Common characteristics of seller impersonation fraud include notarization issues and use of a property owner’s legitimate non-public personal information. The most common notarization issues were fake notary credentials (43%) and use of real notary credentials without permission (31%), according to the study. 

Vacant land at 85% was the most targeted type of property last year, followed by vacation homes (37%), rental properties (37%) and agricultural land (23%).

Click here to read the full report at ALTA.

Koetter then filed a motion in circuit court to recover the surplus proceeds, but the court rejected the motion. When she appealed, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against her, saying that under state law, this procedure was the only way she could collect her rightful compensation.   

Represented by Pacific Legal Foundation at no charge, Koetter is asking the Michigan Supreme Court to confirm her right to just compensation without complicated claims procedures and unreasonably tight deadlines getting in the way.   The case is In re Petition of Manistee County Treasurer for Foreclosure. 

“The government can sell property to collect unpaid taxes, but it has a duty to pay just compensation when it takes more than what is owed…But Michigan uses an unusual and complicated process that is designed to fail. It is a calculated attempt by the government to avoid Supreme Court precedent so that it can unconstitutionally take property without compensation.”   Said Christina Martin, senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation.

Click here to read more at the Pacific Legal Foundation.

“The empty lot is in the same neighborhood where they own a home, but the Werohas had no idea the land was being sold because no “For Sale” sign was ever placed on it. They only realized it had sold a month later, after Seree had been diagnosed with cancer and decided to simplify his financial portfolio for his family by selling his investment properties.”

According to Kansas City’s FOX4 Problem Solvers, what happened to the Werohas was one of the boldest land scams that they have ever seen.  According to their report, the scammers provided the title company with fake driver’s licenses, claiming to be Seree and Sipa Weroha.  But the photos in those fake licenses looked nothing at all like the real Werohas – who are both in their 70s, were born in Thailand, but have lived in the U.S. for 40 years.  In addition, the fake sellers never appeared at the closing for the $26,000 transaction, claiming to live out of state. So, no one ever met them.  AND the Massachusetts notary who stamped the paperwork told an investigator that his seal had been stolen.

“The title company – Alpha Title – reported the scam to the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department. Both the title agent and Mercado, the listing agent, spoke to police. But that was more than a month ago and, so far, no arrests have been made.”

“An agent at Alpha Title said she provided police with dozens of documents, including a fake email set up by the scammers, the scammers bank account information (where they wanted the money transferred) and angry text messages from the scammers when Alpha put the brakes on the second deal.”

FOX4 says the Werohas are working with the title company’s insurance company to get their property back as well as putting a freeze on their credit.

Click here to read the full story at FOX4 Kansas City.

Hat tip to MAREI.

The Pacific Legal Foundation recently announced that

Specifically, the Court held 9-0 that such fees, otherwise known as “legislative exactions,” must satisfy the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions — meaning they must be closely related and proportional to any adverse public impacts caused by development and no more.

“Holding building permits hostage in exchange for excessive development fees is obviously extortion,” said Paul Beard, partner at Pierson Ferdinand. “We are thrilled that the Court agreed and put a stop to a blatant attempt to skirt the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition against taking private property without just compensation.”

Click here to read more at the Pacific Legal Foundation.

According to the NY Post, the Venezuelan national Leonel Moreno appears to live in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, and said in a recent video that under U.S. law, “if a house is not inhabited, we can seize it.”   His video rant along with captions in English cane be seen below.

The firebrand influencer, who lives with his partner and their baby daughter, argued that the only way for his fellow migrants to escape living on the streets and not become a “public burden” is to “invade” unoccupied homes.

He appeared to be referring to adverse possession laws, commonly known as squatter’s rights, which allow unlawful property occupants rights over the property they occupy without the owner’s consent, in certain circumstances.

Click here to read the full story at the NY Post.

UPDATE 3/28/24:  Migrant influencer Leonel Moreno mocks US taxpayers who ‘work like slaves’ in latest videos

According to the Wall Street Journal:

“The $418 million agreement will make it easier for home buyers to negotiate fees with their own agents and could lead more buyers to forgo using agents altogether, which has the potential to drive down commission rates and force hundreds of thousands of agents out of the industry.”

“Buyers are likely to be more price conscious when selecting an agent and might opt to save money by not using an agent at all, or by paying their agent a smaller fee in exchange for limited services. For example, a buyer could pay an agent to put together an offer and review an inspection report, but not to accompany the buyer on home tours.”

In a media release, the National Association of Realtors said:

“The settlement, which is subject to court approval, makes clear that NAR continues to deny any wrongdoing in connection with the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) cooperative compensation model rule (MLS Model Rule) that was introduced in the 1990s in response to calls from consumer protection advocates for buyer representation. Under the terms of the agreement, NAR would pay $418 million over approximately four years.”

“NAR has worked hard for years to resolve this litigation in a manner that benefits our members and American consumers. It has always been our goal to preserve consumer choice and protect our members to the greatest extent possible. This settlement achieves both of those goals,” said Nykia Wright, Interim CEO of NAR.

This is a developing issue…stay tuned.

Click here to read the full media release at the NAR.

Click here to read more at the Wall Street Journal.

“…Judge Burke raised questions about the corporate formation requirements imposed by the bill, a process which is usually left to state governments, and noted that the law applies to corporate entities even if the entity conducts businesses only within a single state or does no business at all. The judge added that the CTA’s ownership disclosure requirements gave the government “unfettered legislative power.”  From the Wall Street Journal

Charles Tassell, COO of National REIA said the following in a statement:

“U.S. District Judge Liles C. Burke, correctly struck down the police state overreach of the Corporate Transparency Act.  The complete disregard for state autonomy or even lip service to the commerce clause loophole reveals a deep disregard for the historic Constitutional checks and balances.  The effort to address money laundering, while laudable is misplaced and excessive as it destroys all privacy with little to no proof of need for a new law.” Said Charles Tassell, COO of National REIA in a statement.

Click here to read the full story at APNews.com

Click here to read the full story at the Wall Street Journal

Click here to read Jeff Watson’s analysis of the CTA on Real Estate Investing Today

The plaintiffs argued that New York City’s law constituted an unconstitutional taking by preventing owners from terminating a lease at the end of a fixed term, “except on grounds outside the owner’s control.”

In a comment accompanying the decision declining to hear the appeal, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the “constitutionality of regimes like New York City’s is an important and pressing question.” He added that “in an appropriate future case, we should grant certiorari to address this important question.”

But, Thomas said, to evaluate the challenges to the city’s rent regulations, the court would need to consider whether specific regulations “prevent petitioners from evicting actual tenants for particular reasons,” as well as a “clear understanding of how New York City regulations coordinate to completely bar landlords from evicting tenants.”

Click here to read the full report at Multihousing News.

Interestingly, a few days later the squatters reached out to to arrange a meeting where they said they had found somewhere else to live and would leave the property for $2,000. The property owner ultimately paid them $1,200 after walking through the house – which was dirty, but thankfully undamaged.

“I had all my paperwork, purchase and sale agreement, homeowner’s insurance, the deed to the home, everything on me. They said it didn’t matter…” Said Chris Harte. [the property owner]

“The police told us that they get three to four calls a day similar to this,” real estate agent Bob Cervone told Fox News.

“The house was super dirty, trash everywhere…Luckily, there was no damage.”  Said Harte.

Click here to read the full story at FOX News.

“The verdict by a federal jury in Kansas City, Missouri, could upend decades-old practices that have allowed real estate agents to boost commissions as home prices and mortgage rates rise, hurting consumers by making housing transactions more expensive.”

Reuters is also reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice has asked a federal appeals court in Washington to let it revive an antitrust probe into the NAR’s practices.

Click here to read the full story at Reuters.com.

Click here to read the NAR’s response.