NY Woman Victimized In Purchase Of "Stolen Homes"

HomeEquityTheft.blogspot.com
The New York Daily News reports, in this December 2005 story, of a woman who unwittingly purchased two "stolen homes" and who only learned of her situation when Brooklyn prosecutors called to warn her she was a victim in a $5 million housing scam - and that she didn't own the properties.

One general observation about the "home equity theft" epidemic made in this article, which can't be emphasized enough, is that

• "while there are thousands of variations, the crimes are often perpetrated by people who forge documents or who dupe homeowners into believing they are refinancing their homes. The cases often end up in court, in complex arrays of lawsuits and countersuits brought by buyers, owners, mortgage companies and title insurers."

The article quotes Jessica Attie, a staff attorney with the Foreclosure Prevention Project of South Brooklyn Legal Services as saying that, "Millions of dollars are being stolen from low-income homeowners." Two years ago, Attie said her nonprofit law firm saw a handful of similar cases. "Now, we get that same handful every week," she said. "It's an epidemic."

(revised 1-20-07)