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.
Monday, July 02, 2012
Probation Violation, Noncompliance w/ Jail Buyout Deal Lands Pair In Prison; Duo Used Worthless Stock To Dupe Victims Into Handing Over Title To Farms
In Fillmore, Utah, KSL-TV Channel 5 reports:
Two men were ordered to go back to prison after prosecutors say they swindled dairy farmers in Fillmore out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and failed to follow the rules of their probation.
Back in 2007, Jamis Johnson was convicted of securities fraud, along with co-defendant Paul Schwenke. Prosecutors say they sold worthless stock for American-Dairy.com. Some of their victims even handed over control of their land as payment.
"To take advantage of poor, rural farmers who work their lives to keep their farms going… to have two men with bad intentions take advantage of them is unbelievable," Utah Attorney General spokesman Paul Murphy said.
Johnson and Schwenke took in hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the judge let them stay out of prison if they worked to pay back their alleged victims and they agreed to stay away from each other.
"Instead, they went back to work with each other and didn't pay the victims anything," Murphy said. Murphy said some of the land the farmers handed over to Johnson and Schwenke went into foreclosure.
"The men took the property that they got in exchange for the stock, went to the banks, used the property as collateral and then spent all the money." Johnson will serve one to 15 years in prison. Schwenke won't be considered for release until at least 2017.
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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