Last of Carol Asbury’s Partners In Fraud Scheme Pleads Guilty

January 18, 2012 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

David Lam Pleads Guilty

David Lam, the last of Carol Asbury’s partners in a mortgage fraud scheme involving fraudulent appraisals and straw buying pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in relation to a home sales scheme in Wellington’s Versailles community. The scheme led to sales worth more than $15 million in mortgage loans on 12 Versailles homes and more than $5 million in fraudulent loan proceeds.

Carol Asbury, former assistant state attorney and former owner of the website, 4closurefraud.org and three co-defendants have already pled guilty guilty and have been sentenced.

Filed Under: Florida, Mortgage News Tagged With: 4closurefraud.org, Carol Asbury, David Lam, economic meltdown, financial crisis, florida foreclosure defense, florida foreclosure defense lawyers, florida foreclosure lawsuits, florida foreclosures, florida straw buyers, foreclosure, foreclosure activists, foreclosure crisis, foreclosure defense, foreclosure help, foreclosure rescue, foreclosure rescue scams, foreclosure websites, foreclosures, Housing Crisis, illegal foreclosures, mortgage backed securities, Mortgage Crisis, mortgage fraud, mortgage help, mortgages, Save My Home Law Group

Bank of America short-sale incentives draw mixed reviews

January 2, 2012 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post

Bank of America’s cash-back incentive, which tempted delinquent borrowers to do a short sale over a lengthy foreclosure, ended Dec. 12 with mixed reviews from Realtors and tepid homeowner response.

The Florida-only program offered between $5,000 and $20,000 in relocation expenses to qualified homeowners who agreed to vacate their homes through a short sale in lieu of the average two-year foreclosure process.

But as of early December, only about 3,000 homeowners of 20,000 solicited by the bank had expressed interest in the plan, which one real estate consultant said was unthinkable before the robo-signing scandal heightened the foreclosure chaos.

“A year ago, banks weren’t making offers like this. Now, it’s a complete reversal in that they are proactively soliciting short sales,” said Jack McCabe, chief executive of McCabe Research & Consulting in Deerfield Beach. “They are offering unbelievable deals.”

A short sale is when a lender agrees to accept less for a home than what is owed on the mortgage. Sometimes, the bank also will agree to waive the deficiency judgment – money still owed by the homeowner on the mortgage debt.

Realtors say banks, including Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, began offering cash incentives about six months ago to homeowners who agree to do short sales. With foreclosures taking an average of 749 days in Florida, according to a November RealtyTrac report, it’s cheaper to pay off an owner than take them to court, Realtors say.

“It’s costing banks a fortune to do the foreclosure, and they want to cut their losses,” said Sherry Lee, broker/owner of Lee Property Sales in West Palm Beach.

DOJ Arrests “Mass Joinder” Attorney Mitchell Stein at LAX

December 21, 2011 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

Martin Andelman, ML-Implode

This is a story for the ages… you want crazy, I’ve got crazy.

Remember attorney Mitchell J. Stein? His law office was shut down along with the the law offices of Kramer & Kaslow. Stein filed the first lawsuit against Bank of America that came to be know as a “mass joinder,” or multi-plaintiff suit… Ronald v. Bank of America.

When I first called Mitchell Stein to find out what he was up to, I discovered that coincidentally, he went to my high school. He was two years older than me, so he didn’t remember me, but I did remember him. And he seemed like a smart trial lawyer who certainly talked like he was dedicated to fighting for the rights of homeowners against the banks. He said that many of his clients were pro bono and contingency cases, where the homeowners were paying nothing. I never listed him on my “Trusted Attorneys” tab… because I just didn’t know him long enough… but I did try to keep tabs on him.

Then this past September, I believe, both he and Kramer got shut down by the State Bar and AG, the allegations being that they were “running and capping,” essentially meaning that they were paying non-lawyers sales commissions. Kramer continues to deny that happened, and I suppose we’ll have to wait to see what evidence is presented at trial to be sure one way or the other. Stein, on the other hand, not only denied any involvement with Kramer’s marketing, but further said that he had never received any funds from that marketing… and to-date, I haven’t seen any evidence that he did. So, I was waiting to see how all that came out, as well.

But… never mind all that… in fact, as far as Stein is concerned, it’s pretty much mass-smash… joinder-schmoinder.

Okay, ready for this? I wasn’t.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today that attorney Mitchell J. Stein was arrested on Sunday, December 18, 2011, at Los Angeles International Airport on charges related to his alleged role in a multi-million dollar market manipulation stock fraud scheme. Stein was arrested for his role as attorney for a South Carolina health care device company, Signalife… now known as Heart Tronics.

Sovereign Citizen Pleads Guity, Agrees To Rat Out Others

December 17, 2011 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

Jodie Fleischer, WSB Atlanta

One of the men linked to a real estate scheme exposed by a Channel 2 Action News investigation, pleaded guilty to racketeering Tuesday.

Kenith Beniaih Rey admitted trying to steal a $2 million home in Sandy Springs. It was still under construction when he filed a quit claim deed in his name, turned on the power and alarm system, and moved in an armchair and suitcases.

“He was also involved with a co-defendant who was deeply engrained in the organization, a man by the name of Richard Terrance Jenkins,” prosecutor John Melvin told the judge.

Jenkins sat watching in the courtroom. He and Rey were indicted in March along with 10 others. Jenkins is accused of trying to steal six houses. Rey said he was just interested in acquiring foreclosed houses and that Jenkins roped him into the scheme.

“They began to show me some of the properties that they had. I decided to acquire his services,” Rey said.

But the homeowner was able to escape foreclosure, found Rey’s belongings and called Sandy Springs Police.

“It was one home that was an abandoned foreclosure that I was trying to acquire. He was like ‘let me show you how to acquire it,’ and we went down to the courthouse and filed documents which he had provided,” Rey said.

Last of Carol Asbury’s Partners In Fraud Scheme Pleads Guilty

David Lam Pleads Guilty

Bank of America short-sale incentives draw mixed reviews

DOJ Arrests “Mass Joinder” Attorney Mitchell Stein at LAX

Sovereign Citizen Pleads Guity, Agrees To Rat Out Others

Translation

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