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.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Bid & Cure Statements Filed During Foreclosure Process With Four County Public Trustees The Focus Of Colorado AG Mortgage Fraud Probers' 'Paper Chase'
In Denver, Colorado, The Denver Post reports:
Mortgage fraud investigators with the Colorado Attorney General's office have gathered documents filed with at least four county public trustees' offices by some of the state's largest foreclosure law firms, according to several people familiar with the request.
Trustees in four counties confirmed they each provided hundreds of pages of documents — mostly bid and cure statements associated with foreclosures spanning a five-year period — in response to a request by the attorney general's consumer protection division.
Deputy Attorney General Jan Zavislan, who heads that office's consumer protection division, declined to comment about the scope or nature of the request, or even to say it was an inquiry or formal investigation. "That's a very big no comment," Zavislan said Friday.
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Trustees in Boulder, Jefferson, Arapahoe and El Paso counties confirm they provided sets of 100 documents for each of seven law firms — Vaden, Dale & Decker, Castle Stawiarski, Hopp, Aronowitz & Mecklenburg , Medved and Janeway — covering the period of 2008 to the present, according to a copy of an email sent to the Boulder County public trustee and obtained by The Denver Post under the state's open records law.
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The request was focused on bid and cure statements attorneys file in a foreclosure case. Each statement includes charges the law firm says must be paid — by the homeowner in the case of a cure or, in the case of a bid, by the winner of a public auction when a property is sold.
The bid sheet is a bank's offer for the auction of a foreclosed property, a requirement by law. If there are no other bidders, the bank retains the property and reduces by their bid amount what a homeowner owes them. Sometimes lenders will bid the exact amount owed.
Cures are filed with trustees when homeowners indicate they would like to stop the foreclosure process by paying what they owe. The cure bill will include charges such as outstanding amounts on a mortgage, accrued interest and a variety of other fees such as attorneys costs and property inspections.
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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