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, July 17, 2012
Family Who Paid $5K To 'Adverse Possession Deed' Peddler Gets The Boot As Homeowner Permitted To Recover Possession Of Temporarily Vacated Home
In Littleton, Colorado, CBS4 reports:
A judge in Arapahoe County gave a Littleton family permission to move back in to their home after squatters took possession and lived there for eight months.
The illegal occupants of the home were given 48 hours to leave the premises after their claim to occupy the home by “adverse possession” was shot down in court.
After 12 years living on Mabre Court in Littleton, Troy Donovan got a job with a racing team in Indiana. Donovan left Colorado in March, 2011, his wife Dayna and their two children followed a few months later in August. After months of trying to sell the house, the Donovan’s winterized their home, turned off the utilities, and left for Indiana.
The Donovans say their plan was always to return to Colorado. But that turned out to be quite difficult. While still in Indiana, the Donovan’s former neighbors on Mabre Court told them people were living in their house.
Donovan recalls asking the occupants to leave when they returned to Littleton. “We show up at the house and we say ‘Look, I’m Troy Donovan, this is my wife Dayna, we own this home,’ ” he told CBS4. The people inside wouldn’t budge, so the Donovans were forced to move into a relative’s basement in Greeley.
The people living inside, Veronica Fernandez-Beleta and Jose Rafael Leyva-Caraveo, claimed they bought the home. They told Littleton police they paid a man named Alfonso Carillo $5,000 for some legal paperwork called a deed of “adverse possession.”
Carillo is a former realtor whose license has been revoked. Carillo also faces criminal charges in Denver and has been connected to a string of homes occupied by squatters up and down the Front Range. The homes vary in size and price, but all have connections to Carillo through various court documents CBS4 has obtained.
After seeing previous CBS4 stories on stolen homes, the Donovans confronted the people living in their home. “I told her ‘What you’re doing is wrong, it’s illegal. I would really like you to move out of the home or we will take legal action against you,’ ” said Dayna Donovan.
On Thursday a judge ordered that the Donovans get their home back. Fernandez-Beleta told CBS4 in Spanish, “I am sad and confused and distressed.” The Donovans say they are thankful they can finally return home.
“We get to get out of the basement, get a full home to live in,” Dayna said. “A home we created and worked very hard in as well.”
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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)
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ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
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