Real Estate & Property Law

Attorneys Among 406 Indicted in Operation Malicious Mortgage

Developing: Details are beginning to emerge about 406 individuals reportedly indicted in an FBI crackdown on mortgage fraud that started March 1. A total of 67 people charged in Chicago ranged from mortgage brokers to lawyers allegedly involved in fraudulent real estate schemes, according to an Associated Press account of…

Jun 19, 2008 8:36 PM CDT

Another Layer of Mortgage Fraud in Vacant Condo Units

A glut of vacant condominium units due to the mortgage meltdown is creating increased opportunities for criminals. Among the scams now reportedly on the rise as a result: squatters (often engaging in undesirable activities, such as prostitution) and non-owners posing as legitimate landlords and renting vacant units out to unsuspecting…

Jun 19, 2008 4:59 PM CDT

Foreclosure Court Planned in New York

Faced with a 150 percent increase in foreclosures since January 2005, the chief judge of New York has decided a special court is needed to handle these cases. Judge Judith Kaye says it will begin doing so on a pilot basis in the borough of Queens this summer, reports the…

Jun 19, 2008 4:44 PM CDT

New FBI Targets: Real Estate Brokers

Updated: Dozens of real estate agents and brokers have reportedly been arrested by the FBI over the past few days, and more than 400 individuals have been swept up as part of a national crackdown on mortgage fraud. Up to 70 have been arrested in Chicago alone, starting yesterday, and…

Jun 19, 2008 4:03 PM CDT

Suit Filed over ‘Gated Community’ Created by Police Barricades

The owners of an apartment complex in suburban Chicago have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against local government officials. At issue is the “gated community” created by concrete police barricades installed at 12 of the 13 entrance points to the complex earlier this month. Police for Rolling Meadows, Ill.,…

Jun 17, 2008 6:30 PM CDT

Life in the Law: Longtime Ga. Practitioner Tries New Challenge

Practicing law is a family affair for Franklin Horne Jr. The 63-year-old real estate attorney and developer has his own firm in Macon, Ga., where he practices with his son, Stebin Horne and daughter-in-law, Christi Horne, as his cocker spaniel, Lucy, sleeps in a bed beside his desk. A former…

Jun 16, 2008 8:35 PM CDT

Air Conditioner Ban Makes Residents Hot in One Illinois Town

Right now, violators will only be warned by Addison authorities. But starting next year residents of this suburban Chicago town face a fine of up to $500 for putting a window air conditioning unit in their homes, if it is facing the street or within 12 feet of the street…

Jun 13, 2008 5:58 PM CDT

Fearing Foreclosure, Debtors Sue Lenders Over Excessive Mortgages

Rather than waiting for lenders to foreclose, a group of struggling borrowers in Florida has turned the tables by suing those who gave them mortgages they can’t afford to pay. “They have beaten their lender to the courthouse by filing lawsuits that allege the institutions committed fraud and violated federal…

Jun 12, 2008 6:27 PM CDT

Estate of ‘Sagebrush Rebellion’ Rancher Wins $8.6M in Water Rights Case

A well-known Nevada rancher has won $8.6 million in a 17-year battle against the government over restricted grazing and water rights, two years after he died. The estate of Wayne Hage was awarded more than $4.2 million last week by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., who found there had…

Jun 11, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

Criminal Cases Against Mortgage Leaders Unlikely, Despite Subprime Crisis

Updated: Although the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice are reportedly investigating mortgage industry leaders after a foreclosure crisis sparked by failing subprime loans, criminal cases against them appear unlikely. For one thing, because of the complexity of the situation, it will probably take years to sort the situation out.…

Jun 9, 2008 5:13 PM CDT

High Court Rules RICO Plaintiffs Need Not Rely on Misrepresentations

The U.S. Supreme Court has made it easier for some plaintiffs to prove their cases in civil suits brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The court ruled in a unanimous decision (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog) that plaintiffs in a RICO suit claiming mail fraud do not have…

Jun 9, 2008 3:56 PM CDT

Latest Mortgage Foreclosure Stats Hit Almost 30-Year High

Updated: A report today by a trade association on troubled mortgages during the first quarter of 2008 says the number of delinquencies, new foreclosures and the inventory of homes in foreclosure are all at the highest level since 1979. “New foreclosures rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.99 percent of all…

Jun 5, 2008 5:49 PM CDT

Bond Rating Firms, Criticized in Subprime Crisis, Near Deal on Reform

The top bond ratings firms are close to an agreement with the New York attorney general that would change the way they collect fees to grade securitized subprime mortgages and other bonds. The firms affected would be Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, report the New York…

Jun 4, 2008 4:39 PM CDT

Ed McMahon in Foreclosure in Beverly Hills

Updated: It isn’t just struggling blue-collar workers who are battling in court with mortgage lenders in the ongoing real estate meltdown. Ed McMahon, famous among late-night television fans as Johnny Carson’s longtime sidekick, could lose his Beverly Hills home to foreclosure due to health problems. As of late February, the…

Jun 4, 2008 4:19 PM CDT

Wis. High Court Allows Homebuyer to Sue Seller Over Leaky Basement

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled a homebuyer can sue the previous owners on a claim they lied about flooding in the basement. The suit by homebuyer Chad Novell claims the sellers told him their basement never had water in the nine years they lived there and that they had…

Jun 2, 2008 12:31 PM CDT