Technicality Leads To Dismissal Of Criminal Case Against Ex-Homeowner Accused Of Stripping $1M In Fixtures From Foreclosed Home; DA To Refile Charges

In Southern California, North County Times reports:

• Suzy Brown, who was accused of stripping $1 million worth of property from the bank-foreclosed home her Encinitas neighbors dubbed the "monster house," won a legal victory Thursday when a judge dismissed criminal charges against her on a technicality. Brown, 45, was facing one charge of grand theft and one charge of felony vandalism for allegedly taking truckloads of lavish fixtures when she moved out of the bank-owned mansion in March 2009.

***

• However, Superior Court Judge Aaron Katz ruled Thursday after a preliminary hearing at the Vista Courthouse that Eacret failed to prove that the bank ---- not Brown ---- owned the house last year when a real estate broker for Chevy Chase Bank discovered its doors, windows and 18 toilets, among other property, were missing.

For more, see Judge dismisses case against ex-owner of 'monster house'.

For story update, see Prosecutors to refile charges against ex-owner of 'monster house':

• Prosecutors will refile charges against Suzy Brown, the woman accused of stripping $1 million worth of lavish fixtures from the foreclosed home her Encinitas neighbors dubbed the "monster house," according to a deputy district attorney. Superior Court Judge Aaron Katz dismissed felony theft and vandalism charges against Brown on Thursday after a preliminary hearing at the Vista Courthouse.

• Katz said Deputy District Attorney Robert Eacret had shown evidence at the hearing that Brown, 45, had taken truckloads of toilets, windows and appliances from the Olivenhain mansion after she moved out in March 2009, but the judge said he had to dismiss the charges on a technicality.

Ex-'Monster House' Owner Gets Probation On Grand Theft Charge Alleging $1M In Fixture Ripoffs After Mansion Foreclosure

In Vista, California, The San Diego Union Tribune reports:

• A woman accused of stealing $1 million in fixtures from an Olivenhain mansion that became known as the “Monster House” pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemeanor grand theft charge in Vista Superior Court and will serve three years’ probation and pay a $968 fine.



• Suzy Brown was also sentenced to four days of custody, but received credit for time served, said Deputy District Attorney Robert Eacret.



• Brown in 2006 completed a $13 million, 16,000-square-foot home in Encinitas that was to be used as a high-end drug rehab center. Neighbors complained and quashed those plans, while dubbing the home the “Monster House.”



• Without income from the potential patients, Brown and what she has said were 60 other investors defaulted on the loan in 2009 when Capital One was still owed $6.5 million. The home sold for $2 million to a couple last year.



• After foreclosure, Brown was accused of stealing several fixtures from the house, including a 300-year-old Egyptian door, brass faucets and toilets and hand-carved cabinets. She moved out March 22, 2009; the items were reported missing four days later.

For the story, see Former Encinitas Monster House owner sentenced.

Southern California Prosecutors Refile Charges In Foreclosed "Monster House" Fixture Stripping Case

In Encinitas, California, North County Times reports:

• Prosecutors have refiled charges against the woman accused of stripping $1 million worth of lavish fixtures from the foreclosed home her Encinitas neighbors dubbed the "monster house," according to a deputy district attorney. Suzy Brown is scheduled to be arraigned on grand theft and felony vandalism charges in Vista on Sept. 23, Deputy District Attorney Robert Eacret said. [...] Authorities said Brown built the 15-bedroom, 16,000-square-foot home in 2004 to be a rehab center. The city nixed the plan and the home fell into foreclosure.

For the story, see Charges refiled in "Monster House" case.

Go here for earlier posts on the "Monster House" fixture stripping case.

Foreclosed 15-Bedroom "Monster House" Homeowner Admits To Stripping $1M In Fixtures From Mansion; Now Faces Felony Grand Theft, Vandalism Charges

In Encinitas, California, The San Diego Union Tribune reports:

• The woman who built the county’s largest home — known as the “monster house” — and lost it to foreclosure in February admitted [...] that she stripped it of $1 million in fixtures, but said it was to protect her masterpiece after the bank refused to hire security. Suzy Brown, 45, said she returned everything. But seven months after the property agent for Capital One Bank filed a police report, the District Attorney’s Office charged Brown [...] with felony grand theft and felony vandalism. [...] “I basically took the law into my own hands to protect a very special place,” Brown said in an interview [...]. “I removed the most valuable assets and I promptly returned them once they had a security guard.”

• The bank foreclosed on the 15-bedroom Encinitas house Feb. 13 after Brown had not made payments for more than a year. She moved out March 22, and the missing items were reported March 26.

For more, see Mansion’s owner 'took law into my own hands'. foreclosure stripping

Miami Feds Bust Mortgage Fraud/Marijuana Grow House Operation; 10 Of 18 Homes Financed With Fraudulently Obtained Loans Used As Indoor Pot Farms

In Miami, Florida, the U. S. Attorney's Office (Fla. Southern District) announced last week the indictment of nine Miami residents(1) allegedly involved in a mortgage fraud scheme used to finance the purchase of a number of homes used in a marijuana grow house operation. An excerpt from the press release:

• [A]s set forth in the Indictment, from on or about March 2, 2004, and continuing through about May 1, 2008, [eight of the defendants] were the buyers and sellers of real estate in St. Lucie County, Miami-Dade County, Lee County, Columbia County, and Marion County, Florida. At least ten of the houses were purchased through fraudulent mortgage applications, and after purchase, were used and maintained as marijuana grow houses. The defendants made false representations of material facts in mortgage applications, thereby causing mortgage companies to issue mortgages for the purchase of 18 houses.

***

• The Indictment further alleges, on a number of the fraudulent transactions, the loan officer was defendant Magalys Fajardo, a/k/a Magalys Rodriguez, who was employed by mortgage brokers, LendAmerica Home Loans, Bluetrust Capital, and Monster Mortgage, Inc.(2) [...] The aggregate dollar amount of all loans procured fraudulently by the defendants from the mortgage lenders exceeded six million dollars.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Miami Residents Indicted In Marijuana Grow House, Mortgage, And Money Laundering Scheme.

Go here and go here for other posts on Marijuana Grow Houses.

(1) The indicted defendants are: Manuel Pupo, a/k/a Tata, Elieser Pupo, Serguey Pupo, Elmer Pupo, a/k/a Elmes, Maritza Perez, Noel Albanes-Gomez, Omar Cardenas, Zenaida Rodriguez and Magalys Fajardo, a/k/a Magalys Rodriguez.

(2) Reportedly, as part of the mortgage lending process, the defendants, via Magalys Fajardo, a/k/a Magalys Rodriguez, allegedly submitted fraudulent Uniform Residential Loan Applications, Requests for Verification of Employment, Requests for Verification of Deposit, IRS Forms W-2, payroll stubs, bank statements, as required by the mortgage lenders, through the mortgage broker to the lender for review and credit worthiness approval. pot grow ops beta

Failure To Cough Up Homeowner's $20K Attorney Fee Award For Failed Foreclosure Attempt Leaves Delinquent Bankster Facing Foreclosure

In St. Augustine, Florida, WTEV-TV Channel 30 reports:

• A local woman is taking on a monster megabank by filing a foreclosure of her own. Wells Fargo tried to take her home. A judge ruled she could keep it and Wells Fargo owes her for the trouble, but the bank still hasn't paid up.
  
  Rebecca Sharp likes to come home to this house every night. But seven years ago, she thought, that might change. "I was served with a summons pending foreclosure," said Sharp.
  
  Wells Fargo said she was six months behind on her mortgage. But she fought the foreclosure, and eventually the case was dismissed. The judge also ruled Wells Fargo should pay Sharp. She and the bank settled on nearly 20 thousand dollars for attorney's fees.(1) Eight months later she still hasn't seen that money.
  
  So, to try and get it, Sharp and her attorney turned the tables on Wells Fargo. "We filed a foreclosure notice to get our client the money she's owed," said attorney Tom Pycraft.
  
  It was filed against a local Wells Fargo branch down in St. Johns County. "Foreclosure cases are based on borrowers not paying bills. Now, Wells Fargo has not paid its bills. There's an irony there," said Pycraft.

For more, see Local woman wants to shut down big bank.

(1) For more on homeowners scoring thousands in attorney fee awards when successfully fending off bankster foreclosure attempts, see:

• Fla. Appeals Court: Homeowner Entitled To Nail Bank For Prevailing Party Legal Fees After Lender Voluntarily Dismissed F'closure Case w/out Prejudice,
• Attorney Fee Awards For Successful Foreclosure Defense In Florida,
• Florida Judge Sticks Standing-Lacking Lender With $30K Tab For Homeowner's Legal Bill After Booting Case,
• Use Of Robo-Signers In Foreclosure Actions Not New For GMAC/Ally; Earlier Case Required Servicer To Cough Up $8K In Fees To Homeowner's Attorney,
• Fla. Appeals Ct. Nixes Prevailing Party Legal Fee Award In Foreclosure Defense; Failure To Include Request In Pleading Sinks Recovery Attempt,
• Defending A Foreclosure Defense Case Pro Bono? Don't Forget The Contingency Risk Factor When Sticking Losing Lender With Tab.

Another Hispanic Judge To Feel Trump Wrath? Miami Jurist Belts Mogul's Golf Course With Nearly $300K In Legal Fees After Losing Foreclosure Suit; Court Battle Started When Local 'Mom & Pop' Paint Store Slapped Resort Operator With Lien After Allegedly Being Stiffed Out Of Final Payment On $200K Contract; Foreclosure Sale Date On Hold Pending Appeal

In Miami, Florida, the Miami Herald reports:

• While developer Donald Trump was busy getting the Republican Party’s presidential nomination [last] week, he was losing big in a Miami-Dade County courtroom.
  
  Circuit Court Judge Jorge Cueto, presiding over a lawsuit related to unpaid bills brought by a local paint store against the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, ordered the billionaire politician’s company to pay the Doral-based mom-and-pop shop nearly $300,000 in attorney’s fees.
  
  All because, according to the lawsuit, Trump allegedly tried to stiff The Paint Spot on its last payment of $34,863 on a $200,000 contract for paint used in the renovation of the home of golf’s famed Blue Monster two years ago.
  
  Trump National’s insistence that it had “paid enough” for the paint despite a contract, according to the lawsuit, caused The Paint Spot to slap a lien on the property and Cueto to order the foreclosure sale of the resort.
  
  In time, Donald Trump’s company got the judge to cancel the June 28 courthouse auction after it placed the $34,000 in escrow, and the case was put on hold while Trump National’s owner, Trump Endeavor, considered an appeal.
  
  But the lien remained.
  
  And Cueto was asked to rule on the fees for The Paint Spot’s three $500-an-hour attorneys and two $150-an-hour paralegals that lawsuit loser Trump Endeavor will have to pay.
  
  The golf company, according to the court file, objected to the hourly rates because it paid its lawyers $400 an hour, according to court records.
  
  This week, Cueto ruled that the fees were reasonable, and then some.
  
  First, he ruled Trump should pay for nearly 500 hours of legal work, since the store’s legal team had to prepare for a trial that never took place.
  
  Then, Cueto tacked on a 75 percent “risk” fee, partly because the store’s lawyers took the risk that they would never be paid if they lost.
  
  Total: $282,949 and 91 cents, including copying and expert testimony.
  
  “I’m happy I have a judgment,” said Juan Carlos Enriquez, owner of The Paint Spot. “But he [Trump] hasn’t paid yet.
  
  “You know how he says he’ll surround himself with the greatest people if he is president? In this case, he might not be surrounded by the right people.”
  
  Trump bought the property in 2012 for $150 million then launched into a major renovation.
  
  Alan Garten, Trump’s in-house lawyer, didn’t return a call for comment.

Source: Judge orders Trump to pay nearly $300,000 in attorney’s fees in Doral painter’s lawsuit (The Paint Spot of Doral sued for $34,000 in unpaid painting fees at Trump National; Tiny shop slapped a lien on the property; judge ordered foreclosure date that was later canceled; But Trump must pay nearly $300,000 in attorney’s fees).

For more on those accusing Donald Trump of having deadbeat bill-paying habits, see USA TODAY exclusive: Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn’t pay his bills:

• [T]he actions in total paint a portrait of Trump’s sprawling organization frequently failing to pay small businesses and individuals, then sometimes tying them up in court and other negotiations for years. In some cases, the Trump teams financially overpower and outlast much smaller opponents, draining their resources. Some just give up the fight, or settle for less; some have ended up in bankruptcy or out of business altogether.