Bad Deeds
The Chicago Tribune has been producing outstanding articles on mortgage fraud. Their latest, "This House Was a Steal" by Susan Chandler, begins with a memorable scene:
The new buyers of a rundown graystone on the South Side showed up Jan. 9 to look at the house they won at a foreclosure auction. They took the plywood off the front door and went inside to make sure the utilities had been shut off. Then they called the police.
Sitting upright in the corner of a bedroom off the kitchen was a human skeleton in a red tracksuit….
The house, it turns out, had been transferred three times to new owners as the son of the true owner sat dead inside. Chandler tells a fascinating story of forged deeds, a corrupt title company and a South Side family that seems to specialize in mortgage fraud.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-sun_fraud_0224feb24,0,2240947,full.story