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, August 21, 2012
Elderly Woman Duped Into Borrowing Against Home By Convicted Con Man Now Fears F'closure; Cops Bag Suspect On Grand Theft, Elder Embezzlement Charges
In Riverside County, California, the Press Enterprise reports:
A Menifee man charged with conning two women in their 70s out of tens of thousands of dollars — using tearful pleas that he needed the money for lifesaving surgeries — was convicted years ago in Orange County in a similar scam, authorities said.
“This guy is a creep,” said Investigator Glenn Johnson of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. “His whole life is conning women.”
Frankie Jay Szabo, 55, who lives in the Sun City area, pleaded not guilty Wednesday, Aug. 15, to two counts each of grand theft and embezzlement from an elder, court records show. He was being held with no bail amount set, jail records show.
Szabo is accused of convincing a 70-year-old Homeland woman to take out a loan on her house to fund a surgery that was supposedly necessary to save his stepfather’s life, Johnson said.
In the second case, Johnson said, Szabo took $10,000 from a 71-year-old Lake Elsinore woman on the pretense that it was, again, a loan for a life-saving surgery, this time for himself. The woman took the money out of her retirement fund, he said. Szabo promised both women he would pay them back.
In fact, neither man was in need of surgery. The money was used to purchase a Mercedes, meals at restaurants and shopping trips, Johnson said. “It’s financing his lifestyle,” he said.
One of the women fears she may lose her house to foreclosure, Johnson said. “She’s petrified.”
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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