Archives For Rachel Dollar

Massachusetts Loan Modification Attorney liable to Homeowners

Rachel Dollar —  August 11, 2015 — Leave a comment

David Zak, attorney, Revere, Massachusetts, and his two businesses Zak Law Offices, P.C., and Loan Modification Group, Inc, have been ordered to pay more than $625,000 for targeting homeowners with deceptive advertisements and demanding thousands in illegal advance fees for mortgage modification and foreclosure relief services they failed to deliver.

“At a time when homeowners were struggling to afford their mortgages, this attorney abused his clients’ trust and deliberately exploited their financial circumstances by demanding exorbitant fees based on false promises, leaving these homeowners even more vulnerable,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said. “This judgment puts an end to these deceptive and unfair practices and confirms that those who seek to capitalize on the foreclosure crisis will be held accountable.”  Continue Reading…

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CEO Convicted in $169M Ponzi Scheme

Rachel Dollar —  August 10, 2015 — Leave a comment

Michael J. Stewart, 68, San Clemente, California, the CEO of a now-defunct Southern California real estate investment firm, was found guilty of 11 counts of mail fraud following a nine-day jury trial before United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney.  The charges arose out of a real estate scheme that ended with the bankruptcy of the company and hundreds of investors collectively losing as much as $169 million.

Stewart owned and was the chief executive of Pacific Property Assets (PPA), which had offices in Long Beach and Irvine, California. Along with co-defendant John Packard, Stewart created PPA in 1999 to purchase, renovate, operate, and resell or refinance apartment complexes in Southern California and Arizona. Typically, PPA financed property acquisitions through mortgages, and it raised money from private investors to pay for renovations to the properties. After several years, PPA would refinance (or sometimes sell) each property. Continue Reading…

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Tampa lawyer involved in mortgage rescue scam loses law license

A Tampa lawyer who helped swindle homeowners out of $4.7 million during the mortgage crisis has had his law license revoked by the state Supreme Court.

In July of 2014, the attorneys general for Florida and Connecticut filed a federal lawsuit alleging lawyer Ian S. Berger, along with several others, had scammed struggling homeowners by promising them loan modifications if they signed on to “mass joinder” lawsuits against their lenders.

 Posted by Rachel Dollar  onAugust 10, 2015 In Mortgage Fraud , ,
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House-napping? The newest invasion?

Rachel Dollar —  August 10, 2015 — Leave a comment

Brandon Sestoso, 33, Hicksville, New York, his brother Chas Sestoso, 31, Hicksville, New York and Jesse Kusinow, 32, Howell, New  Jersey were charged with breaking into a residence in Jamaica Estates, New York in April, 2015, changing the locks and refusing to allow the true homeowners to enter the premises until they transferred the deed of the house to the defendants.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said, “In a truly bizarre case, the defendants are accused of breaking into a Queens residence and locking the true owners out, then forcing them to negotiate with the defendants if they wanted to gain access to their own home. If convicted, the defendants face lengthy  time behind bars.” Continue Reading…

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Irving Fryar and mother convicted in mortgage scheme

Former Philadelphia Eagles player Irving Fryar and his mother, Allene McGhee, were found guilty Friday of charges of conspiracy and theft by deception stemming from a $1.2 million mortgage scheme that prosecutors said victimized seven lending institutions in South Jersey and Philadelphia in 2009.

Fryar, a Pro Bowl wide receiver who retired from the NFL in 2001 after playing for 17 years with four teams, and his mother, a retired school bus driver from Willingboro, showed no emotion as a jury in Mount Holly announced the verdict after more than 11 hours of deliberation.

 Posted by Rachel Dollar  onAugust 10, 2015 In Mortgage Fraud on the web
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Settlement Agent Sentenced in Investment Scheme

Rachel Dollar —  August 6, 2015 — Leave a comment

Edward Dacy, 77, most recently of West Melbourne, Florida, was sentenced to six years in prison on charges stemming from a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud investment scheme involving 45 properties and $16 million in mortgage loans used for the purchase of residential real estate in the District of Columbia and Maryland.

Dacy was found guilty on March 25, 2015, following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, of 10 counts of conspiracy, bank fraud, and mail fraud.  His conviction completes a three-year investigation relating to this mortgage fraud scheme. A total of nine individuals have admitted their guilt through guilty pleas or were found guilty after trial. Upon completion of his prison term, Dacy will be placed on three years of supervised release. In addition, Judge Walton ordered that he pay $2,730,345 in restitution and an identical amount as a forfeiture money judgment. Continue Reading…

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Canada – Liar loans helping to inflate hot housing markets, experts say

New allegations of broker fraud come amid fresh warnings about lofty real estate prices in Vancouver and Toronto markets and their surrounding suburbs.

Stated income or “Liar Loan” create an indicia of affordability – thereby allowing a bubble to continue to inflate, long after it should have popped.  The US Markets experienced this during the run-up to the financial crisis when negatively amortizing and no documentation loans allowed people to purchase homes which were simply unaffordable.  -Rachel

 Posted by Rachel Dollar  onAugust 5, 2015 In Mortgage Fraud
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Fryar, mother decline to take stand

The lawyers defending former Eagles player Irving Fryar and his mother, Allene McGhee, against mortgage fraud charges rested their case in a Mount Holly courtroom Tuesday without calling any witnesses.

Fryar, 52, of Springfield Township, Burlington County, and McGhee, 74, a retired school bus driver from Willingboro, both decided against taking the stand to testify after the prosecution completed its case and the jury trial entered its third week. The two are charged with conspiracy and theft by deception in connection with a $1.2 million mortgage scheme involving six banks and one lending company in South Jersey and Philadelphia between October and December 2009.

 Posted by Rachel Dollar  onAugust 5, 2015 In Mortgage Fraud on the web
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Court Holds Claims of Forged Deeds Not Subject to Time Limits (New York)

Although the CPLR sets forth an applicable statute of limitations period for virtually all causes of action, and otherwise provides for a catch-all limitations period under CPLR 213(1) for claims that are not specifically delineated, the Court of Appeals has recently held that one particular, and not altogether uncommon, cause of action is not subject to any limitations period. In a remarkable 4-3 holding in Faison v. Lewis, the majority of the Court of Appeals held that a claim alleging forgery of a deed is not subject to any statute of limitations defense.

 Posted by Rachel Dollar  onAugust 5, 2015 In Mortgage Fraud on the web ,
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sovereign citizen

Warehouse Lending Fraud Results in Guilty Plea

Rachel Dollar —  August 4, 2015 — Leave a comment

Brady Bunte, the former owner of an Orange County, California mortgage lending company, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in U.S. District Court in Louisville, Kentucky in a warehouse lending fraud.  Bunte devised a scheme to defraud National City Bank of $12,744,678 of money under its control, by submitting fraudulent funding requests for nonexistent mortgage loans. Continue Reading…

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