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.
Saturday, December 08, 2012
Heat/Hot Water-Lacking Renter Sues Foreclosing Bankster For Failure To Provide Essential Landlord-Associated Services
In Chicago, Illinois, WBBM-TV Channel 2 reports:
Remember the winter of 2010-11, and the Groundhog Day blizzard that dumped more than 21 inches of snow on Chicago? Rochelle McIntosh remembers it all too well. “I was abused. I was abused,” she said.
CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports McIntosh came home to her West Side apartment that winter after major surgery, and found out she had no heat and no hot water.
“It was miserable. It really was. It affected my self-being as Rochelle McIntosh, as an intelligent human being,” she said.
It turned out her apartment building had gone into foreclosure, and was now owned by New York-based HSBC Bank.
She has sued she is now suing HSBC, claiming they ignored her complaints about no heat and no water, until the spring, when the city of Chicago levied hundreds of dollars in Housing Court fines against the bank.
“The mortgage foreclosure mess has gotten so many people jammed up, and is so impersonal,” McIntosh’s attorney, Edward Campbell, said. “Tenants, who are innocent parties, who have absolutely no fault of their own … they can just get railroaded.”
The Lawyers’ Committee For Better Housing said, between 2009 and 2011, almost 17,000 apartment buildings were hit by foreclosure in Chicago; one out of 10 tenants were affected.
“We found that more apartment building units are impacted by foreclosure than single-family and condominium units,” said Patricia Fron, the group’s building programs administrator. The findings don’t surprise her, given all the calls she gets each day from renters in foreclosed apartment buildings.
The group’s legal director, Mark Swartz, said “I think that banks open themselves up to a lot of liability if they don’t maintain buildings, and treat tenants respectfully.” Swartz pointed out, when a bank forecloses on an apartment building, it legally becomes the landlord.
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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