Thursday, March 28, 2013

Home Loan Borrower Prohibited From Exercising TILA Rescission Rights Despite Unexpired 3-Year Time Limit Where Earlier-Obtained Foreclosure Judgment Becomes Final

From Justia.com US Law:
  • Plaintiffs granted Eastern Savings Bank, FSB (Eastern) a mortgage on property as security for a loan. Plaintiffs defaulted on the loan, and Eastern filed an action to foreclose the mortgage.

    The circuit court foreclosed on the mortgage, and a public auction was held to sell the property.

    Eastern purchased the property and filed a motion for confirmation of sale.

    Plaintiffs subsequently filed a complaint in the U.S. district court seeking a declaratory judgment that the promissory note and mortgage had been timely cancelled pursuant to the federal Trust-in-Lending Act (TILA).

    The circuit court took judicial notice of Plaintiffs' pending federal case but declined to stay confirmation of the foreclosure sale in the meantime.

    Thereafter, the circuit court concluded Plaintiffs' pending TILA case did not bar confirmation of the sale of the property, confirmed the sale of the property to Eastern, and entered a deficiency judgment against Plaintiffs.

    The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that res judicata principles prohibit a debtor from asserting TILA rescission rights after a foreclosure judgment has become final, despite the rescission attempt being held within the time limit provided by TILA.(1)
Source: Opinion Summary - Eastern Savings Bank, FSB v. Esteban.

For the ruling, see Eastern Savings Bank, FSB v. Esteban, SCAP-30686 (March 15, 2013).

(1) A portion of the court's reasoning follows:
  • [T]he party asserting claim preclusion has the burden of establishing that (1) there was a final judgment on the merits, (2) both parties are the same or in privity with the parties in the original suit, and (3) the claim presented in the action in question is identical to the one decided in the original suit, or to a claim or defense that might have been properly litigated in the first action but was not litigated or decided. Bremer, 104 Hawai'i at 54, 85 P.3d at 161.

    Applying these requirements to the facts at hand, we conclude that the Estebans’ TILA rescission claims are barred by res judicata principles.

    First, under Hawai'i law, there was a final judgment on the merits when the time to appeal the Foreclosure Judgment expired. See Glover, Ltd. v. Fong, 42 Haw. 560, 574 (1958).10 Moreover, under Hawai'i law, res judicata principles apply to default judgments. Fuller v. Pac. Med. Collections, Inc., 78 Hawai'i 213, 219, 891 P.2d 300, 306 (App. 1995).

    Second, both the Estebans and Eastern were parties to the prior foreclosure proceeding.

    Third, a TILA rescission claim would have been properly litigated in the foreclosure action, whether as a counterclaim or as an affirmative defense.

FHFA Proposal To Kill Force-Placed Insurance Ripoff As To GSE-Owned/Insured Home Loans; Regulator Backpeddles From Earlier Move Kiboshing Fannie's Plan That Would Have Yielded 30%+ Savings

American Banker reports:
  • The Federal Housing Finance Agency has proposed banning force-placed insurance commissions in a blow to banks and other mortgage servicers.

    The regulator's move was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. It will prevent banks servicing loans owned or insured by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from receiving payments from force-placed insurers. Ultimately the cost of force-placed premiums — including commissions paid to banks — is passed on to homeowners or investors, including Fannie and Freddie.

    For the GSEs to end up paying for servicer commissions, which regularly run between 10-15%, runs "contrary to prudent business practice" and "expose the Enterprises to potential losses as well as litigation and reputation risks," the agency wrote in a notice published in the federal register. "While FHFA plans a broader review of issues relating to the market for lender placed insurance, that includes receiving input from government and private sector parties, the practices that are addressed here are considered sufficiently distinct as to merit early action."

    The FHFA announcement comes less than two months after the FHFA, conservator for the government sponsored mortgage entities, told mortgage trade groups that it was killing a Fannie Mae plan to ban servicers from receiving commissions and lower force-placed costs by purchasing coverage directly from underwriters. Fannie's proposal would have produced savings for borrowers and the GSE in excess of 30%, according to proposal documents obtained by American Banker.

    The FHFA's February decision to block Fannie's plan was widely interpreted as a victory for banks by consumer advocates, industry sources and others. The regulator's new move to bar commissions was thus unexpected and caught even Fannie Mae officials off guard, sources familiar with it say.

St. Louis Feds: Suspect Fraudulently Offered To Broker REO Sales & Financing, Pocketed Customer Deposits, Never Closed Any Deals

In St. Charles, Missouri, the Suburban Journals reports:
  • A federal grand jury has indicted a St. Charles woman on fraud charges for a Ponzi-style scheme related to the purchase or sale of real estate.

    Daniela Spiridon, 41, faces six felony counts of wire fraud, each of which is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. She also could be required to forfeit money and property derived from the illegal activity.

    The March 13 indictment alleges Spiridon never completed a purchase or obtained bank financing for the purchasers, but deposited their escrow monies into her own accounts, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri.

    According to the indictment, Spiridon was affiliated with several businesses from an office in Chesterfield, which included A & AD Investments LLC, CDRS ESC Investments, Sentrix Loan Production Office and others. Spiridon is accused of fraudulently offering to broker purchases or arrange for financing to assist buyers in the purchase of properties acquired by lenders through foreclosure and held in inventory.

    She allegedly had potential buyers place deposits that were to have been put into an escrow account, but instead put the monies in a non-escrow account in one of her own companies. She often used buyers’ funds for personal expenses and to reimburse other buyers who demanded return of their funds, the indictment alleges.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Outfit Suspected Of Running Loan Mod, Bankruptcy Petition-Preparing Racket Slammed With Bay State AG Civil Suit; Currently Also Faces Concurrent Disgorgement Proceedings Brought By U.S. Trustee

In Lawrence, Massachusetts, the Eagle Tribune reports:
  • As a last resort, Pinnacle Financial Consulting LLC advised their clients they needed to file bankruptcy petitions to save their homes.

    “When their loan modification efforts fail, sometimes just days before the distressed homeowner’s home is scheduled to be sold at foreclosure, defendants pressure distressed homeowners into paying defendants thousands of dollars to file bankruptcy on their behalf in order to delay the foreclosure sale,” according to a lawsuit the state Attorney General’s Office filed against the downtown business.

    But about a quarter of the bankruptcy cases prepared by Pinnacle Financial were defective, according to court records filed in connection with the complaint.

    “Defendants’ bankruptcy filings on behalf of consumers are often incomplete or consist of erroneous paperwork, ultimately resulting in the dismissal of the bankruptcy proceedings,” the lawsuit alleged.

    “The U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee of Region I, District of Massachusetts, has identified, and the Commonwealth is aware of, 107 bankruptcy cases initiated by Defendants, at least 27 of which had fundamental defects in the documents Defendants prepared and filed,” the complaint noted.

    In eight of those cases, the U.S. Trustee has initiated disgorgement proceedings against defendants for illegally-prepared bankruptcy petitions.
***
  • The Attorney General’s Office maintains in its lawsuit that Pinnacle’s solicitation and acceptance of advance fees for loan modification and preparation of bankruptcy petitions was illegal.

    A Suffolk County Superior Court judge recently issued a preliminary injunction which prohibits Pinnacle from soliciting or receiving any fees for loan modification services, bankruptcy petition preparation services and investment advising services.

Failed Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Continues The Nightmare For Victimized Homeowners

eCreditDaily reports:
  • The much-anticipated notices from Rust Consulting — the bank regulators’ paying agent — was suppose to clear up how much compensation wronged foreclosure victims would get for actions taken three to four years ago.

    They were mailed out over the last few days to 4.2 million borrowers and have by now reached “infamous postcard” status, as one recipient put it. Many were expecting payment instead of a postcard.

    In a string of sometimes emotional comments to eCreditDaily, many of these borrowers who are eligible for payouts wrote of disappointment, frustration and anger caused by lender actions over the past four years or so.

    And now they are feeling victimized again from further delays by regulators in providing more information and rightful closure to a long nightmare.

    The cards that arrived in the mail this week offered few details and informed eligible buyers of another wait of four to eight weeks for getting payouts, more details or more paperwork to fill out. No one knows for sure.

Crackpot Invokes Sovereign Citizen Defense After Being Pinched For Allegedly Using Bogus Docs To Hijack Vacant 12-Bedroom Mansion Currently Up For Sale By Out-Of-Town Homeowner

In Bethesda, Maryland, The Washington Post reports:
  • Like many people excited about a new home, Lamont Butler invited friends over to check his out. He had a lot to show them. The Bethesda mansion is among the largest in the region and featured floors of imported marble, 12 bedroom suites, six kitchens and a history of playing host to political gatherings, including ones during which Bill Clinton and Al Gore helped plant trees out back.

    But the personable 28-year-old, known to wear a red fez, didn’t own the mansion; he had simply slipped inside and claimed it.

    Taking part in an odd and perplexing phenomenon popping up in cities across the country, Butler said the Bethesda mansion belonged to him because he is a Moorish American National. He’d drawn up paperwork that he said proved it all, with references to a 1787 peace treaty and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

    When a man broke into an unoccupied six million dollar Bethesda mansion and claimed it on behalf of “Moorish Nation,” realtors and police alike were confused by the bizarre sequence of events.

    Montgomery County police call Butler’s stay in the mansion, which lasted only a few hours, something entirely different from a legitimate claim: breaking and entering, fraud and attempted theft. They say it is one of the most audacious local cases in what law enforcement officers called a growing national trend where self-described “sovereign” nationals try to move into homes they don’t own.

    This month in Memphis, a woman saying she was a Moorish American was evicted after a SWAT team moved in on a 9,000-square-foot mansion she said she owned. Tabitha Gentry was charged with trespassing and burglary, but in court she denied the legitimacy of the charges, repeatedly interrupted the judge and invoked her sovereign rights.

    Similar cases have occurred around the nation, where sovereign nationals have slipped into empty houses, sometimes going unnoticed for a week or two, authorities say.

    “It’s going on in every state,” said Kory Flowers, an investigator with the Greensboro, N.C., police and a national expert on sovereign groups.
***
  • Rashid Chaudary wasn’t thinking about sovereigns in 1995 when he moved into his new Bethesda home, which was worthy of the most lavish Washington occasions. The cosmetics company millionaire’s guests mingled on two levels. On warm nights, they could walk onto a series of limestone terraces with sweeping views of a hillside of trees.

    Several years ago, after Chaudary’s children were old enough to leave home, he and his wife moved to Chicago, where his company, Raani Corp., is based. They put the mansion on the market. “If only a palace will do,” one of the online real-state listings said, “this is your home.”

    It was a well-publicized target for Butler, a resident of Charles County who by last year was calling himself Lamont Maurice El, police say. Butler appeared in court last week, where he said that the charges against him are only allegations and that he is not a criminal. He also invoked his status as a Moorish national.

    “I only have one free national name. That is Lamont Maurice El,” he said.

    District Judge Eugene Wolfe ordered Butler held on $20,000 bond, which Butler posted shortly after the court hearing. He was released last week.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Outfit Using 'Dubious Deeds' To Snatch Vacant Homes In Foreclosure & Rent Them Out Runs Wild In Miami; Cops To Two Complaining Homeowners: Take A Hike, No Crime Here - It's A Civil Matter!

In Miami, Florida, the Miami Herald reports:
  • Scavenging the remnants of South Florida’s housing crisis, a partnership called Presscott Rosche appeared to gobble up almost three dozen foreclosed homes in Miami-Dade County last year. The company is currently listed as the owner of 12 homes worth about $3.5 million, according to the Miami-Dade property appraiser.

    But this seemingly thriving business is, in many ways, an illusion. The name of the company’s agent listed in state records is fake. So are many of the deeds the company has filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court to stake its claim to more than 30 houses and condos, a Miami Herald investigation has found.

    The company has gained control of these homes — renting them out to unsuspecting tenants, in some cases — by filing dubious deeds and documents filled with legal-sounding jargon and shoddy punctuation. The author of many of these documents calls himself an “attorney in fact,” though he is not, in fact, a licensed attorney in Florida.

    “I never saw anything like that. It wasn’t even spelled right,” said Shelley Hallen, an actual attorney who beat back Presscott Rosche’s efforts to evict four college students from a Coral Gables house last fall.

    “They’re brazen,” said Frank Lopez, who says he found three people from Presscott Rosche inside a $700,000 Kendall house he owns. “They forged my signature, forged my wife’s signature.”

    Despite complaints about the company, Presscott Rosche has managed to vex police and prosecutors: A Presscott Rosche associate was arrested for burglary in November for allegedly breaking into a vacant home, yet Miami-Dade prosecutors dropped the case, saying they couldn’t prove the man didn’t have permission to use the house.

    Miami-Dade police detectives are continuing to investigate the company for possible fraud, The Herald has learned. Presscott Rosche representatives declined to comment or could not be reached.

    Presscott Rosche has primarily targeted homes in the legal limbo of foreclosure — homes vacated by their owners, and left untended by the lenders holding mortgages on the houses. In Miami-Dade County, more than 6,200 residences are now owned by banks, with thousands more left abandoned by their owners — and vulnerable to squatters.

    The squatter problem is not unique to Miami-Dade. In the past year, at least two people have been arrested in Broward County for trying to take homes with forged deeds. A Sarasota couple were charged with real-estate fraud last week.

    The drawn-out foreclosure process often makes it difficult for police or city inspectors to determine who owns a property. It can also lead to disputes over ownership that police are ill-equipped to handle.

    Two property owners told The Herald they complained to police about Presscott Rosche, but officers said the dispute was a civil, not criminal, matter.

Final Suspected Co-Conspirator Accused Of Snatching Homes By Peddling Sale Leaseback Deals To Homeowners Facing Foreclosure & By Forging Quit Claim Deeds Found Competent To Stand Trial

In San Diego, California, KGTV Channel 10 reports:
  • A 60-year-old man charged in a multimillion-dollar foreclosure fraud scheme in which notaries' identities were stolen and hundreds of deeds were forged around the state was found competent Friday to stand trial.

    David Zepeda is the last of four defendants to go through criminal proceedings in the case. He was hospitalized in San Bernardino County for an undisclosed medical condition after he was charged in September 2010.

    The defendants, including Zepeda, were accused of acquiring titles to properties by forging quitclaim deeds or convincing homeowners to transfer the property to them by promising the homeowner they would help avoid foreclosure.

    Once they had acquired the title, Zepeda and his brother John would rent out the property, prosecutors said. According to prosecutors, hundreds of victims were discovered in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara and San Bernardino counties, as well as in Clark County, Nevada.

    Authorities said they seized $335,000 in checks that hadn’t been cashed along with $33,000 in cash. They also found more than $8,000 in silver coins, gold watches and rings, and a Bentley automobile when they searched David Zepeda's home.

    His brother John Zepeda and two other men pleaded guilty to various charges in 2012.

    John Zepeda pleaded guilty to, among other things, rent skimming, forgery, identity theft and conspiracy to commit grand theft. He was sentenced to 12 years in state prison and agreed to pay $6 million restitution.

    Similar charges are lodged against David Zepeda. Judge Amalia Meza scheduled his trial for May 20, court officials said.
Source: Man charged in multimillion-dollar foreclosure fraud scheme found competent to stand trial (Hundreds of victims discovered throughout SoCal).

While Awaiting Trial, Two Since-Convicted Investment-Peddling Scammers Retaliated Against Prosecutor, FBI Agents By Tagging Them With $101.9M In Phony Liens On All Their Property

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Sacramento, California):
  • United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller sentenced two Sacramento men last Wednesday for an investment fraud scheme. Judge Mueller sentenced Ronald Wesley Groves, 71, to 10 years in prison and sentenced Donald Charles Mann, 56, to 17 years and six months in prison.

    Today, U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez sentenced each of them to one more year in prison, to be served consecutively to last week’s sentence, for retaliating against the prosecutor and FBI agents, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

    According to court documents, on May 31, 2007, were indicted on 18 counts of wire fraud in connection with a fraudulent investment scheme.

    After their arraignment, they were released from custody on bond. In February 2008, while awaiting trial, Mann filed four fraudulent liens with the California Secretary of State in Sacramento: two liens against all property belonging to the federal prosecutor and one lien each against the properties belonging to the two FBI agents involved in the investment fraud investigation.

    Each lien claimed that $101.9 million was owed to either Groves or Mann with $100,000 per day in penalties.

    In September 2009, Groves and Mann were charged with four counts of retaliation against federal officials by false claim and slander of title and one count of obstruction of justice. They were taken into custody and have remained in custody since then. On December 13, 2011, both defendants pleaded guilty to two counts of retaliation against federal officials.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Foreclosure Reversals In Northern Ohio Appeals Court Gain Steam After Recent State Supreme Court Ruling

In Akron, Ohio, The Akron Legal News reports:
  • An Ashtabula County court erred by granting summary judgment in a foreclosure case to a financial institution that had no ownership interest in the mortgage at the time, the 11th District Court of Appeals recently ruled.

    Self Help Ventures Fund sued Lois J. Jones of Conneaut in May 2010 after she defaulted on a $61,100 residential home loan from Sky Bank.

    According to case summary, Jones bought the home in 2007 before Sky Bank merged into Huntington National Bank. Self Help claimed it was the holder of the promissory note Jones defaulted on.

    But although Self Help attached copies of the note and mortgage to the complaint, both showed Sky Bank — not Self Help — was the creditor.

    About two months later, Huntington assigned the note and mortgage to Self Help. Self Help then filed a motion for summary judgment against Jones with the new documentation.

    The appellant argued Self Help lacked standing but did not dispute defaulting on the note.

    In March 2012, the trial court entered summary judgment and a decree in foreclosure against Jones. However, the trial court granted Jones’ stay of the sheriff’s sale pending appeal.

    In her appeal, Jones alleged Self Help did not hold the note when it filed the complaint, and therefore lacked standing.

    Self Help argued although it did not hold the mortgage when it filed the complaint, it acquired standing when it became the holder after the complaint was filed.

    In a 2-1 decision, the 11th District panel reversed the court’s summary judgment and ordered the trial court to dismiss the complaint without prejudice.

    The appellate court cited an identical issue before the Ohio Supreme Court in Schwartzwald, supra, in Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. v. Rufo. In that case, the [Ohio] Supreme Court held that standing is determined at the time of the complaint.

    “Further, the Court held that a mortgage holder cannot rely on events occurring after the complaint is filed to establish standing,” 11th District Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice stated. “Thus, the plaintiff cannot rely on Civ.R. 17(A) to cure its lack of standing by obtaining an interest in the subject of the litigation after the action is filed and substituting itself as the real party of interest.

    “Finally, the Court held that when the evidence demonstrates the mortgage lender lacked standing when the foreclosure action was filed, the action must be dismissed without prejudice.”

    11th District Judge Timothy P. Cannon concurred. Fellow appellate Judge Diane V. Grendell dissented, calling the dismissal of Self Help’s complaint unwarranted.

    “The better course for dealing with scenarios in which the plaintiff becomes a holder of the note and mortgage after the filing of the complaint was that followed by the Ohio Supreme Court in State ex rel. Jones v. Suster,” Grendell stated.

    “In that case, the court stated the following: `Although a court may have subject matter jurisdiction over an action, if a claim is asserted by one who is not the real party in interest then the party lacks standing to prosecute the action. The lack of standing may be cured by substituting the proper party so that a court otherwise having subject matter jurisdiction may proceed to adjudicate the matter.’ ”
For the story, see Court must dismiss foreclosure complaint due to lack of ownership.

For the ruling of the Ohio appeals court, see Self Help Ventures Fund v. Lois J. Jones, No. 2012-A-0014 (March 11, 2013).(1)

(1) Representing the homeowner in this case (as well as the successful homeowner in Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. v. Rufo) were Anne M. Reese and Philip D. Althouse of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, a non-profit public interest law firm that serves low income Ohioans in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties.

Homeowner's Foreclosure Defense: Developer Hijacked Title To My Home While I Was Out Of The Country, Borrowed $1.77M Against It, Now Bank Is Trying To Take It From Me! Developer's Head Allegedly Invoked 5th Amendment

In Miami, Florida, the South Florida Business Journal reports:
  • A Miami-based bank is trying to seize Jorge Jaen’s home in the Florida Keys over a mortgage that he never signed.

    Jaen alleges that both he and Great Eastern Bank of Florida were victims of mortgage fraud, but he’s the one who could pay the price by losing his home in Plantation Key. The foreclosure lawsuit is set for trial April 1 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

    It all started in 2006 when the three-bedroom home, at 145 Venetian Way, was transferred for minimal monetary compensation by a quit-claim deed from Jaen to Remy Development of Florida. Jaen claimed in his motion to dismiss the complaint that he had no knowledge of the deed and it was a bogus.

    Jaen says it is not his real signature on the deed and he was out of the country at the time it was signed in Miami-Dade.

    Jaen’s motion cites testimony from attorney Raven Liberty and Leighton Brown, the two people who allegedly signed the deed as witnesses, saying they did see the first version of that deed, which was destroyed, but never saw the second version that was filed wit the court.

    Although Monroe County valued the home at $483,500 at the time the deed was filed, Great Eastern Bank gave Remy Development a $1.77 million mortgage, which was signed by Ramier Rodriguez on behalf of the developer.

    According to records uncovered in the lawsuit, the loan was for the construction of a low-income housing complex. The home was in the middle of a neighborhood of single-family homes with a tight lot line.

    “Due to the ‘development,’ Remy convinced [the] bank to tender millions of dollars in construction draws for work that Remy represented had been completed by Remy when, in fact, no such development had occurred,” stated the motion by Jaen, which was filed by his attorney, Geoffrey Ittleman in Fort Lauderdale.

    The head of Remy Development invoked the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination at his deposition, Jaen’s complaint stated. The bank did not name Rodriguez in the lawsuit.

    The foreclosure lawsuit, filed in 2007, names Remy Development and Jaen. Monroe County property records still list Jaen as the homeowner, as he has been since 1992.

    Great Eastern Bank’s lawsuit also names title law firm Catlin, Saxon, Fink & Kolski LLP, which allegedly oversaw the transaction with Remy Development.

    Jaen wants the court to invalidate the deed to Remy Development and dismiss the bank’s attempt to foreclosure on the property. If he succeeds, it could be a big problem for Great Eastern Bank, the smallest bank in Miami-Dade, with $45.8 million in assets.

    Great Eastern Bank had $293,000 in noncurrent loans on Dec. 31, and that valuation is probably based on assuming that it can seize Jaen’s house and get some value from it. If it gets nothing from the lawsuit, the resulting write off in value could eat into its $5 million in Tier 1 capital.

    Great Eastern Bank was hit with a regulatory enforcement action in 2012, telling it to maintain higher capital ratios than normal and citing it for Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering violations.

    Hollywood attorney Carlos Lerman, who represents Great Eastern Bank in the lawsuit, could not immediately be reached for comment.

NYS Scores $14M Settlement From Underwriter Associated With Force Placed Insurance Racket; Regulator: "Reverse Competition" Drove Homeowners' Premiums "Sky High"

In Albany, New York, Newsday reports:
  • An insurance company settled New York State allegations that it charged homeowners "unfair and unnecessary costs" and agreed to pay a $14-million civil penalty.

    In the settlement announced Thursday, the company, Manhattan-based Assurant Inc., also agreed to change its rate structure for so-called force-placed insurance policies and to refund some homeowners.

    "The force-placed insurance industry has for too long been plagued by an intricate web of relationships between insurers and banks that pushed distressed families over the foreclosure cliff," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said.

    Force-placed insurance is a product that many homeowners will never encounter. Home borrowers take out insurance to protect their property, but the lender has an interest in making sure the house is protected as well. If a homeowner stops paying for insurance -- often due to financial difficulties including foreclosure -- the lender will take out a policy and charge the borrower.

    The state Department of Financial Services said that these forced policies can be two to 10 times more expensive than ordinary, voluntary homeowner's insurance, even though they offer less coverage. Voluntary homeowner's insurance pays out an average 63 cents in claims for every dollar collected in premiums. According to the department, one of Assurant's subsidiaries paid out as little as 17.3 cents on the dollar in 2008. The settlement requires the company to charge rates that more closely resemble voluntary homeowner's insurance.

    The state said that Assurant engaged in practices that the department called "reverse competition" in which it effectively shared profits with banks and mortgage servicers rather than offering its product at the lowest price.

    Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of Financial Services, said those practices drove premiums "sky high."

    In settling, the company neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing. Assurant spokeswoman Shawn Kahle disagreed with the state's characterization that there was a conflict of interest in its activities.

    "We do not believe that the relationships that we have historically had with our clients, mortgage servicers, have created anything that would be perceived to be inappropriate," Kahle said. "We recognize that in the state of New York they would like the procedures to be different, and we have agreed that we will follow those procedures and those regulations when they're put in place."

    Assurant agreed to change those practices when the state institutes new regulations that apply to all insurers.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Suspended Lawyer Suspected Of Running Phony Upfront Fee Loan Mod Ripoffs Now Found Missing Along w/ $700K Allegedly Pocketed Peddling Bogus Business Deals

In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the Sun News reports:
  • Mark Brunty, a Myrtle Beach lawyer who has been suspended from his law practice by the state Supreme Court, is accused in court documents of forging the signatures of prominent business leaders in a scheme to steal $700,000 from a pair of out-of-state investors.

    Brunty allegedly forged the names of Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. President Jim Apple and Alec Elmore, the vice president of First Federal Savings & Loan in Charleston, on documents used to persuade brothers Morris and Saul Kravecas to invest in phony business deals along the Grand Strand, according to a lawsuit filed in Horry County’s circuit court. The brothers’ investment, which was supposed to be kept in Brunty’s trust account, now is missing.

    “It’s flat gone as far as we can tell,” said Amanda Bailey, a lawyer representing the Kravecas brothers.

    Brunty also is missing. Bailey said she has not been able to locate him in order to serve him with a copy of the lawsuit.

    Meanwhile, reports with Better Business Bureau offices here and in other states show consumers have filed numerous complaints about a mortgage loan modification program Brunty promoted through email and telephone solicitations he made to people facing foreclosures. According to the complaints, people who responded to the emails received generic loan modification information from Brunty’s law firm and a request for an advance payment of $3,000. The complaints state that Brunty cashed clients’ checks but did little work to help them save their homes.

    Brunty could not be reached for comment Monday. A recording states that his telephone number is out of service and an answering machine at his law offices states the business is temporarily closed.

Baltimore Feds: Lawyer Pocketed $747K From Peddling Bogus Real Estate Investment 'Opportunities'

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Baltimore, Maryland):
  • A federal grand jury has indicted Aaron G. Seltzer, age 36, of Trappe, Maryland, on nine counts of wire fraud in connection with a scheme in which he converted funds intended for real estate investments to his personal use.
***
  • According to the nine count indictment, Seltzer was a licensed Maryland attorney who handled real estate transactions and maintained an office in Crofton, Maryland. The indictment charges that from January 2008, through 2010, Seltzer offered victims fraudulent investment opportunities then diverted the money intended for the investments for his own benefit. The indictment alleges that Seltzer obtained a total of $747,860 through eight fraudulent transactions and seeks forfeiture of that amount as the proceeds of the scheme.

Loose Oversight - More Law Firm Mischief: Legal Secretary Pinched For Allegedly Ripping Off $57K From Attorney/Employer; Gets 'No-Bond' Hold Due To Open Obligation From Previous Grand Theft Charge

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:
  • A former secretary at a Lauderhill law firm is accused of fraudulently writing 88 checks totaling nearly $57,000 from the company account to her self, authorities say.

    Cathy Cecilia Perez, 36, of Sunrise, has been charged with one count of grand theft and 88 counts of fraud for uttering a false instrument, according to a police report. She is being held in a Pompano Beach jail.

    At a Tuesday court hearing, Perez was given a no-bond hold for allegedly violating probation on a 2005 grand theft charge out of Tampa. Bond for the current charges was set at $93,000.

    Perez worked as a secretary for Charles Simon, P.A., a landlord/tenant attorney at 4987 N. University Drive. She is accused of cashing the checks between Aug. 3, 2012 and March 18, 2013.

    "It's a mess, I should have caught it sooner," Simon said. "She took my pleading stamp with my name on it and just decided to use it whenever she wanted, to write checks to herself — checks for rent, checks for bars, checks for all kinds of things, to the tune of nearly $57,000."

    Simon said he hasn't seen Perez since March 12 when she said she had to step out to pick up her kids at school. "She just ran off the job," Simon said. "She never came back, never returned calls, never returned texts."

    Two days later when Simon went to his local Bank of America branch he learned of the fraudulent activity on his account, he said.

    Perez appeared at the bank [] and attempted to cash a $906 check, but knowing that the account had been flagged, the bank manager contacted the Sunrise Police Department, the police report said.

    When questioned by detectives, Perez admitted to "signing and cashing" the checks, the report said: "The defendant admitted to using the money to pay her bills and other every day living expenses."

Jury Puts Jolt Into Power Company With $4M Award To Now-Foreclosed Homeowner Over Stray Electricity In Home That Utility Once Owned, Then Unloaded; Shocks Believed To Have Caused Nerve Damage In Victim's Hands, Feet

In Los Angeles, California, The Beach Reporter reports:
  • A Redondo Beach woman repeatedly shocked in her home by stray electricity from nearby Southern California Edison power lines has been awarded $4 million by a Superior Court jury.(1)

    The verdict, reached Monday after a civil trial in downtown Los Angeles, included $3 million in punitive damages against the utility giant.

    Simona Wilson [the mother of three young children] filed a lawsuit against Edison in 2011 after she was shocked by stray electricity pulsing through her bathroom shower head. The repeated electrical shocks is believed to have caused nerve damage in Wilson's hands and feet. The jury found that Edison's conduct was "outrageous," that the company acted with "reckless disregard" and that the utility was "negligent," according to court documents.

    "We are thrilled," Wilson's attorney, Lars Johnson, said Tuesday. "Simona has been in a long fight, and Edison put her through a lot. "

    In a statement released by Edison on Tuesday, the company said it "is disappointed in the conclusions reached by the jury and believes that the outcome is inconsistent with the totality of the evidence presented at trial."

    "(Southern California Edison) is reviewing the verdict and will determine its options, including whether to file an appeal," the company added in its statement.
***
  • Residents in the area have long complained about electricity emitting from overhead power lines and from the nearby Topaz Substation. Reports of crackling sounds coming from overhead wires and snaps of electricity when residents touched their mailboxes were common. Many believed the electrical current emitted from the substation traveled through subterranean gas pipes.
***
  • "(Edison) believes its response to the concerns raised by Wilson regarding her home located near SCE's Topaz Substation and its efforts to address those concerns were appropriate," the company said in a statement Tuesday. "The company also has cooperated fully with the investigation conducted by the Safety and Enforcement Division of the California Public Utilities Commission."

    Edison officials declined to offer further comment on the fixes it made to address Wilson's complaints.

    However, The Gas Co. began to make upgrades to its underground network of pipes around the Topaz Substation.

    "An official from The Gas Co. testified that they have been trying for years to get Edison to do something," Johnson said. "There is electricity jumping off the lines and into the ground," Johnson said. "The Gas Co. is worried about an explosion and they are also worried about their employees being shocked."
For the story, see Redondo Beach woman awarded $4 million in Edison lawsuit over stray electricity.

See also, the Mercury News: Stray electricity from shower head: Shocked California woman awarded $4 million:
  • Wilson, who could not be reached for comment, moved out of her house in September 2011, after an inspector told her to "get out" immediately, Johnson said. She filed the lawsuit about the same time. She lost the home in a foreclosure in February, according to her attorney.

    Edison built the house in 1960, Johnson said. It was located next door to an Edison facility known as the Topaz Substation, and the utility rented the home to employees before selling it.

    A former Edison employee sent a letter to Johnson prior to the trial detailing complaints similar to Wilson's made by prior occupants of the house.
***
  • During the civil trial, one of Edison's expert witnesses testified that the electrical current residents felt was within "acceptable" levels.

    "Edison still denies that there is anything dangerous in the area and denies that they did anything wrong," Johnson said. Edison officials insist the company worked with Wilson to resolve any issues with stray electricity.
(1) For stories on the deadliness of stray electricity/voltage, see:

CBS Evening News: Shocking investigation on stray electricity:

  • [L]uckily, most people who touch the metal don't make good enough contact to get seriously hurt. But if you're barefoot -- or wet -- the hazard can be deadly.

    It happened to 14-year-old Deanna Green in Baltimore in 2006. Her father Anthony says the ground was wet -- when Deanna touched a park fence at softball practice. Nobody knew it - but the fence was charged by frayed lighting wires buried underneath. 227 volts killed her instantly.

    "Never in a thousand years would you think that while you were there, and while your child was standing in front of you - you would lose her in such a manner," says Deanna's mother Nancy. "It's devastating."
  • A settlement was finally reached between the city of Baltimore and a former Millville High School football star turned Baltimore Colt defensive tackle whose daughter was killed by a stray electric current running through a fence in a city-owned park.

'Zapped' Couple's $2.3M Lawsuit: Stray Electricity From Local Power Station Gives Their Home Unwanted Sizzle

ABC News recently reported on "the story of Dr. Harold and Millie Mendelsohn, whose sprawling, six-acre estate in tony Pound Ridge, N.Y., carries an invisible sizzle":
  • Their neighbors include actor Richard Gere -- and one humungous power station. Recently, they felt vibrations on their property and Millie Mendelsohn was zapped. "The animals started going crazy on the property," Harold Mendelsohn said, "the horses and the dogs and the cats."

    They've long abandoned the pond at their home after the fish died, they avoid the guest house and had the pool emptied. Now, they say, the sizzles spread to their home. Among their reported maladies are intense headaches and a fear so strong, they've turned to using rubber. Harold Mendelsohn has to use rubber sheets to sleep while Millie uses rubber shoes in the shower.

    But it is the kitchen she fears most. She won't even touch the faucet for fear of shock.

    The Mendelsohns believe the stray power is coming from the power station just beyond the tree line in their backyard. They are suing their local power provider for $2.3 million. The utility said the couple is not entitled to any damages.(1)

    When they first moved in more than 20 years ago, the Mendelsohns didn't think the transformer would be a problem. But they estimate it has grown three times the size since.

    "It's infuriating," Harold Mendelsohn said. "This was our dream situation, and I wish they could just fix it." "It's just a nightmare," Millie Mendelsohn said. "We just have to leave it empty. Say goodbye to it."(2)
For this and two other home horror stories, see House From Hell: Buyers' Nightmare Homes.

(1) See also the New York Post: Stray-volt ordeal turns Westchester couple’s home into house of horror:
  • NYSEG [the local power company] says the couple’s claims “are false” and insists there’s no stray voltage at all. But records show NYSEG has known of the problem for two decades and has tried to fix it by installing voltage blockers near the Mendelsons’ home.

    Hal Mendelson, a 76-year-old doctor, forbids visits by anyone with a pacemaker. “The lights go on and off in the house all the time. Appliances burn out. My wife and I both have neurological issues,” he said.
***
  • The couple say they euthanized a favorite dog, an English setter named Glory Be, because the voltage made her chew the skin off her legs. “She was the most wonderful dog, and you would cry when you saw her legs,” Millie said. “She was chewing them until they bled. . . . They were like raw meat. They were horrible.”

    Hal says the power substation, which was there when they moved into the house in 1987, wasn’t a problem at first — but by 1991 enough voltage was leaking to prod the couple to file their first suit against the company.
(2) For stories on the deadliness of stray electricity/voltage, see:

CBS Evening News: Shocking investigation on stray electricity:

  • [L]uckily, most people who touch the metal don't make good enough contact to get seriously hurt. But if you're barefoot -- or wet -- the hazard can be deadly.

    It happened to 14-year-old Deanna Green in Baltimore in 2006. Her father Anthony says the ground was wet -- when Deanna touched a park fence at softball practice. Nobody knew it - but the fence was charged by frayed lighting wires buried underneath. 227 volts killed her instantly.

    "Never in a thousand years would you think that while you were there, and while your child was standing in front of you - you would lose her in such a manner," says Deanna's mother Nancy. "It's devastating."
  • A settlement was finally reached between the city of Baltimore and a former Millville High School football star turned Baltimore Colt defensive tackle whose daughter was killed by a stray electric current running through a fence in a city-owned park.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Bully Bankster Dodges Bullet When Foreclosing Loan Backed By Dubious Evidence; Gets 11th Hour Cold Feet On Eve Of Trial, Dismisses Case

In Sandusky, Ohio, the Sandusky Register published a recent account [by local attorney Dan McGookey] involving an area-homeowner who had reportedly been screwed over by the financial institution holding her home loan after successfully emerging from a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The loan ultimately went into foreclosure, she responded with a fight, and the following excerpt describes what happened when the parties were about to go to trial:
  • Then on the eve of trial, without explanation her bank suddenly dismissed the case, abandoning its 9-year-long effort. Why, after all that time and expense, would the bank get cold feet and reverse course?

    We will never know for sure, but a good guess is that it didn’t want its evidence exposed to the scrutiny a trial would bring.

    Keep in mind, that chances are that like Stephanie’s, your mortgage is in a trust bundled with thousands of other loans, and the bank may not want to risk putting all its loans into play should it lose one case.

Head Cook County Cop Hits Chi-Town Property Management Firm With Demand Over Its Alleged Improper Booting Of Unwitting Renters In Foreclosed Homes By Using Written Notices That Misrepresent Law

In Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago Sun Times reports:
  • Luis Islas was at home with his wife earlier this month, when a crew began boarding up the basement windows and the first floor units of the building where he lives in West Rogers Park.

    Islas, a father of two, suspects the boards would have darkened his own windows on the second floor, had he not confronted the workers and explained he was still living there. “I was really scared for my entire family,” Islas, 41, explained Wednesday.

    Islas is now a little less panicked after reaching out to the city and learning he’s legally entitled to 90 days notice before being evicted from his apartment, which is in foreclosure proceedings, he says.

    On Wednesday, Islas was out with about two dozen community activists — and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart — in front of ChiProperties, the Near North property management company they say illegally tried to force the Islas family from their home.

    “This is outrageous conduct,” said Dart, who has made national headlines in recent years, crusading against unjust foreclosure evictions. “What you have here is a situation where people are living here, paying their rent. They’d done nothing wrong at all. The bank wants them out. They hire a company that comes in there and completely misrepresents the law.”

    Dart said his office is demanding CHIProperties provide his office with every property in Cook County in which these “illegal notices” have been distributed.

    Islas said his sister-in-law originally owned the building where he lives, but she had financial problems and then the bank foreclosed on the property.

    In early February, Islas came home to find a note on the front door that, he says, instructed him and his family to immediately leave the unit they’d called home for three years. If Islas didn’t leave — and take all of his stuff with him — the locks would be changed on the foreclosed property and a Cook County Sheriff’s deputy would escort him out the front door.

    Islas reached out to the city for help, and soon Dart got wind of the situation. On Wednesday, Dart urged any other renters who’ve received similar vacate notices to call his office at 773-674-7710.

    If you’re getting these notices, they’re not legal, they’re not from our offices, and please call us,” Dart said. “We’d love to find out who is doing it.” [...] Dart said he’s doing research now to figure out what if any laws might have been broken in trying to evict the Islas family.

    Meanwhile, Islas said he understands that under the law he has until mid-May to move out.

Son Uses Surrogate's Court Proceeding In Effort To Wrestle Control Of Dementia-Stricken Mom's $4M Home Of 45 Years, Then Give Her, Live-In Caretaker (His Brother) The Boot

In New York City, the New York Post reports:
  • “Have you ever seen so many gorgeous blouses?” retired fashion designer Frances Rappaport exclaimed as she sat in her 25th-floor, Central Park South apartment this week, admiring a rack of her colorful silk creations.

    The 95-year-old may soon be stripped of that simple pleasure while in her spectacular home.

    Rappaport’s three sons are battling in court over their dementia-stricken mom’s $4 million co-op off Seventh Avenue, her home for 45 years.

    Michael, 71, the eldest son of late fashion designer David Rappaport and David’s partner-wife, Frances, wants to eject his mom from her three-bedroom spread, according to papers filed in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court.

    But middle son Errol, 68, an unemployed, self-described black sheep, wants to keep Mom in her Central Park digs. “I don’t want to bad-mouth my brother,” Errol said. “I just want justice for my mother.”

    David, who died in 2010, named his sons co-executors of his will. Born in Harlem to Russian Jewish immigrants, David climbed the fashion ladder, taking his multimillion-dollar Italian knitwear enterprise, Damon Creations, public in 1967.

    Frances had her own women’s-wear line, Francesca di Damon. Stars like Lucille Ball coveted her intricate blouses and canary-yellow suits.

    Michael, a real-estate investor, told a judge last week that he’ll put his mother up in his own Upper East Side penthouse until he finds her a rental.

    Errol lives with his mom rent-free and gets a $2,500 monthly stipend while caring for Frances.

    Michael, who declined to comment, is also hitting up his late father’s dwindling estate for $133,000 he claims his parents owe him.

    “The administration of [David’s] estate brings to mind Marcellus in Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet,’ ” court-appointed evaluator Demarest Duckworth wrote in a February 2012 report. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

Financially-Savvy Hubby & Wife Go Down After Jury Conviction For Duping Dementia-Stricken 94-Year Old Woman Into Signing Over Her $10M Estate

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:
  • A former Hollywood stockbroker and her financial-planner husband were convicted [...] of tricking a 94-year-old woman with dementia into signing over her $10 million estate, according to the Broward State Attorney's Office.

    Cynthia Franke, 51, and Tyrone Javellana, 47, were found guilty of financial exploitation of an elderly person after two hours of jury deliberation, prosecutors said. They were accused of befriending Josephine Troisi and her since-deceased sister Mary Teris and then becoming their financial advisors.

    Experts testified Troisi lacked the capacity to make sound decisions when Franke took her to an attorney to change her will and her trust in 2009.

    Troisi's son uncovered the exploitation and investigators found several transfers of between $400 and $32,000 from the sisters to Franke and Javellana, police said.

    Franke and Javellana face up to 30 years in prison for the first-degree felony conviction. Their sentencing is scheduled for April 19. Javellana also faces another charge of exploiting Teris, prosecutors said.
Source: Hollywood couple convicted of elderly exploitation (They took $10 million estate from woman, 94, prosecutors said).

Developer/Landlord Of Multi-Unit Residential Buildings Settles Fair Housing Suit Tagging It For Allegedly Failing To Provide Accessibility Features For Persons With Disabilities

The National Fair Housing Alliance reports:
  • The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and West Palm Beach Coalition for Independent Living Options (CILO) have settled a federal housing discrimination lawsuit against Cornerstone Group Development Corporation, one of the largest multifamily housing developers in Florida and the United States. Cornerstone has agreed to make modifications at more than fifty residential developments in Florida, which include over 5,000 apartments covered under the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act. The modifications will make apartments and common areas accessible for people with disabilities.

    The agreement settles claims by NFHA and West Palm Beach CILO that Cornerstone Group and
    several of its affiliates discriminated against people with disabilities by designing and/or constructing multifamily dwellings, and common- and public-use areas, without the required accessibility features. Cornerstone Group develops, constructs and operates affordable housing properties throughout Florida.

    As part of this resolution, Cornerstone has agreed to create and subsidize a Housing Accessibility Fund supervised by NFHA. This fund will help Floridians with disabilities make their homes more accessible. In addition, Cornerstone will pay $1.35 million in damages, expenses, attorney fees and other costs to NFHA and West Palm Beach CILO. Cornerstone will also provide training on the Fair Housing Act’s accessibility requirements for its executives and on-site construction managers.
***
  • The lawsuit and settlement underscore the importance and need for affordable accessible housing for persons with disabilities. In order for persons with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy their homes, they need to have paths free of steps; kitchens and bathrooms with sufficient maneuvering space for wheelchair users at sinks and toilets; wide doorways; lowered thermostats; and accessible parking with access aisles.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Jury Convicts Daughter Of Receiving Dad's 50% Interest In Home After Latter Had Filed Bankruptcy, Then Refinanced Premises To Drain Equity Out From Under Ch. 7 Trustee

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (San Francisco, California):
  • A federal jury convicted Vallejo resident Myra Holmes [] of one count of bankruptcy fraud, one count of bank fraud, and three counts of making a false statement to a bank, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.
***
  •  Evidence at trial showed that Holmes, 55, enriched herself by knowingly receiving from her father his half-interest in a Vallejo residence in which she lived. Holmes knew at the time she received this property that her father had previously declared bankruptcy and that, as a result, his half-interest in the Vallejo property now belonged to his Chapter 7 bankruptcy estate.

    Holmes took this half-interest in the Vallejo property without paying anything to the bankruptcy estate and also without notifying or obtaining the permission of the United States Bankruptcy Court or the bankruptcy trustee.

    After Holmes received her father’s half-interest in the Vallejo property, she drained the equity from the property through a fraudulent refinancing mortgage loan application. [...] Evidence at trial showed that Holmes knew at the time she filed her refinancing mortgage applications that she was overstating her monthly income and account balance and also knew that the bankruptcy trustee had recently filed a lawsuit against her seeking to recover the bankruptcy estate’s half-interest in the Vallejo property.

    As a result of her bankruptcy fraud and mortgage fraud, Holmes received approximately $147,000 directly and arranged for personal debts to be paid (including her debts to Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, and Spiegel).

    By the end of April 2006, Holmes had spent on personal expenses (including gambling and shopping) all the approximately $147,000 that she had fraudulently received as a result of the November 2005 refinancing of the Vallejo property. To date, Holmes has not repaid the bankruptcy estate for the funds she took out of the Vallejo property in the November 2005 refinancing.
For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Federal Jury Convicts Vallejo Woman of Bankruptcy and Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Defendant Used Illegal Property Transfer and Fraudulent Mortgage Application to Drain More Than $147,000 in Equity from Residence in Bankruptcy Proceeding).

NH Supremes: Common Law 'Self-Help' Remedy To Boot Residential Holdover Renter By Purchaser At Foreclosure Sale No Longer Available In Granite State

From an Opinion Summary from Justia.com US Law:
  • Respondent J Four Realty, LLC appealed a circuit court order that found it violated RSA 540-A:2 and :3, II (2007) by using self-help to evict petitioner Mary Evans, and awarding her actual damages of $3,000 and attorney’s fees and costs.

    Petitioner did not have a written lease; she resided in the apartment as a tenant at will pursuant to an informal agreement with the prior owner.

    Respondent purchased the property from a foreclosure sale. Petitioner continued to pay rent to the prior owner. Respondent dispatched an agent to evict petitioner. She then brought suit and won at trial.

    Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that petitioner was a tenant at sufferance, and that respondent was not her landlord under New Hampshire law. However, pursuant to case law and statutory authority, even though respondent was not petitioner's landlord, respondent was not entitled to use self help to evict petitioner.(1)

    The case was affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.
Source: Opinion Summary - Evans v. J Four Realty, LLC.

For the ruling, see Evans v. J Four Realty, LLC., No. 2012-198 (N.H. February 13, 2013).

(1) On this point, the New Hampshire Supreme Court gave the following explanation on the availability of the self-help remedy to recover possession of real estate by a foreclosure purchaser from a residential renter:
  • The respondent argues that because it was not the petitioner's "landlord" within the meaning of RSA chapter 540-A, it was entitled to use self-help to evict her.

    To the contrary, a purchaser at a foreclosure sale may not use self-help to evict a tenant at sufferance. See Greelish v. Wood, 154 N.H. 521, 527 (2006); RSA 540:12 (2007) ("The owner, lessor, or purchaser at a mortgage foreclosure sale of any tenement or real estate may recover possession thereof from a lessee, occupant, mortgagor, or other person in possession, holding it without right, after notice in writing to quit the same as herein prescribed.").

    Our decision in Greelish is dispositive. The defendant in Greelish had a life estate in certain residential property. Greelish, 154 N.H. at 521. When the property was sold to the plaintiff at a foreclosure sale, the life estate was terminated. Id. Thereafter, although the plaintiff filed a landlord-tenant writ to establish his right to possession, he also engaged in conduct intended to force the defendant to leave. Id. at 521-22. Each party sued for damages. Id. at 522.

    The trial court found that the plaintiff's harassment of the defendant, whom the court found to be a tenant at sufferance, constituted "an attempted self-help constructive eviction." Id. (quotation omitted).

    On appeal, the plaintiff argued that he was entitled to use self-help to evict the defendant because her tenancy at sufferance, unlike the tenancy at sufferance in Hill, arose outside of the rental or leasehold context. See id. at 524.

    After reviewing development of the common law and the statutory process for eviction, we disagreed. Id. at 524-27. We concluded both that "the statutory summary process in RSA chapter 540 was available to the plaintiff," id. at 527; see RSA 540:12, and that "the time when the public interest required the existence of self-help for a purchaser at a foreclosure sale to recover possession from a tenant at sufferance has passed." Greelish, 154 N.H. at 527.
While the use by real property owners of the common law remedy of self-help to boot their unwanted tenants or other occupants has generally been abolished throughout the United States, it apparently hasn't been abolished everywhere. See, for example, Maryland High Court: Centuries-Old 'Self-Help' Remedy OK When Booting Holdover Homeowners Post-Foreclosure Sale, But Handle Occupants' Personal Property With Care.

Alexandria Feds: Pair Impersonated Lawyers To Loot Escrow Cash Raised From Investors For Bogus Real Estate Deal

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Alexandria, Virginia):
  • Brett A. Amendola, 38, of Ashburn, Va., was sentenced to 84 months in prison [] for carrying out a $5 million Ponzi scheme involving his purported purchase of a golf course in Loudoun County, Va. The scheme resulted in losses of at least $2.8 million to more than a dozen victims who had invested with Amendola.
***
  • According to court records, during 2010 and 2011, Amendola persuaded various investors to provide him with short-term funding that would be held in escrow to fulfill a requirement by his lender to purchase the Beacon Hill Golf Course in Loudoun County.

    He promised that the money would be returned to the investors – with interest – in a matter of days. In reality, Amendola diverted the investors’ money to his own use, including funding his and family members’ trading accounts, making payments to investors in this and other schemes, and paying for personal expenses, including gambling.

    To carry out his fraud, Amendola posed as the attorney representing the escrow account both over the phone and through various email messages, leading investors to believe that they were wiring funds to financial accounts controlled by the escrow attorney, when in reality the financial accounts were controlled by Amendola and quickly looted for his personal use. In sentencing Amendola, the Court found that the fraud was sophisticated and that Amendola abused a position of trust when he impersonated the lawyer.

    In a related case, Jerry J. Mckerac, 61, of Las Vegas, Nev., and Fond du Lac, Wis., was charged [] in an indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identify theft for his involvement in the scheme, which the indictment alleges included similarly impersonating the escrow attorney as well as Amendola’s father while dealing with the victims.