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, January 25, 2016
Real Estate Operator Gets Six Years For Scamming Over 25 Financially Distressed Homeowners Into Signing Away Their Homes To Use In Rent Skimming Racket, & Fleecing Investors Out Of Cash Purportedly Raised To Rehab Those Properties
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Camden, New Jersey):
A Woolwich Township, New Jersey, was sentenced [] to 72 months in prison for scamming distressed homeowners into giving him their houses and then soliciting fake real estate investments from private investors – secured by those same properties – that netted him more than $3 million in illicit profits, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Randy Poulson, 44, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb to Count One of an indictment charging him with mail fraud. Judge Bumb imposed the sentence [] in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Poulson owned and operated Equity Capital Investments, LLC and Poulson Russo LLC and was the former president of the South Jersey Real Estate Investors Association. Paulson gave speeches, seminars, monthly dinners and various private tutorial sessions, purporting to teach real estate investing tips to individuals who paid fees to attend.
Poulson engaged in a two-pronged scheme.
First, he promised to pay the mortgages of distressed homeowners facing foreclosure if they sold their homes to him. Using this method, Poulson obtained the deeds to more than 25 distressed homeowners’ residences, causing them to vacate the homes so renters could move in. Afterwards, Poulson then stopped making the monthly mortgage payments, causing those mortgages to go into foreclosure without the distressed homeowners’ knowledge.
In the second part of the scheme, Poulson solicited seminar attendees and other private investors to invest in Equity Capital Investments, which purportedly bought and sold real estate. Poulson told the investors that their money would be used to acquire and rehabilitate a property, which Poulson claimed he would rent out and then sell for a 10 to 20 percent return on the investment.
The properties for which Poulson solicited the investments were those he acquired in the first part of the scheme. Although Poulson claimed that he would use funds to acquire and rehabilitate those properties, Poulson spent the money on personal expenses and to repay other investors. As a result of the scheme, Poulson was able to fraudulently obtain more than $3 million from investors.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Bumb sentenced Poulson to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $2.58 million in restitution.
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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