George Knapp, Las Vegas Journalist, Becomes Victim Of Foreclosure Fraud He Reported On [WATCH]

Improper foreclosure practices are so widespread in Las Vegas that one reporter trying to expose them instead found he too was a victim of foreclosure fraud.

George Knapp, chief investigative reporter for Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS, was investigating how "tens of thousands" of people who thought they were homeowners turned out not to actually own their homes due to fraudulent paperwork, when he discovered that he was in that exact situation. (h/t MediaBistro).

Las Vegas foreclosure attorney Tisha Black told Knapp that nine out of 10 foreclosure filings aren't done properly, jeopardizing the ownership status of the house in the future.

"I gave her my address, because I bought a home out of foreclosure three years ago this month," Knapp said on KLAS during the conclusion of his report. "The Attorney General's office confirmed to me that I don't own my home because of bogus signatures and improper filings."

More than a tenth of all homes in Las Vegas received a default notice last year, according to a RealtyTrac report cited by CNNMoney. The national foreclosure average was five times lower than that of Sin City's. In September, Las Vegas-area home prices fell to their lowest level since the start of the recession, according to a Tuesday report by Standard & Poor's.

Knapp told Poynter Institute journalist Al Tompkins that the episode put him in a "very weird spot to be in" as a reporter. After considering not including Knapp's part of the story in the report, he says his managers decided Knapp's coincidence illustrated "one of the central issues in our project... namely, that very bad things have happened to people who essentially played by the rules."

Indeed, Knapp isn't alone when it comes to faulty title transfers causing lost homes. In addition, to the "tens of thousands" cited by KLAS in Las Vegas, one couple and their 18-month-old daughter faced foreclosure in Houston, Texas even though they had stayed current on payments since 2008, because their title wasn't transferred properly.

Another family in Utah was threatened with foreclosure on a home they thought they had already sold for similar reasons.

State attorneys general are pursuing a national settlement with mortgage companies over claims of improperly foreclosing on U.S. homeowners. California last month removed itself from talks.

Tracy Lawrence, set to be sentenced for her part in a Las Vegas-based foreclosure fraud, was found dead this week, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Comments

[boston 67]

09:57 AM on 12/06/2011

Please read about the man behind MA AG's lawsuit against the banks - Register O'Brien has been talking about clouded titles and mortgage fraud for over a year now:
http://boston67.blog.com/peoples-hero/

[SophieSmith19]

08:24 AM on 12/02/2011

Countless are @ jalaroc.
_________________________________________
Foreclosure Fraud :http://www.righttocancel.com/

[jalaroc]

01:23 PM on 12/01/2011

How many americans are homeless but just don't know it?

[lecloche]

12:19 PM on 12/01/2011

Man! This sounds like something straight out of Knapp's weekend radio gig "Coast To Coast AM".

[Flavor]

06:14 AM on 12/01/2011

This is a disgrace to the human race, I keep saying the American people need to be given a clean slate too. Look at the banks how they were bailed out & just recently reports of some banks getting money that no one knew that they had received. Thinking you own a home to find out that it's all boggish because of the boggish paper work done, what a shame!!!

[belldn3]

05:33 PM on 11/30/2011

Good reporter. I know it was a bitter pill to swallow, but he did and reported it. Stand up guy.

[seanymph007]

05:19 PM on 11/30/2011

They used to have an evil name for this kind of transaction... now it's just normal "banking"!

[gibraltar]

05:17 PM on 11/30/2011

Once the Banksters and Wall Street started securitizing these loans their appetite was voracious they had to have more and more. They paid large enough commissions to make it worth peoples while to cut corners and outright lie. Everyone was in on it the real estate agent the appraisers who if they didn't appraise high enough didn't get the next call. The banks knew they weren't going to hold the note so thay didn't care if it was a time bomb. Write it today sell it tomorrow get my commission and go to the next sale. The laws the conservatives want to blame liberals for simply outlawed red lining meaning you couldn't disqualify a borrower simply because of where they lived. That law also said the banks needed to use "sound banking principals".They were designed to blow up after they had been milked for every commission possible. Last guy was gonna be holding the bag.

[LibertariansGhost]

12:33 AM on 12/01/2011

Standard pyramid scheme. Capitalism is one giant pyramid.

[7dr361]

05:06 PM on 11/30/2011

why would anyone vote republican????look at their record, they should be tried for treason...why, signing a pledge to ONE person before taking their oath of office... plus not passing a work bill, objecting to everything President Obama tries to do for America.........

[joanwiersma]

08:57 PM on 11/30/2011

This really isn't about that. This country was taken over in 1913. Type it in and do the research. That's when we sold out to the corporates that have now taken over just about completely.

OCCUPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[7dr361]

04:54 PM on 11/30/2011

government needs to come down hard and fast......put the crooks in jail and forget about them...maybe bankers will get their sh**straight..................

[Teacherbob]

04:15 PM on 11/30/2011

It is a two edged sword. If you have a credit card and spend more than you can afford to pay - That really is your fault.

But many people were mislead into believing they could afford the payments. If you have ever dealt with a furniture rental place.... they advertise their payment structure broken down by weeks instead of by months. So when you hear your payment is $35 dollars - you think "monthly" like most installment payments... But later you discover your payment is $140 per month. It is a deceptive practice. And YES you should be smart enough to figure this out. But there are those who do not have the common sense to know this. These are the ones this whole lending scam took advantage of.

[Madbunny]

03:58 PM on 11/30/2011

Using an analogy; if one student, or heck even a dozen students fail out of high school, then essentially you can chalk it up to random factors.

When 30% of all high school students fail out, the problem isn't the students its the system.

[thundermummy]

03:46 PM on 11/30/2011

OK wingnuts, explain to me how this fraud is Barney Frank's and Obama's fault. And don't forget to add lol at the end.

[Wingsweaver]

04:14 PM on 11/30/2011

lol

[7dr361]

04:58 PM on 11/30/2011

sorry thundermummy I fanned your post after I hit the flagged by accident.............

[latt913]

03:44 PM on 11/30/2011

final post cause nothing left to argue.....The crooked bankers and wall streeters caused the great depression. The Roosevelt administration passed the Glass-Steagal act which regulated them and stopped them from turning banks into casinos. Phil Grahmm and his republican banker tools repealed this act...and waalaa ....those bankers did the same as their 1929 grandfathers did and caused this mess. It really is that simple. reinstate Glass- Steagal and regulate these vultures or send em to jail. Dont blame the poor folks that got hoodwinked

[LibertariansGhost]

12:47 AM on 12/01/2011

Phil Grahmm and his republican banker tools didn't vote to repeal Glass-Steagall, 75% of Democrats in the House voted for it and only 7 Dems in the Senate voted against it. And a Democratic President signed it into law.

Are you a paid shill for the Democratic Party? If not you should be, I am sure you could get paid for spewing that kind of partisan disinformation

[alhorvath]

03:17 PM on 11/30/2011

If there is fraud, make the SOB's pay big time.

[seanymph007]

05:21 PM on 11/30/2011

IF?