Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Cops Pinch Suspect In Foreclosed Home Rent Ripoff That Left Single Mom, Three Kids Homeless, Out $3K
In Naples, Florida, the Naples Daily News reports:
Earlier this month, Emanoel Thermitus packed up her family's things, paid her new landlord and moved into a rental house in Golden Gate Estates. With three young sons, Thermitus was looking to get out of a town house community where she said children as young as 12 and 13 often were arrested for drugs. "I got scared," she said. "I didn't want my kids to go through that, you know? Let me do whatever I can to get them out of there."
But about a week after the family of four moved into the three-bedroom house on Third Avenue Northwest, a Collier County sheriff's deputy called and told her she'd have to move out. Her landlord, 21-year-old Yoandry Leiva, didn't actually own the house and had no authority to rent it out, he said.
Deputies arrested Leiva, of the 8600 block of Wheat Lane, East Naples, on Thursday, charging him with three counts of burglary, one count of grand theft and one count of manufacturing marijuana. He also is a suspect in the fraudulent rental of a house at 5921 Green Blvd., where a marijuana plant and a stolen Yamaha motorcycle were found in the backyard.
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Lt. Chad Parker, who works financial crimes at the Sheriff's Office, said the agency had only recently begun to see [this type of scam]. In those cases, renters must leave the property even if they've paid rent to someone because they are legally considered to be trespassing. "It's unfortunate because they have to get kicked out of a house," Parker said. "They're being victimized twice."
Out $3,000 and with no leftover savings, Thermitus said she and her sons now stay at a public park until 10 o'clock every night, when they have to look somewhere else for a place to sleep.
"I spent all the money I had," she said. "I don't know how, but I know if I pray, God will listen and I will be safe, but I don't feel safe alone with the kids."
For story update, see Good Samaritan offers home to single mother evicted from fraudulently-rented house(North Naples resident Paul Conti read about the family in the Daily News and thought about a home of his own. The property he'd bought in a foreclosure sale years earlier would be perfect for them, he thought, and so on Monday, Conti handed a key to a stranger and let her move into his empty house).
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)
Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets
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)
Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System
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)
Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements
Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners
MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases
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
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)
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)
"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions
ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
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