse Mortgage" Scheme.

(1) The sentencing fallout follows:

  • HULL was sentenced to 151 months in prison to be followed by 6 months of home confinement and 5 years of supervised release,
  • KIMPSON was sentenced to 102 months in prison to be followed by 6 months of home confinement and 5 years of supervised release,
  • GREEN was sentenced to 37 months in prison to be followed by 6 months of home confinement and 5 years of supervised release,
  • BUSH was sentenced to 37 months in prison to be followed by 6 months of home confinement and 5 years of supervised release,
  • LETAK was sentenced to 30 months in prison to be followed by 6 months of home confinement and 5 years of supervised release,
  • BARNETT was sentenced to five years of probation.

The defendants pleaded guilty to the charges in separate hearings between June 2010 and August 2011. Another co-defendant in the case, GIA JOY GLASSE-HARRIS, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced on November 3, 2011 to 2 years, 7 months in prison and 6 months of home confinement to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $174,000 in restitution.

Court To Defendant Facing Prosecution In Scam Targeting Homeowners Facing Foreclosure: 'Turn Over The Computer Password'

In Denver, Colorado, The Associated Press reports:
  • A federal appeals court in Denver refuses to get involved in a mortgage and real estate fraud case that raises questions about whether turning over a computer password amounts to self-incrimination.


  • In a ruling issued Tuesday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it lacks jurisdiction because the case has not been resolved in a lower court.


  • That leaves Ramona Fricosu, of Colorado Springs, obligated to follow a judge's order to turn over an unencrypted version her hard drive that requires a password for investigators to examine documents. Her attorney and civil rights groups said it would violate the Fifth Amendment.

***

  • Fricosu and her husband, Scott Whatcott, are accused of targeting distressed homeowners in the Colorado Springs area, about 65 miles south of Denver.


  • Prosecutors allege the two promised to pay off the homeowner's mortgage, but then filed fraudulent documents in court to obtain title and sell the homes, without paying the outstanding mortgage.

For the story, see Colorado Woman Must Turn Over Computer Password.