Legal

The evidence at trial showed that from 2006 to 2009, John Bravata conspired with his son Antonio Bravata to defraud more than 500 investors of more than $50 million, money that largely represented the life savings of investors. In executing the scheme to defraud John and Antonio Bravata solicited money for their company BBC Equities by using false and fraudulent statements and promises. These false statements included promises of guaranteed safety of principal and high interest returns. Rather than investing the money in safe real estate transactions as promised, a large portion of the money was used by the defendants to support their lavish lifestyles.

http://mortgagefraudblog.com/perp-walk/item/21952-after-eight-week-trial...

Former Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron and other executives serving during his tenure failed to escape a pending case filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission over subprime mortgages.

In the initial complaint, the SEC alleged that Syron and former senior executives Patricia Cook and Donald Bisenius violated anti-fraud provisions of U.S. securities laws by failing to accurately represent Freddie Mac’s subprime mortgage portfolio and the GSE’s overall exposure to riskier mortgages denoted as ‘subprime’ to investors, according to court records.

http://www.housingwire.com/news/2013/04/01/former-freddie-mac-executives...

Known as a Rule 120 hearing, lenders can prove their right to take a house with just a lawyer's signature and a copy of the loan without having to provide the original.

It was that law Brumfiel challenged, saying banks should have to produce original documents and proof of how they obtained them.

In a judicial foreclosure, known as a Rule 105 hearing, lenders are required to produce the documents and the proof they have the right, or standing, to sue.

Christian falsified the appraisals by using fake photos and descriptions of the properties, misrepresenting the condition of the properties, and used inappropriate comparable properties. The total loss for the 16 loans amounted to $2,440,804, including $814,730, to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and $757,293 to the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae).

http://mortgagefraudblog.com/its-jail-time-for-crooked-real-estate-appra...

No amount of money will actually cure the current title corruption on record in all 50 states due to practice of allowing complete strangers to the transaction to self-anoint themselves as creditors, foreclose on property and submit a credit bid at auction when they were not owed any money and there was no credit relationship between the homeowner and the bidder.

http://livinglies.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/quiet-title-claims-explained/

To help finance her purchase of a condominium (condo) for $395,000, Mary McCulley sought a residential loan from Heritage Bank (Bank) for $300,000. American Land Title Company (ALTC) provided a commitment for title insurance. McCulley signed a promissory note and signed a deed of trust as collateral. Subsequently, ALTC changed the designated use of the condo in the deed from residential to commercial. After closing, McCulley discovered the Bank had issued her an eighteen-month, $300,000 commercial property loan rather than the thirty-year residential property loan for which she applied. When she was unable to obtain long-term refinancing on the property, McCulley signed a warranty deed transferring ownership of the condo to the Central Asia Institute and used the proceeds to pay off the loan. McCulley then sued ALTC and the Bank (collectively, Defendants) for, inter alia, negligence, breach of contract, slander of title, and fraud. The district court granted summary judgment for Defendants. The Supreme Court (1) reversed the district court's order of summary judgment in favor of the Bank on the issue of fraud, as genuine issues of material fact existed relative to McCulley's claim of fraud on the part of the Bank; and (2) otherwise affirmed.

http://law.justia.com/cases/montana/supreme-court/2013/da-12-0117.html

According to the indictment, Leadbeater and several co-conspirators recruited straw buyers to purchase several condominiums in the shore communities Wildwood and Wildwood Crest from May 2006 to August 2011. Straw buyers are people who acquire property, in this case, for someone who is unable to purchase it.

According to the indictment, Leadbeater and other conspirators created false documents to make the straw buyers appear more credit-worthy to induce the lenders to make loans.

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2013/03/former_kearny_councilm...

"The data suggests that foreclosure activity is converting into litigation at a higher rate than previously existed, and we suspect that the accumulated weight of continued publicity, governmental enforcement actions, and evolving theories of liability for mortgage servicers are all contributing to this trend," Willis wrote.

"This means that, even though mortgage delinquencies and foreclosure numbers are moving in a lower direction, the level of foreclosure- and delinquency-spawned litigation may continue to persist at its current high levels," he added.

http://www.housingwire.com/fastnews/2013/03/25/ballard-spahr-attorney-fo...

Q:    Bank of America sold my contract to Ocwen, who has been in contact with me for several months now trying to work out a modification for my loan. The past three months they've told me they've sent the final papers for my signature, but I haven't received anything....

A1:   Contact your servicer today and make as much noise as possible. If you do not get a response, contact an attorney and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau....

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/i-ve-been-trying-to-deal-with-my-current-lender-on-1231690.html

Q:    Can Bof A foreclose on this? The initial recording field and lender was left blank, note is signed by me but not by anyone as lender, MERS was recorded as lender eventually and then "through various assigns" recorded to BOFA Servicing. I am wondering if the lack of a foreclosure is because they cannot ?

A1:    It is hard to say without reviewing the actual documents. A recent case held that MERS is not a lawful beneficiary in WA (Bain v. Metropolitan Mortgage Group).

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/wa-prop-shows-lender-as-mers--there-has-been-no-ac-1230505.html

Q:    Rec'd notice of default and election to sell under deed of trust on 2 personal loans recorded in 87 p'd in 90 but not reconveyed. 22 yr's ago I paid off two personal secured loans from demand letter of servicer by getting a new loan thru mortgage broker.

A:    If these loans were paid off in 1990 and you have the demands and a closing statement reflecting the pay-offs, the Title Company writing the new Lender's Policy of Title Insurance may be willing to "write around" the liens of the 1987 deeds of trust.

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/what-can-i-do-about-notices-of-default-on-loans-pa-1231731.html

The root of the problem is that Florida requires court review of the foreclosure process. The other so-called “sand states” that saw the biggest real estate booms before the crash do not. As a result, California, Nevada and Arizona have worked off their inventories of distressed properties faster, allowing their markets to rebound ahead of, and with more strength than, those in Florida.

http://wallstreetpit.com/98937-floridas-foreclosure-flu-drags-on/

A Hawaii family and a developer filed a federal class action against every Circuit Court judge in Hawaii, accusing them of using "ancient judge-made procedures" to enforce foreclosure judgments.  Jerry Agbannaoag, Ke Kailani Development et al. claim the judges' practice fostered the "flipping" of properties and unjustly enriched lenders.  Michael J. Fuchs, the founder of Home Box Office, is also a plaintiff.

They sued the honorable judges of the First, Second, Third and Fifth Circuits of Hawaii - all 32 judges.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/05/01/57204.htm

Federal prosecutors say a former Orange County foreclosure specialist for Fannie Mae has been named in a grand jury indictment saying he took kickbacks from a real estate broker in exchange for granting him properties to sell.

A statement from the U.S. Attorney on Tuesday says 44-year-old Armando Granillo is charged with three counts of wire fraud.

http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/03/27/36570/orange-county-foreclosure-spec...

The lawsuits filed accuse the banks of violating securities laws by "misleading" the government-sponsored enterprises about the quality of the home loans packaged into RMBS deals worth billions of dollars.

The companies argued that "the District Court has deprived petitioners of their rights to obtain evidence that the GSEs either knew the extent to which those mortgage originators had abandoned their guidelines or, more likely, had concluded that originators did not materially deviate from the guidelines disclosed in petitioner’s offering documents."

http://www.housingwire.com/news/2013/03/28/big-banks-request-interventio...

Suppose you wanted to foreclose on property for which you never made a loan. Suppose you don’t have a lien and never did. Suppose you wanted to do this on a grand scale. How could you get away with it?

This is the essence of the issue confronting the courts, borrowers and their attorneys. And in a display of extreme irony the Wall Street banks even have the borrowers and their attorneys convinced that the loan was closed and the loan was sold. “The Loan”  refers to the transaction that is memorialized in the loan documents. “The sale” refers to the transaction in which  the loan was sold by the owner of the loan to a buyer of the loan.

http://livinglies.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/the-truth-was-the-loan-sold-o...

A California man successfully halted a foreclosure sale on his property using the newly minted California Homeowner Bill of Rights to obtain a court injunction against two foreclosing parties: Bank of America and its ReconTrust Co. subsidiary.

For simply obtaining the HBOR injunction, the homeowner’s attorney is requesting $20,255 in legal fees and costs – a compensation request that is permissible under HBOR since the legislation allots borrowers reasonable attorneys fees and expenses for successfully obtaining an injunction.

http://www.housingwire.com/news/2013/05/08/california-homeowner-bill-rig...

Lake Worth attorney Timothy McCabe packed a suitcase for a routine overnight trip to Tampa early on the Tuesday morning after Easter. It was nothing unusual. His foreclosure defense clients were scattered statewide and he sometimes traveled for court hearings.

Then he vanished, his law firm’s bank accounts drained of millions of dollars.

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/business/mystery-shrouds-lake-worth-...

The indictment alleges that Romaniolis recruited five straw buyers to purchase eight California residential properties in Rocklin, Roseville, and San Clemente. Romaniolis assisted the straw buyers in providing false information to lenders about their employment, income, assets, and intent to occupy properties as primary residences. In most cases, the straw buyers claimed to be executives of companies created and controlled by Romaniolis.

http://mortgagefraudblog.com/perp-walk/item/21925-former-loan-officer-ar...

US Bank on Friday backed down from its efforts to foreclose on an Aurora woman whose federal court battle against it has taken on the constitutionality of Colorado's foreclosure laws.

Just days after lawyers for the bank told a federal judge they've always had the original documents necessary to foreclose on Lisa Kay Brumfiel's tri-level house legally — and U.S. District Judge William J. Martínez said to produce them — the bank rescinded the whole thing.

Despite the move to make a nearly two-year nightmare to save her house go away, Brumfiel on Friday insisted she's pressing on.

According to court documents, for various lengths of time between November 2008 and January 2011, McDonough and Renquist conspired with others not to bid against one another but instead designated a winning bidder to obtain selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Alameda County, California. McDonough and Renquist were also charged with a conspiracy to use the mail to carry out a scheme to fraudulently acquire title to selected Alameda County properties sold at public auctions, to make and receive payoffs, and to divert money to co-conspirators that would have gone to mortgage holders and others by holding second, private auctions open only to members of the conspiracy.

http://mortgagefraudblog.com/perp-walk/item/21759-real-estate-investors-...

A Fannie Mae salesman took kickbacks from a mortgage broker to give him foreclosed property to sell on behalf of the agency, a federal grand jury said in an indictment.

Armando Granillo, 44, of Huntington Beach, was charged Tuesday with three counts of honest services wire fraud for soliciting kickbacks while working as a sales associate for Fannie Mae, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Granillo was arrested on March 5 after taking an $11,200 kickback from the broker, who was working as a federal snitch, the U.S. attorney said in the statement. He is free on $5,000 bond awaiting arraignment.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/03/27/56091.htm

Q:  What help can an attorney provide during a foreclosure where the lack of payments is not in dispute? Slow the process, etc?

A:   A competent attorney will help you save time, money and headache. There processes in place to insure that foreclosures are carried out properly. 

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-an-attorney-helpful-in-the-foreclosure-process--1038841.html

A three-judge panel of the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling rejecting a borrower’s use of the “split the note” theory to argue against a non-judicial foreclosure, MERSCORP Holdings (MERS) announced. 

In the case Hunt v. Aurora Loan Services, the basis of the plaintiff’s complaint is that the note had been securitized and separated from the deed of trust and that a foreclosing party must be the owner or holder of the note, according to court documents. 

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/oregon-judge-rejects-split-note-theory-20...

Nationstar held two two-day auctions on February 19 and March 4. A third was scheduled for March 11, but Justice Eileen Bransten authorized a temporary restraining order to stop the final sale and transfer of loans and to prevent further auctions.

In its filing for a restraining order, KIRP argues that as master servicer, Nationstar has the authority to foreclose or modify the loans, not to sell them. 

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/nationstar-suit-questions-servicers-autho...

Prosecutors in Manhattan sued banking giant Wells Fargo WFC +0.64% & Co. in December for allegedly defrauding the Federal Housing Administration out of hundreds of millions of dollars by writing bogus loans and then concealing them from government guarantors. The statute of limitations had run out on much of the alleged wrongdoing.  

But the government said the usual time constraints don't apply because a 1948 law called the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act gives prosecutors unlimited time to go after alleged fraud during times of war.

Link To Article >>>>

Beginning in approximately 2005, and continuing until April, 2011, Henderson embezzled money from the bank by creating fraudulent loan applications and fraudulent loan and line of credit accounts at the bank in her name and in the names of family members.  Henderson forged the signatures of various bank officials, including the President, as the approving loan officer on the applications.  Henderson also forged the initials of other bank employees on paperwork that authorized the transfer of the loan proceeds into Henderson’s personal checking account or the checking account of a family member.

Henderson concealed the fraudulent loans from bank officials by manipulating and changing data in the bank records.  In particular, Henderson altered the origination dates for the fraudulent loans so that they did not appear on the monthly New Loan Reports and removed the fraudulent loans from the bank’s quarterly Large Borrowers’ Reports.

http://mortgagefraudblog.com/perp-walk/item/21818-woman-jail-for-forging...

A New York appeals court reversed a Brooklyn judge’s 2011 decision throwing out a foreclosure and ordering $15,000 in sanctions against lender HSBC, saying the judge had abused his discretion by consulting the Internet and newspapers for evidence of “robosigning.”

It was the second time Kings County Judge Arthur Schack had his hand slapped for taking the politically popular, but legally questionable move of dismissing foreclosure proceedings against borrowers who had clearly defaulted on their loans. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2013/03/25/ny-court-reinstates-...

Recent court decisions may force mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pay real estate transfer taxes or extend due process to homeowners hit with foreclosures.

Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel Jr. said the national lending organizations claim they are part of the federal government — they are chartered by the government — to exempt themselves from paying transfer taxes. But when they purchase a foreclosed house at auction they claim to be private organizations that have a lender’s interest in the property, Hertel said.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20130424/NEWS01/304240031/Rul...

If you research the law in your state you will find that the prima facie case required from the would-be forecloser depends factually upon whether they are an injured party. If they didn’t pay anything for the origination or transfer of the loan, they can’t be an injured party. They must also show that their injury stems from the breach of the borrower and the breach of some intermediary. That is where the repurchase agreements and financing for all those purchases comes into the picture.

http://livinglies.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/banks-throw-20-billion-at-sec...

Banks are the biggest barriers to speeding the foreclosure process in Florida because they let cases linger in the courts and continue to present flawed documents, the state courts administrator told a Senate subcommittee this week.

Lisa Goodner’s presentation, which included findings from the recently formed Foreclosure Initiative Workgroup, comes as Palm Beach County foreclosure attorneys scramble to respond to new local rules meant to hasten the rate of home repossessions.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/banks-dawdle-in-foreclosure-c...

A Wisconsin appeals court recently ruled that a county foreclosing a tax lien need look no further than the recorded mortgage to find the address for notice of the foreclosure to a mortgage holder. If the mortgage contains no address, then notice of the tax lien foreclosure need not be sent to the mortgage holder.

Foreclosure by the government for failure to pay taxes is a drastic measure, and requires strict compliance by the government with statutory procedures. Wis. Stat. section 75.521(3) sets out the notice requirements that counties must follow to commence tax lien foreclosure proceedings, including notices that must be sent to property owners and those with mortgages or other liens on or interests in the property.

http://www.natlawreview.com/article/notice-tax-lien-foreclosure-to-mortg...

The Indictment charges that between 2002 and 2006, Webb operated various real estate companies, including Alpine Properties, LLC and Webb Builders, LLC for a profit. Webb promised investors in multiple states quick, large, and safe financial gains by investing money with him. Webb promised investors that he would use their money to purchase, renovate, and resell properties to first-time home buyers in various states, including North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. Webb caused investors to take out loans on properties that he and his companies had allegedly renovated.

http://mortgagefraudblog.com/perp-walk/item/21899-real-estate-entreprene...

Q:    ...next to the foreclosed house. I knew I was losing the house. However, I wrote to Litton Loan and make sure my land parcel is not part of the foreclosed house. Litton Loan replied saying the collateral is on the house with that particular address only. I thought my land parcel was safe. But no, without any foreclosure notice, whatsoever, Litton took the land parcel with the foreclosed home next to it and sold it.

A1:    You need to answer a simple question: when you took out the mortgage was it secured against both parcels or just the main parcel. This is a black and white question with a black and white answer.           

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/my-house-was-foreclosed-on-in-2008--the-problem-is-1231229.html

Prosecutors say in 2011, Wilson found vacant homes in Santa Clara, Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties. He changed the locks, performed minor repairs, listed them on Craigslist, and then rented them without the knowledge of the real owners.

In some cases, the owners found the renters in their homes and had them evicted.

"Renters should be careful when renting homes off the internet," said Deputy District Attorney David Lim said in a news release. "Renters can always ask to have a local real estate agent run a property title check on a property to verify ownership, and if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_22742298/san-jose-real-estate...

Q:    We have not heard from a banking institution for 4 years and have no idea who even has the home loan...not what?

A1:    What needs to happen now depends on all the details, which are not apparent from your question, including when the foreclosure was filed initially, and when and why it was dismissed with prejudice. No further answer is possible without knowing that, since there are numerous possibilities.

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/our-foreclosure-was-dismissed-with-prejudice--1231112.html

Q:    I live in Atlanta and the home is in Miami. I signed the note for my father 17 years ago. the home was never mine, but daddy deeded it over to me, mom and brother. we had a balloon note. the investor would not modify and sent us the last 2 pmts back. now foreclosure is in process. I never get any notices and I alone signed the note.....

A1:   As the home is in Florida, it will be subject to the rules and laws of that state, so you should re-post your question on this site for a Florida lawyer....

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/shouldn-t-i-be-getting-notices-of-a-foreclosure-on-1231398.html

State officials acted legally when they took $50 million from a national mortgage-settlement fund and used it to help balance the state budget, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

The opinion frees the state to put the money in the general fund once a stay on the money expires April 1.

However, attorney Tim Hogan of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, who brought the suit on behalf of housing advocates, said he is considering an appeal to the state Supreme Court.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/20130312arizona-court-ok...

Starr said the various actions constituted an illegal taking that violated the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

AIG in January refused to help Starr pursue the lawsuit, and on Tuesday reaffirmed that refusal.

In an earlier version of the complaint, Starr estimated total damages as being "in no event less than $25 billion."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/12/us-aig-greenberg-lawsuit-idUSB...

Q:   We file a Law-suit against our lender and the firm representing them (Prose)after 2 years the judge granted them a Summary Judgment and dismissed the case. Our house is in Pre-foreclosure, we have not received Notice.

 A:   Pre-foreclosure is a term used by mortgage companies or even foreclosure firms to state that the property has not yet been foreclosed but is in process. However, you say that you filed suit, but do not say whether they ever actually went through with the sale on the courthouse steps.

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/1--does-a-law-firm-that-has-filed-a-foreclosure-ha-1239652.html