LIT COMMENTARY
FEB 2, 2024
FEB 2, 2024
Above is the date LIT Last updated this article.
COMPARE MASS. JURY (CITIZENS) JUDGMENT WITH US GOV. VIEW OF FORECLOSURE SCAMMERS IN TEXAS COURTS, WHO ARE DEEMED “FRIENDS OF THE COURT”
CITIZENS NEW AMERICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM IN 2024
If you’re a liar and a thief who steals homes, you are protected by US Gov.Dave’s Statements Admitted as Evidence: https://t.co/cUwjRnBEJB
The DOJ Complicit in Texas Legal Conspiracy and Mortgage Fraud:https://t.co/NRWcQgtT4w pic.twitter.com/HIm4YdjILJ
— lawsinusa (@lawsinusa) January 31, 2024
The recent $2.75 million judgment by a Boston jury is a resounding affirmation of the issues we’ve consistently emphasized on our investigative blog at Laws In Texas (LIT). For years, we’ve shed light on the legal challenges faced by homeowners, and this case reinforces the urgency of our mission.
While Boston’s legal system has delivered justice in this instance, our focus on Texas reveals a starkly different landscape. It’s a jurisdiction where trials seem elusive, especially without legal representation deeply entrenched in the legal network. Take, for example, the ongoing battle in the $4 million wrongful foreclosure judgment against Deutsche Bank and PHH Ocwen. The defense lawyer’s ties to the very court where the case is being appealed underscore the challenges faced by homeowners seeking justice.
Since the 2008 financial crisis, Texas courts have often seemed more aligned with creditor rights than upholding the rule of law. This has led to a troubling trend: the unprecedented theft of residential homes. Deutsche Bank, until a recent case now in settlement talks, has seemingly been immune to adverse judgments on appeal in Texas courts.
As our founder Mark Burke delved into the complex web of foreclosure cases, a startling revelation emerged. Foreclosure defense lawyers, ostensibly acting on behalf of distressed homeowners, were in fact working for real estate investors. This discovery uncovered a shocking pattern of fraud perpetrated against vulnerable homeowners in the state.
Despite overwhelming evidence, the response from the judiciary, state and federal courts, and government agencies has been more about circling the wagons than conducting thorough investigations. Laws In Texas, its founder, and his family have faced retaliation rather than acknowledgment of the issues raised.
Yet, despite these challenges, Mark Burke remains committed to providing citizens with the crucial facts needed to make informed decisions. The Massachusetts case serves as validation, not only for LIT’s contentions in Texas but as evidence that the government is complicit in – and more recently – an active participant in the fraud against homeowners. As an independent, non-profit media organization, we will continue our mission to uncover the truth and empower citizens with knowledge.
Victim of ‘foreclosure rescue scam’ wins $2.75M judgment
FEB 1, 2024 | REPUBLISHED BY LIT: FEB 2, 2024
FEB 2, 2024
Above is the date LIT Last updated this article.
Christopher St. Louis seized a lifeline he thought would save his home in Dorchester. Instead, he lost nearly everything he owned.
But a $2.75 million judgment entered last month in Suffolk Superior Court will go a long way toward making things right for the former homeowner now forced to live in a Boston apartment.
On. Jan. 22, Judge Peter B. Krupp entered final judgment in St. Louis’ lawsuit against Stoughton real estate agents Mitra Ghobadi and Richard Fitzgerald.
A jury found Ghobadi liable for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and civil conspiracy. Fitzgerald — who’s Ghobadi’s husband — was found liable for fraud and conspiracy.
St. Louis was awarded $1 million in damages against Ghobadi and $500,000 against Fitzgerald.
Krupp’s final judgment tacked on an additional $1,249,048 in prejudgment interest and $290 in costs.
St. Louis has Lynn attorney Nicole M. Bluefort to thank.
“This was a long time coming,” Bluefort says. “Inevitably, we came out with a good result. We were very pleased.”
According to the suit, the defendants duped St. Louis into engaging in a short sale of his three-family home in Dorchester at the end of 2014. At the time, he was behind on his mortgage payments and facing foreclosure.
In theory, a short sale avoids foreclosure by the mortgage holder agreeing to the sale of a property to a third party for less than what is due under the loan. The lender gets the proceeds from the sale and, in some cases, agrees to accept that amount in full satisfaction of what the property owner owes on the outstanding mortgage.
St. Louis alleged that Ghobadi first approached him in 2011 about a short sale after seeing a public notice of St. Louis being in default on his mortgage payments. St. Louis ultimately backed out of the sale, but over the next several years Ghobadi allegedly persisted in her efforts.
In December 2014, Ghobadi allegedly offered to buy the house in a short sale aimed at allowing St. Louis to get free and clear of his mortgage debt.
“This was [purportedly] a deal of a lifetime that she was proposing,” Bluefort says.
“Part of this deal was the fact that [St. Louis] was going to be able to live at this house indefinitely after it transferred over to [Fitzgerald’s agency] Five Realty LLC.
And part of this deal was that he was going to be working on this property and other properties [for the defendants].
The wages he would earn would place him in a position to buy back the property.
Given that there was no hard timeline for purchasing back the property, it was a good deal.”
A contractor by trade, St. Louis claimed he accepted Ghobadi’s offer pursuant to an oral agreement under which he would renovate the residence and other properties that the defendants “flipped” for profit.
“What more could you ask for?”
Bluefort says in explaining why the deal was so attractive to her client.
“You’re living in the place that you’ve [lived at since 1993] and you’re able to make money.”
St. Louis said he completed $100,000 in renovations to the home but was never compensated for his work or the materials that he purchased for the project.
The closing of the short sale occurred in March 2015.
In his subsequent lawsuit, St. Louis alleged that during the closing process he was excluded from key events; he was not provided with nor given adequate time to review key documents; and certain documents were submitted under his purported signature that he never signed.
The house was purchased for $122,000 by Five Realty LLC, which was under the management of Fitzgerald.
According to St. Louis, the house had an actual market value of $350,000 at the time.
The deed on the property was later transferred to OZZ14 Realty LLC, whose registered agent was Fitzgerald’s daughter-in-law.
St. Louis alleged that his agreement with Ghobadi entitled him to stay in the home rent-free until he could repurchase the property.
Family members living in the other two units of the three-unit property paid $1,000 a month in rent.
Nonetheless, on Aug. 10, 2015, St. Louis was served with summary process for unpaid rent in the amount of $4,500.
He remained at the property under a court order requiring him to pay the back rent allegedly due OZZ14 Realty and $1,500 a month going forward.
But on March 7, 2016, St. Louis received notice that he and other family members had 48 hours to vacate the premises. Two days later, movers took his belongings from the property and placed them in storage pursuant to a court order.
According to St. Louis, the movers left behind various appliances he owned as well as all the tools and materials he had accumulated in his more than 30 years working as a contractor.
On June 7, 2017, OZZ14 Realty sold the house for $650,000.
Apart from losing his home, St. Louis claimed he was left holding the bag on a $37,515 tax lien on the property.
He said Ghobadi had assured him that the lien would be paid from the proceeds of the short sale.
St. Louis also alleged that he incurred tens of thousands of dollars in federal income tax liability, asserting he was never advised by Ghobadi of the tax exposure he would face as a result of the transaction.
St. Louis sued Ghobadi, Fitzgerald and certain other individual defendants in 2017.
An amended complaint filed by Bluefort alleged that the defendants took advantage of the fact that her client had only a sixth-grade education.
“[St. Louis] was the victim of a foreclosure rescue scam in which a realtor and a team of her agents successfully conspired to buy the plaintiff’s home for hundreds of thousands of dollars below market value and resell it for a five hundred percent profit,” the complaint stated.
“The Defendants have profited financially while the Plaintiff and his family have lost their home and the tools required for the plaintiff to make a living and continue on with his life.”
Bluefort says the key to proving the case at trial was establishing that Ghobadi had made misrepresentations to St. Louis in the context of a fiduciary relationship.
“It’s the way in which [Ghobadi] went about it that we believe [St. Louis] was taken advantage of based on his education and ability to read,” Bluefort says.
“My client testified to the fact that she approached him several times before finally making this deal happen. He would ask if he could take documents home with him to have somebody read to him. She would say, ‘No. Trust me.’”
The defendants are represented by Medway attorney Scott G. Gowen. He declined to comment, citing forthcoming post-trial motions by his clients.
If you are a miscreant, thief, lawyer, judge, prosecutor, or gov. employee who enjoys making hundreds of thousands of dollars stripping equity from distressed and law-abidin’ homeowners, elders and veterans then Texas Wants YOU! Here’s how criminal you can be. TX Judges love it! pic.twitter.com/m5x8ML4xEJ
— lawsinusa (@lawsinusa) February 2, 2024
Epiphany Strikes Gold within Texas Courts by Invoking a Fraudulent Application of the Starker Exchange
The Stark Reality: This latest fraudulent conveyance real estate scam is now endorsed by both the district and appellate courts in Texas.
The Texas Mirage: Illusions of Justice in the Face of Rampant Real Estate Fraud
Peeling Back the Layers: Tami Taha’s Foreclosure Fraud and Legal Collusion Exposed by LIT’s Investigation firmly points to Judicial Deception.
The Craig Mynard Foreclosure Fraud: By Bandit Lawyer Jason Leboeuf and Epiphany Properties et al
This scam foreclosure case is a prime example of the collusion and fraud between the courts and lawyers on both sides of the table.
