Feds Raid Utah Law Offices in Probe of Loan Modification Work

Multiple federal agencies including the FBI, IRS and the office of the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program raided three offices affiliated with a Utah law firm Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Utah confirmed the raid on the CC Brown Law Office in Midvale and West Valley…

Jun 12, 2012 11:28 PM CDT

Tenant Who Didn’t Pay Rent Since 2003 Can’t Be Evicted Because of Code Violations, NY Top Court Says

New York law bars a landlord from evicting a tenant who hasn’t paid rent since 2003, according to the state’s top court. The landlord, Chazon LLC, missed deadlines to bring its Brooklyn loft building up to code and did not receive an extension, according to the opinion (PDF) by the…

Jun 11, 2012 12:40 PM CDT

‘Subsidized Segregation’ Keeps Struggling Minorities in Low-Income Areas, News Investigation Finds

Nearly 45 years after a landmark federal fair housing law was enacted, and 20 years after a Multnomah County study determined that housing discrimination was still widespread in the Portland, Ore., area, low-income minorities remain concentrated in certain parts of the greater metropolitan area, reports the Oregonian. Its account is…

Jun 5, 2012 1:57 PM CDT

Ariz. Appeals Court Gives $500K Cash Stash to Heirs of Homeowner Who Hid It in the Walls

Nixing the claim of a purchaser of an Arizona home in which a contractor found a $500,000 cash stash hidden in the walls, as well as the contractor’s bid to keep the bucks, a state appellate court has given the money to the heirs of the then-owner who hid it.…

Jun 1, 2012 10:46 PM CDT

A Big Mess in Little Neck: Clause in 17th Century Land Trust Causes Modern-Day Ruckus

Jun 1, 2012 9:20 AM CDT

Attorney, Disbarred Lawyer Among Latest 14 to Take Pleas in Las Vegas Homeowner Association Fraud

Another 14 defendants took pleas Thursday in an ongoing federal investigation concerning massive alleged fraud among Las Vegas homeowner associations. Among them are a lawyer, Brian Jones, 38, who admitted in his guilty plea that he helped rig board elections at two associations, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. He formerly…

May 31, 2012 11:31 PM CDT

Fed’l Appeals Court Says Sign Law Applies to Dog Kennel’s Mural, Calls Claimed Artwork Advertising

Is a mural featuring dogs on the exterior of a commercial building a sign subject to standard business zoning requirements or a work of art? It depends on the subject matter, according to a federal appeals court opinion last week. But because the mural at issue featured cartoon canines from…

May 29, 2012 7:37 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rules Against Homeowners Who Sued Quicken Loans over Alleged Unearned Fees

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled for Quicken Loans in a suit filed by three couples who claim they were charged “unearned fees” at closing in violation of federal law. In a unanimous opinion (PDF), the court ruled that the federal law bars unearned fees only when they are part…

May 24, 2012 3:44 PM CDT

Parents of Students Slain in Los Angeles Near USC Sue School re Claimed Safety Misrepresentations

The parents of two Chinese electrical engineering graduate students shot to death last month while they were sitting in a parked BMW outside the home of one of the victims have filed a wrongful death suit against the University of Southern California. Relying on theories of misrepresentation and negligence, it…

May 18, 2012 4:05 PM CDT

Dewey & LeBoeuf’s DC Landlord Sues Firm Over $550K in Claimed Unpaid Rent

Add another lawsuit to the list of ongoing legal action against Dewey & LeBoeuf. In an eviction action filed this week in Washington, D.C., the firm’s landlord says it owes $550,000 in rent that wasn’t paid from Feb. 1 to May 12, according to the Washington Post’s Capital Business Blog.…

May 17, 2012 6:08 PM CDT

In-House Counsel for Developer Didn’t Stop $98M Mortgage Fraud, Loses Law License for 4 Years

A sole practitioner who worked as in-house counsel for companies controlled by a New York real estate developer has lost his law license for four years, because he failed to detect and stop mortgage-origination fraud by the developer that cost lenders $98 million. There is no evidence that Thomas Cusack…

May 17, 2012 4:30 PM CDT

Top Fla. Court to Hear Landmark Foreclosure Fraud Case This Week Despite Parties’ Agreed Dismissal

A hard-fought Florida mortgage foreclosure case seemingly had concluded—twice. After the defendant homeowner contended that a mortgage assignment relied on in the complaint was fraudulent, the Bank of New York filed a voluntary dismissal of the suit. Then, when the Bank of New York filed a second, identical foreclosure case…

May 8, 2012 7:55 PM CDT

Wilbur the Pig Is a Household Pet, Judge Rules; Community Association Can’t Evict Him

Wilbur the pig is a household pet, a Texas judge ruled Monday, in a finding that prevents the porker’s family from having to find a new home for him. Potbellied Vietnamese pigs like Wilbur are routinely kept as pets, Harris County District Judge Mike Engelhart found, in a decision greeted…

May 8, 2012 4:15 PM CDT

3 More Lawyers Are Charged in Las Vegas Homeowner Association Fraud Case

Three lawyers—one dead, one disbarred and one reportedly still in practice—are among 14 new defendants charged in a major, ongoing federal investigation of alleged corruption in Las Vegas homeowner associations, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Vegas Inc. They are Brian Jones, who previously worked for the now disbanded…

May 3, 2012 4:16 PM CDT

Home School: Some Tips Before Buying That Second Residence

May 1, 2012 6:50 AM CDT