The Home Equity Theft Reporter: Pittsburgh Area Neighborhoods Victimized By Flipping Scam

Monday, January 29, 2007

Pittsburgh Area Neighborhoods Victimized By Flipping Scam

Homes in the communities of Wilkinsburg, East Liberty and other Pittsburgh area communities were involved in a mortgage flipping scam which ultimately led to prison time for those involved and victimized the neighborhood around it. To read more, see IRS and FBI report real estate fraud on increase, reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at post-gazette.com.
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University of Cincinnati Law Review: Banks, Break-Ins, and Bad Actors in Mortgage Foreclosure The New York Lawyers’ Fund: 38 Years of Client Protection (The misappropriation of a law client’s money by an attorney in the practice of law, while an aberration, is properly a debt owed by the legal profession)

Law Client Protection Funds (A Bibliography of Reported Cases and Selected Materials)

CBC News: Lawyers misappropriated millions from clients' funds but few faced criminal charges (Disciplinary actions include suspension, disbarment for professional misconduct)

CBC News: Betrayal of Trust (A CBC investigation reveals how lawyers across Canada have misappropriated and mishandled clients money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services)

University of Pennsylvania Law Review: "If You Can't Trust Your Lawyer ....?"

The New York Times: When Lawyers Steal the Escrow

The New York Times: Thieving Lawyers Draining Client Security Funds

The Associated Press: N.Y. fund for cheated clients wants thieving lawyers disbarred

The Missouri Bar: Righting Wrongs (Compensating Clients Financially Harmed By Their Attorneys' Actions) Forbes: Guardianship In The U.S.: Protection Or Exploitation?

The Wall Street Journal: Abuse Plagues System of Legal Guardians for Adults (Allegations of financial exploitation and abuse are rife, despite waves of overhaul efforts) (Non-WSJ subscriber? Try here, then click appropriate link) The New York Times: The Housing Trap (In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap)

The New York Times: Market for Fixer-Uppers Traps Low-Income Buyers

The New York Times: Housing That Ruins Your Finances and Your Health (ie. Rent-To-Own, Contract For Deed, Land Contract Ripoffs)

National Consumer Law Center: Toxic Transactions: How Land Installment Contracts Once Again Threaten Communities of Color

Chicago Reader: The Infamous Practice of Contract Selling Is Back in Chicago (Wall Street-backed firms are duping would-be homebuyers, 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr. and west-side activists fought against housing discrimination)
The Costs of Being Poor (Two new books explore how difficult the housing market and criminal justice system make it to climb out of poverty)
Accommodating Requests for Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals
Philly.com: In booming Philadelphia neighborhoods, lead-poisoned soil is resurfacing

ThinkProgress: The hidden toxic threat in America’s backyards

ThinkProgress: An Indiana City Is Poised To Become The Next Flint

The New York Times: Seller-Financed Deals Are Putting Poor People in Lead-Tainted Homes

The New York Times: Their Soil Toxic, 1,100 Indiana Residents Scramble to Find New Homes

The Washington Post: How companies make millions off lead-poisoned, poor blacks

Maryland Attorney General: Attorney General Frosh Files Suit Against Access Funding for Exploiting Lead Paint and Other Injured Marylanders

Lawsuit: State of Maryland v. Access Funding, LLC, et al. The Yale Law Journal: In Defense of "Free Houses"

Rolling Stone: Why the Banks Should Be Broken Up - by Matt Taibbi The New York Times: Pivotal Nursing Home Suit Raises a Simple Question: Who Signed the Contract?

NJ.com: Read the Fine Print: Pre-dispute Arbitration Language in Long-Term Care Contracts Strips Families of Their Rights New Republic: The Section 8 Voucher Trap (For Yonkers families, the search for affordable housing is long and weary) Institute for Justice: Policing for Profit (The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture - 2nd Edition) (go here for press release) The New York Times: Real Estate Shell Companies Scheme to Defraud Owners Out of Their Homes (Relying on the secrecy of limited liability companies, white-collar thieves are targeting pockets of New York City for fraudulent deed transfers, leaving the victims groping for redress)

Who Can You Trust? The Foreclosure Rescue Scam Crisis in New York ABA Journal: Debt-buying industry and lax court review are burying defendants in defaults The NY Times: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice (Part 1 in series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court)

The NY Times: In Arbitration, a ‘Privatization of the Justice System’ (Part 2)

The NY Times: In Religious Arbitration, Scripture Is the Rule of Law (Part 3)

The NY Times: Arbitrating Disputes, Denying Justice (Editorial) The Guardian: Corrupt justice: what happens when judges' bias taints a case? ProPublica: The Color of Debt: How Collection Suits Squeeze Black Neighborhoods (First-of-its-kind analysis shows that the suits are far more common in black communities than white ones)

ProPublica White Paper: Racial Disparity in Debt Collection Lawsuits: A Study of Three Metro Areas Houston, we've got a problem - Bevilacqua Have I Got a Deal for You! An Undercover Investigation of Mortgage Loan Modification Scams Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners Justice Disserved: A Preliminary Analysis of the Exceptionally Low Appearance Rate by Defendants in Lawsuits Filed in the Civil Court of the City of New York Public Interest Lawyers Are Key in Passage of Landmark Legislation to Stem “Sewer Service” in New York City Mortgage Mess Redux: Robo-Signers Return (A Reuters investigation finds that many banks are still employing the controversial foreclosure practices that sparked a major outcry last year) Beyond a Definition: Understanding the Nature of Void and Voidable Contracts

Selected Posts Daily Finance: Why the Foreclosure Mess Settlement Proposal Can't Fix the Damage

Naked Capitalism: On the Clouded Title Mess and the Difficulties of Cleaning It Up

Loyola Consumer Law Journal: Toward a More Equitable Balance: Homeowner and Purchaser Tensions in Non-Judicial Foreclosure States

Albany Law School Research Paper: Property Title Trouble in Non-Judicial Foreclosure States: The Ibanez Time Bomb? Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.: A Survey of Cases Discussing MERS’ Authority to Act

The Case Against Allowing Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) to Initiate Foreclosure Proceedings

Two Faces: Demystifying the Mortgage Electronic Registration System's Land Title Theory

The Murky Mess of MERS: The Complications of Collecting on Promissory Notes When MERS is Around

Foreclosure, Subprime Mortgage Lending, and the Mortgage Electronic Registration System

Criminal Prosecutions Of Sale Leaseback Peddlers In Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Deals Repairing A Broken System: Protecting Consumers in Debt Collection Litigation and Arbitration What Is A Note & Why Is It So Important? Fraud Factories: Rep. Alan Grayson Explains the Foreclosure Fraud Crisis Foreclosure Rescue Scams Reading List Staying Home: The Rights of Renters Living in Foreclosed Properties 5-Part You Tube Video Bank Foreclosure Fraud Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis Expanding Access To Justice In New York State Why Servicers Foreclose, When They Should Modify, and Other Puzzles of Servicer Behavior

DESPERATE HOMEOWNERS: Loan Mod Scammers Step In When Loan Servicers Refuse To Provide Help

FORECLOSING A DREAM: State Laws Deprive Homeowners of Basic Protections

DREAMS FORECLOSED: The Rampant Theft of Americans' Homes Through Equity-stripping Foreclosure 'Rescue' Scams

CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE STATES: A 50-State Report on Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices Statutes CBS News Video: Pay Up Or Move Out

CNN Video: As Foreclosures Mount, Florida Court Turns To 'Rocket Docket'

The Wall Street Journal: A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases (2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge) ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)

CNN Video: Produce The Note!

CNBC Video: Foreclosure Loophole Video: Fight Foreclosure: Make ‘Em Produce The Note!

Video - Text: Fight Foreclosure: Produce The Note "How-To"

Text: Fight Foreclosure: Produce The Note "How-To" In Non-Judicial States

Video: Mortgage Servicers' Secret Video: Real People, Real Stories: Avoid Foreclosure Rescue Scams
Spanish version Video: Freddie Mac Dramatizes An Equity Stripping Scam (English)
Video: Freddie Mac Dramatizes An Equity Stripping Scam (Spanish) Video: Foreclosure scams prey on homeowners (Reuters News Service)

Video: Basics of Mortgage Foreclosure Scams (Illinois Legal Aid) Video News Reports On Foreclosure Rescue

Video News Reports On Deed Theft Final Report Of The Bankruptcy Foreclosure Scam Task Force IndyMac: What Went Wrong?: How an “Alt-A” Leader Fueled its Growth with Unsound and Abusive Mortgage Lending

Unfair and Unsafe: How Countrywide’s irresponsible practices have harmed borrowers and shareholders

Countrywide in the Courts: A sampling of consumer lawsuits brought against Countrywide

Steered Wrong: Brokers, Borrowers, and Subprime Loans

Continued Decay and Shaky Repairs: The State of Subprime Loans Today

HUD Settlement Agreements With Alleged Violators

Statute

General Information (for Consumers & Industry) Rewriting Contracts, Wholesale: Data on Voluntary Mortgage Modifications from 2007 and 2008 Remittance Reports Full Report (51 Pages)
Press Release (with State by State Fact Sheets) Video
Program Transcript Misbehavior and Mistake in Bankruptcy Mortgage Claims
by Katherine M. Porter
University of Iowa - College of Law The American Dream Shattered: The Dream of Homeownership and the Reality of Predatory Lending A PERFECT STORM: Easy Money and the Mortgage Meltdown (The Subprime Mortgage Crisis in New York State) Income Is No Shield Against Racial Differences in Lending Report Summary
Full Report (228 Pages) Report: Vacant and Abandoned Properties: Survey and Best Practices (42 Pages - 0.5 MB)

Press Release: English Spanish Executive Summary (14 Pages)
Full Report (without city sections) (20.2 MB)
Full Report (20.2 MB) Video
Transcript National Vacant Properties Campaign
Class Action Litigation Guidelines

U.S. Attorneys (All States)
State AGs (All States & U.S. Possessions)

LSC-Funded Non-Profit Law Firms
LawHelp.org

National Association of Consumer Advocates - All States
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys - All States Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys - Max Gardner's Bankruptcy Boot Camp Graduates - All States National Consumer Bankruptcy Litigation Center

Rebuilding Together
Other Sources

AARP on Reverse Mortgages Bankruptcy Basics @ uscourts.gov
Bankruptcy Boot Camp - Training For Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
Advanced Consumer Rights Litigation Boot Camp
Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (All States)
USA Client Protection Funds Map
Canada Client Protection Funds Map
Real Estate Investment Guru Review

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Rest In Peace
Erskin Radford
(1954-2008)

The Home Equity Theft Reporter

Monday, January 29, 2007

Pittsburgh Area Neighborhoods Victimized By Flipping Scam

Foreclosure Abuse Thru Premature Trash-Outs

Lawyers & Theft Of Escrow/Trust Account Money

Abuse Of The Guardianship System To Fleece The Elderly. Infirm & Disabled Of Their Money, Property

Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets

The Costs of Being Poor

Fair Housing: Assistance Animals

Lead Contamination In Homes & Rental Apartments

Commentaries on Banksters & Their Handiwork

Use of Arbitration Clauses In Nursing Home Contracts To Strip Families Of Their Rights

Section 8 Housing Voucher Trap

Property Snatching Scams By Prosecutors & Police

Home-Snatching Scams In New York City

Zombie Debt Buyer Abuse Of Consumers/Court System

Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System

Corruption/Bullying On The Bench

Debt Collection Suits Squeezing Black Neighborhoods

More On Crappy Foreclosure Titles After Masschusetts High Court Rulings

Unmasking The Loan Modification Rackets

Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements

MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases

Stemming Sewer Service In New York City

Robosigners Return

Void vs. Voidable

Commentary On The Crappy Title Mess Created By Fraudulent Foreclosures

Articles On MERS Authority To Act In Foreclosure Actions

Criminal Prosecutions Of Foreclosure Rescue Scams

FTC Report On Dealing With Bill Collectors & Zombie Debt Buyers

Promissory Note Primer

Video: Foreclosure Fraud Crisis Explained

Get Up To Speed On Spotting & Preventing Foreclosure Rescue Scams

National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty

Video "Tutorial" Demonstrates Use Of Dubious Affidavits, Assignments, Notary Acknowledgements By Lender, Law Firm In Foreclosure Actions

Walking Away From An Underwater Mortgage?

10-Year Report Addressing Myriad Of Access-To-Justice Challenges Facing Low-Income New Yorkers

National Consumer Law Center Reports

Foreclosure "Rocket Dockets" - The "Rubber Stamp" Method Of Foreclosure Adjudication

"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions

Consumer Warning Network On Missing Promissory Notes & Servicing Secrets In Foreclosure Actions

Federal Trade Commission On Avoiding Foreclosure Rescue Scams

Freddie Mac On Foreclosure Rescue

Educational Videos On Recognizing Mortgage Foreclosure Scams

Foreclosure Rescue/Deed Theft: News On Video

Foreclosure Scams Employing Abuse Of Federal Bankruptcy Court System

Reports From The Center For Responsible Lending

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act

Study: 98% Of Loan Mods Reviewed Resulted In No Reduction In Principal Balance; No Monthly Payment Reduction In Nearly 50%

Defaulting on the Dream: States Respond to America’s Foreclosure Crisis - The Pew Charitable Trusts Report

ABC NEWS Nightline On Mortgage Servicing Company Ripoffs

Download Article Examining Mortgage Servicing Companies' Frequent Non-Compliance With Law In Consumer Bankruptcy Cases

Massachusetts Attorney General Report on Predatory Lending

NYS Commission Of Investigation On Subprime Mortgage Lending

National Community Reinvestment Coalition Study On Mortgage Lending & Race

Reverse Mortgages: Niche Product or Mainstream Solution? Report on the 2006 AARP National Survey of Reverse Mortgages Mortgage Shoppers

U.S. Conference Of Mayors: Vacant & Abandoned Properties And The Foreclosure Crisis

$60 Million and Counting: The Cost of Vacant and Abandoned Properties to Eight Ohio Cities

PBS' Bill Moyers Journal On Destruction Of Cleveland, Ohio's Slavic Village Due To Unregulated Proliferation Of Subprime Loans

Informational Resources To Promote, Support Vacant Property Revitalization Efforts

Get NACA Class Action Litigation Guidelines

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