Land Trusts
as Mortgage Rescue Schemes
Meetings of the Sovereign People’s Court
for the United States of America were
held in this back room of a printing
business until the FBI raided it.
Photo by Jeff German
There are groups around the country (and here in Florida), that are selling homeowners a scheme designed to “save” their houses from foreclosure. It revolves around using what they describe as a “Land Patent.” They use language from ancient court cases such as “the Land Patent is the only form of perfect title to land available in the United States...” Their ultimate claim is that land, under a Land Patent “cannot be taken for debt or taxes.” Sounds great, doesn’t it?
A Patent is a right granted by the government. It’s actually not possible to procure any kind of deed or “patent” from the government on your home, but these groups encourage you to transfer your title to a trust (which they control), and they will “assign” a beneficial interest back to you, under their “copyrighted Declaration of Land Patent.” The “service” costs somewhere around $1,000.
The Land Patents are recognized in “common law courts,” that is, courts set up by laymen to declare for themselves what is right and wrong, without regard to how the (actual) law sees things. In the picture above, meetings of the Sovereign People’s Court for the United States of America were held in the back room of a printing business, until the FBI raided it.
There are three major problems with the Land Patent scheme:
First, the Courts don’t recognize them! (If you actually read the old court cases cited by these groups, many of them hold exactly the opposite of what these groups claim.)
Second, by giving up title to your property, you are losing the right to actually defend against the foreclosure, a major legitimate alternative to letting the bank sell your home. Transferring title is also itself a default in most mortgages, and disqualifies you from most modification programs.
Third, given the fact that these homeowners are making these transfers for the purpose of evading foreclosure on an existing mortgage, it may well be a CRIMINAL ACT.
If you search the internet and read enough, you will find that (at least some of these groups) are connected to the Militia movement. It’s an outgrowth of the rampant anti-federal government sentiment that is common in the American west, and most of the Militias are extreme right-wing radicals doing their best to foment anarchy. Think of it as a version of a tax revolt, where people refuse to file returns or pay income taxes.
DO NOT GET MIXED UP WITH THESE PEOPLE. They are engaged in exactly the kind of activities the Florida legislature sought to outlaw in the recent Mortgage Rescue Scheme statute.
BUYER BEWARE!
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As if the misbehavior of Wall Street and the Too-Big-To-Fail Bankers hasn't hurt the American middle class badly enough, we also have lots of "little guy" crooks running around trying to capitalize on people's fear, in order to get them to throw their hard-earned money at whacky ideas which will NOT really keep them in their homes.
This is a place to list such schemes as they rear their ugly heads, to help warn the public away from these fraudsters.
Generally speakiing, Mortgage Rescue Schemes are scams that target those whose home is facing potential foreclosure. The scheme prays on desperate homeowners who are struggling with, or behind in their mortgage payments. These schemes cause difference kinds of harm to the homeowners, but it usually involves the owner ultimately being forced out of their homes, and losing even more money.
The irony is, most of the people who are tempted by these scams could likely have held on to their homes if they had just consulted an attorney experienced in the defense of mortgage foreclosures.
Florida has enacted a Foreclosure Rescue Scheme statute, with tough penalties for those who prey on the fear of homeowners, and fines up to $15,000 per violation.
