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, August 06, 2012
Outfit Accused Of Foreclosure Sewer Service To Cough Up $925K To Settle Fla. AG Suit; Admits No Wrongdoing, Promises Never To Do It Again
In West Palm Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:
A Tampa-based company responsible for serving foreclosure notices on homeowners will pay $462,500 to a Florida Bar foreclosure defense program under a settlement reached with the state attorney general’s office.
The office began a civil investigation of the company ProVest in the fall of 2010 following allegations of shoddy paperwork and incomplete service that may have left homeowners unaware that they were being foreclosed on.
ProVest did not admit to any wrongdoing in the agreement, called an “assurance of voluntary compliance.” But it will pay an additional $462,500 to the attorney general’s office for investigative and attorney’s fees.
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This is the second foreclosure-related settlement obtained by the attorney general’s office since the housing bust. In March 2011, the Fort Lauderdale-based Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson agreed to pay a $2 million settlement to end its civil investigation. Serving foreclosure summonses became big business after the real estate crash as banks began to repossess hundreds of thousands of homes. But foreclosure defense attorneys and some homeowners complained that the service was often sloppy. In a 2010 case, a Miami appeals court sided with a homeowner in a foreclosure suit because the judge ruled the summons handled by a ProVest sub-contractor was not properly served. The person serving the summons swore he personally handed it to the homeowner at her residence. But the server’s own notes on the file showed he left the documents at the door after seeing curtains move and assuming someone was home. The homeowner later said she had no knowledge of the foreclosure until a final judgment was entered against her.
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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