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, April 18, 2017
Ohio Pair Get At Least 7 Years Prison Time For Roles In Running Loan Modification Ripoff That Fleeced Financially Strapped Homeowners Out Of Over $1.1 Million
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Toledo, Ohio):
Two Toledo-area men were sentenced to prison for stealing more than $1.1 million from hundreds of people through a fraudulent loan-modification scheme, said Acting U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland office.
Jason J. Keating, 38, of Toledo was sentenced to nine years in prison while and Christopher J. Howder, 40, of Perrysburg, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Keating was ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution while Howder was ordered to pay $561,000 in restitution.
Both pleaded guilty last year to charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and multiple counts of mail fraud and wire fraud.
Keating and Howder worked at Making Home Affordable USA (MHAUSA) from 120 10th Street in Toledo, where Keating was self-described president and Howder was the self-described underwriting manager.
According to court documents filed in the case:
The company used various names but homeowners were told MHAUSA had a very high rate of success and that customers could achieve modified interest rates as low as 2 percent.
Prospective participants were told there was a flat fee for service, generally between $495 and $795. Participants were told to stop making monthly mortgage payments to their lenders and instead to pay a percentage of their mortgage to MHAUSA.
Participants were told MHAUSA would hold these payments in a “stimulus reserve” account to demonstrate the participants could reliably make payments, and that once the loans were modified, the money would be turned over to the lenders.
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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)
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ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
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