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Stories posted in
2006
A DECEPTIVE DAUGHTER
Schizophrenia is a tragic
illness that can leave one susceptible to exploitation by opportunistic perpetrators. The exploitation is especially egregious when the
perpetrator is related to the disabled victim. In a recent case the Public
Guardian sought guardianship of an elderly schizophrenic woman who had been
hospitalized in a mental institution for two years. An investigation by an
attorney appointed by the mental health court revealed grave concerns relative
to the use of the elderly woman’s finances by her adult daughter. The daughter
also sought to become guardian. During the guardianship proceedings the
daughter, without notice to anyone and under the guise of a revoked power of
attorney, took mom out of her nursing home to an undisclosed location in a
different state. The perpetrator also attempted to become the representative
payee of mom’s Social Security income and tried to direct mom’s pension income
to an account in which the perpetrator had access.
The Public Guardian obtained an
emergency order of protection against the perpetrator and a court order freezing
the mother’s assets. Nevertheless the perpetrator resisted inquiries into mom’s
location and well-being, and continued to attempt to seize control of her
assets. Eventually, through the assistance of law enforcement, the mother was
located in another State. The Public Guardian was able to return the mother to
Illinois
and place her in a facility that could monitor her severe schizophrenia. Now
that the mother is in a safe location, the Public Guardian’s is pursuing a
lawsuit to recover the assets converted by her daughter.
THE
EPIDEMIC OF MORTAGE FRAUD
More and
more disabled and elderly persons are falling victim to mortgage fraud schemes
that rob them of their longtime homes which often represent their only asset.
Most recently the case of David Shank gained local and national attention and
was the catalyst behind a week long series in the
Chicago Tribune, highlighting the mortgage fraud crisis involving the
elderly and disabled.
David is a
disabled man in his 40’s whose lifelong mental illness caused him to be
completely dependent on his parents. When his parents died within a year of each
other, David was left with no one to care for him but he was left with the home
he grew up in and lived in worth almost $300,000. David became the victim of
criminals who targeted him for his disabilities and induced him to sign a
mortgage. These respondents then stole the mortgage proceeds. David’s home went
into foreclosure as these exploiters never intended to repay the mortgage. They,
as part of a larger criminal enterprise, created phony pay stubs, tax statements
and deeds to enable the disabled and unemployed David to be approved for this
mortgage. The Public Guardian filed suit against all involved and was able to
set aside the mortgage and receive an award for $185,000 in punitive damages.
The Tribune’s expose on these individuals, most former felons and gang
members, helped bring attention to the plight of David Shank and other victims
of mortgage fraud and as a consequence caught the attention of Senator Barack
Obama who called for legislative hearings to change the law on mortgage fraud.
The Public Guardian has provided information to Senator Obama and State’s
Attorney Richard Divine regarding other cases of mortgage fraud involving his
wards.
Stories posted in 2004
Stealing Lives
Mary B* is a 94 year old woman who suffers
from dementia. She is a widow with no children. Our Office was appointed her
guardian in April of 2000. Shortly after our appointment, our office discovered
that Mary B* was taken advantage of by Nancy Khouri (Toliopoulous). Ms. Khouri
lived next door to Mary and was able to convince Mrs. B* to sign over her home
to her. Ms. Khouri promised to take care of Mrs. B* through her golden years.
Instead Ms. Khouri took out a $56,000 loan against Mrs. B’s home. Ms. Khouri
also forged Mrs B’s signature to cash in 97 U.S. Savings bonds worth a total of
$408,751. Our office filed suit against Ms. Khouri but she was no where to be
found. Recently, she resurfaced in Australia as the author of a best selling
book titled “Forbidden Love”. Ms. Khouri wrote the book as a “true account” of
honor killings in Jordan. Instead, publishers have discovered that the story was
entirely fictional. Publishers have pulled her book from the shelves. Police
detectives are looking for Ms. Khouri in the Chicago area. Once found Ms. Khouri
will have to face the consequences of her deplorable, heartless actions
Politicians are always for the elderly. Old people vote. Except for people
like Elizabeth and Konstantina and Mary. Maybe that’s
why politicians ignore them. Or maybe it’s because the Elizabeths and
Konstantinas and Marys don’t belly up to political fundraisers. Tax
scavengers do.
Elizabeth is 81-years-old. She owns a
$350,000 home in Wilmette. A few years ago, she failed to pay $29.14 in unpaid interest on her
real estate taxes. A tax scavenger paid the interest.
Elizabeth could have redeemed by paying the
scavenger off with a penalty. But before she could, she suffered a massive
stroke. She was diagnosed as suffering from “vascular dementia with a
psychosis.” The physician found her to be “delusional, confused and unable to
care for herself.”
Under Illinois law, if someone does not pay
their real estate taxes, a scavenger can pay and, after three years, claim the
home as his own. This is precisely what happened to Elizabeth. A tax scavenger
paid the $29.54 to the County and claimed the home.
Just last month, the same thing happened to
Konstantina. She’s 79. she does not believe she owns her $450,000 home in
Skokie. Hence she hadn’t been paying her taxes. A tax scavenger paid the taxes
and now is posed to grab her home. And it’s not as if Konstantina doesn’t have
the funds to pay the taxes. But neither does she believe the several hundred
thousand dollars sitting in the bank is hers.
Concerned neighbors referred Elizabeth and
Konstantina to us unfortunately after the redemption period had expired. We
became their guardians and presently are in court fighting the scavengers. We
have litigated many cases like this over the years. Some judges agree. But
others have a soft spot for scavengers. Take another case we lost which is now
pending in the Illinois Supreme Court.
In that case, Mary owned a home in a southern
suburb. She owed $347.61 in taxes which a tax scavenger paid. But in preceding
years, Mary had been psychiatrically hospitalized on 27 occasions. According to
psychiatrists, she suffered from a chronic schizophrenic disorder. When she
received her last notice which the tax scavenger had to send to her pursuant to
law, Mary was in a psychiatric hospital. She was there because the police found
her walking around outside on January 4, “completely naked.” When they went to
the home, they found the decomposing body of her dead companion with whom she
apparently had lived for several weeks after his death.
But the scavengers argue, and some judges
agree, that they have no way of knowing that these elderly people are
incompetent.
Well, let’s put it this way, how many
competent people let a $350,000 home go for $29 or a $450,000 home go for
nickels and dimes? But judges and scavengers don’t like to get into these
philosophical issues. Besides, they argue, a county indemnity fund could at
least partially reimburse people who lose their homes to scavengers. Sure, but
it takes time and the elderly never recover the true value. More importantly,
they still lose their homes while the scavenger gets rich on her life savings
and work. And often when they get kicked out of their homes they end up in
nursing homes supported by the taxpayers.
Courts in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware have
ruled that notice to an incompetent person is unconstitutional. But so far the
courts here have pretty much said that is they and we is us. In other words,
the Illinois judges do not have to follow rulings in other states. Particularly
when it means being unfair to the scavengers.
But the legislature and the governor can fix
the problem. It’s simple. Today, all a scavenger has to do is give proof to a
judge that he or she paid the taxes and ultimately he will walk away with the
property. The law should be changed to mandate that any scavenger trying to
grab a person’s home must present an appraisal concerning its value. If the
value of the home is out of proportion to the taxes paid, then a judge would
have to order that an independent inquiry be made concerning the well-being of
the owner of the home. That could be the State’s Attorney’s, our office or an
independent lawyer. Then if it appeared that the person was incompetent, the
sale would be set aside and a guardian appointed for the individual who would
ultimately end up paying the taxes out of the homeowner’s assets. The county
would get their taxes paid. The homeowner would end up having their home or, if
they’d have to be sold, at least receiving a profit from it.
Stories posted October
1, 2003
Left penniless and hopeless
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Ms. Nunez*
had endured many medical ailments. She has suffered through three strokes. She
can not speak or write. Her son and his girlfriend found her to be an easy
target for their scheme. They allegedly had Ms. Nunez sign a warranty deed to
them giving them her property. They immediately obtained several mortgages on
the property for approximately $160,000. The property is now in foreclosure. Not
only did they take her home out from under her but they also charged over
$20,000 on her credit cards.
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*names have been changed to protect client confidentiality.
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Too Greedy to Care
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A
construction company was canvassing Kevin Grady’s* neighborhood trying to drum
up new business. They met with Mr. Grady and “agreed” to do some repair work on
his home. Mr. Grady suffers from schizophrenia and only remembers signing blank
contracts. The construction company took out a $100,000 mortgage on Mr. Grady’s
home. They also wrote out a contract where they claimed that Mr. Grady gave them
a gift of $54,000. Our office has filed suit against the mortgage company and
the construction company to recover these monies on behalf of Mr. Grady.
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Luisa
Ramirez* gave her niece the authority to act on her behalf. Her niece wrote over
$400,000 in checks payable to herself. Her boyfriend, who owns a local bar,
cashed them without a second thought. Our office received a judgment of $400,000
against the niece and is currently trying to recover some of these monies from
the boyfriend/bar owner.
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In
February Mr. Jackson* was found living in a van outside his home, dehydrated and
confused. He is currently living in a nursing home. Upon investigation it
appears that Mr. Jackson was financially exploited by his attorney in connection
with the sale of his home. His home was sold and the buyers received a “gift of
equity” of $52,000 from Mr. Jackson. We have been appointed temporary guardian
of Mr. Jackson’s estate to investigate as to whether any wrongdoing occurred in
the sale of his home.
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Ms. Garza*
trusted her lawyer to handle her assets. Unfortunately, her former lawyer and
former power of attorney stole hundreds of thousands of dollars of Ms. Garza’s
hard earned money. Our office has discovered that both her former lawyer and
the power of attorney went on trips to Las Vegas and Poland. Ms. Garza was
charged in excess of $10,000 for each trip. They charged her for these trips and
said they were made to seek out relatives and charities she could leave her
money to.
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Mr.
Talbot’s* nurse “Tina” cared for him after his parents died. Mr. Talbot suffers
from schizophrenia and has been mentally ill his entire adult life. Tina and her
friend, who worked for a mortgage company, developed a scheme to exploit Mr.
Talbot. First, they put together a fraudulent loan application that included
made up w-2’s and pay stubs for Mr. Talbot. Then, they crafted a fake quit claim
deed and forged Mr. Talbot’s and his dead parent’s signatures. Finally, they
forced Mr. Talbot to take a $95,000 mortgage on the property. Tina took
$40,000, her friend took $45,000 and a so called “credit counselor” received
$10,000 from the loan. Now, Tina can not be located. We are filing suit to
recover these monies for Mr. Talbot.
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Family
members are supposed to be people you count on and trust. Unfortunately, Ms.
Nash’s* sons took advantage of her feebleness. Ms. Nash suffers from
schizophrenia. Her sons have already admitted to obtaining a mortgage against
their mother’s property. They said that they used the money to purchase a BMW
and for their barber shop business. Our office is working on invalidating the
mortgages so that the monies can be used to help improve Ms. Nash’s situation.
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Ms.
Henderson* owned a home worth $275,000. She is incapacitated and can not handle
her own affairs. Her niece and nephew took advantage of her situation and had
her execute a quit claim deed. They quickly moved in and took out an $110,000
mortgage on the property. The case went to trial and the judge set aside the
mortgage. Now we can use the property to get Ms. Henderson the home health care
that she desperately needs.
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Mr. Smith*
lived in Ms. Nathan’s* apartment building. He was a good tenant and Ms. Nathan
trusted him. He managed to convince her to sign papers giving him power of
attorney over her financial matters. He then had her quit claim the property to
himself and then gave her a life estate in the property. He managed to dodge the
process servers assigned to give him notice of the case but eventually a default
judgment was entered against him for failing to appear. The deed was invalidated
and the home was sold to benefit Ms. Nathan.
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Ms.
D’Amato* was very worried she would be sent to a nursing home. She told everyone
of her fears that she would be sent to one. She became extremely ill over time.
One day her “good friend” Mr. Quintelli had her sign some “papers” that he said
would keep her out of a nursing home forever. She in fact had signed a quit
claim deed giving her home away to Mr. Quintelli. Our office was able to have
the judge set aside the deed.
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Ms.
Anderson* was very ill. She was incompetent. Her power of attorney appointed to
handle her financial affairs placed his name on a joint account that was worth
$80,000. Once confronted about this he claimed that this money was a “gift” that
she gave him. Our office was able to recover this money and it is placed in an
account to solely benefit Ms. Anderson.
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Ms.
Ignacio’s’ caregiver stole over $60,000 in cash and expensive jewelry from Ms.
Ignacio’s’ residence. The caregiver maintained that Ms. Ignacio had given these
items to her as a gift. However, Ms. Ignacio’s was not of sound mind at the time
of the gift a trial the judge agreed. Her caregiver was forced to give back the
jewelry and there is a lien on her property for the $60,000 in cash.
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*names have been changed to protect client confidentiality.
Stories posted May 30, 2003
Left penniless and hopeless
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Sue Patterson* is sixty nine years old and
suffers from severe dementia. She is very impressionable and trustworthy of
others. When Sue retired from her bookkeeping job, many years ago, she had a
pension investment account worth around $200,000. Her nephew David* took
advantage of Sue’s situation and completely depleted her account. David took
money out of her account to obtain a mortgage on a property located in
Glenbrook. He also used her money to lease a BMW and a Ford Explorer. While
David lived the good life, Sue lived in deplorable conditions. Her home was
filthy with spoiled food in the refrigerator. She was also found dirty and
unkempt. Our office is currently seeking to recover her money from her nephew.
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Dolores Lawson* was found by police wandering near a busy street in Chicago.
Because of Dolores dementia and Alzheimer’s they were unable to determine
where she lived. At that point, they hospitalized her and contacted the Office
of Public Guardian for assistance. Her son showed up at the hospital and
took her back to her condo. We investigated Dolores’ assets and discovered
that her son was appointed as her power of attorney. As her power of attorney,
he had control over her financial and personal affairs. Over the years, he
managed to squander away Dolores’ 1.8 million dollar estate. He had made a
series of bad investments and expensive purchases for his benefit. He bought
stereo equipment, a BMW and ate at expensive restaurants. Sadly, now all of
Dolores money is gone. This case has been pending for over a year and a half
and during that time Dolores’ son has managed to continue to control his
mother’s care. A trial date has been set in order to recover some of Dolores’
money. |
*names have been changed to protect client confidentiality.
Too Greedy to Care
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Chicago Police officers are supposed to protect the public, however, in Mr.
Hawthorne’s* case a police officer, Mr. Perez*, took advantage of him.
Recently, Mr. Hawthorne’s nephew became very concerned with the relationship
between Mr. Hawthorne and Mr. Perez. His uncle regularly complained to him
that Mr. Perez had the keys to his home and would enter the home when his
uncle wasn’t there. Our investigation determined that the police officer had
managed to convince Mr. Hawthorne into signing a will and power of attorney.
These documents enabled the police officer to have control over Mr.
Hawthorne’s $400,000 estate and home. We also discovered that Mr. Perez had
swindled an elderly person before. In that incident he had allegedly
wrongfully obtained title to the home of a 90 year old man on his deathbed.
Our office was appointed Mr. Hawthorne’s temporary guardian and has frozen
all of his assets in order to protect his estate.
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Ms.
Oppenheimer’s* daughter had methodically calculated a detailed scheme that worked out well until
our office got involved. First, she had her father change his will which left
everything to her instead of Ms. Oppenheimer. Then, she had her dad file for
divorce. He was incompetent at the time of the filing these documents but she
somehow managed to get him to sign the paperwork. A default judgment of
divorce was granted since Ms. Oppenheimer was incompetent. Mr. Oppenheimer
died shortly after the divorce was granted. Ms. Oppenheimer’s daughter then
inherited everything based on the fraudulent will. Our office has filed
appropriate motions to vacate the judgments based on fraud and coercion.
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*names have
been changed to protect client confidentiality.
So sad but true
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Despite
the fact that Ms. Larkin* and her two sons were determined by the court to be
disabled, several mortgages were taken out against their property. The banks
involved willingly gave mortgages to the mother, who allegedly quitclaimed her
interest to a neighbor. Our office was able to get the mortgages removed so
that the property could be sold. The proceeds from the sale will help fund
services to Ms. Larkin and her sons.
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Rose
Dawson* was seriously injured at the fault of someone else’s hand. A lawsuit
was filed on her behalf and a settlement agreement was reached. The case
settled for $400,000 even though our office believes it was worth
approximately $1 million. Rose hasn’t seen any of the money yet. Her very own
mother cashed out a $150,000 check for her own personal use. We are trying to
get the money back from her mother and the lawyer who represented her in the
lawsuit.
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Ms.
Carter* was found by Elder in Distress. She was discovered unconscious
covered in feces, urine and maggots. Apparently she was sitting in the same
chair for weeks. Two days prior to being found by Elder in Distress two “real
estate” brokers came to her house and had her sign a contract to purchase her
property for $70,000. The home is appraised for much more than $70,000. They
told her that they were helping her to save her home from being foreclosed.
Our office worked quickly to freeze the assets of these “real estate” brokers
and threatened to file a lawsuit against them. They then gave the property
back to Ms. Carter. Her home was returned to her estate two days before she
died. Her disabled nephew can now benefit from this property as he is her
only heir. |
*names
have been changed to protect client confidentiality.
Stories posted November 21, 2003 Left penniless and hopeless
| Aaron H.* was an 87-year old man suffering from depression, organic brain disorder, dementia, hearing and vision loss and heart problems. Several years before he died, he drew up a will leaving the bulk of this almost four million-dollar estate to three well-known Chicago charities. The rest he left in a trust to be paid out on a monthly basis to several of his nieces. About six months before he died, a person who worked for a local organization contacted Mr. H. As with many elderly people suffering from dementia, Mr. H. was very suggestible and could not protect himself. The person who contacted Mr. H. immediately had him sign papers giving her a gift of $100,000 and her two children an additional $100,000. She tried to obtain another "gift" of $200,000 which Mr. H's trust refused to honor. She then had Mr. H. sign a will leaving everything to her. Ultimately our office was contacted and we became his guardian. We immediately contested the gifts and are in the midst of contesting the will along with the Attorney General's Office. |
| Ms. Evergreen*, a schoolteacher, carefully planned her investments and managed to save $400,000. She had an attorney prepare a will and trust for her now deceased husband. Since she had no family, her attorney was to be in charge of her financial affairs. Ms. Evergreen's health began to deteriorate. She was subsequently placed in a nursing home. Shortly after entering the nursing home, her attorney began to write checks to himself for his own personal use. He stopped paying her nursing bills and ended up spending all of her savings. He had his license to practice law suspended and is now facing criminal charges. He has not denied taking Ms. Evergreen's money but has not made any plans to repay her. |
*Names have been changed to protect client confidentiality
Tax scavengers taking advantage of the mentally ill
The law in Illinois permits tax scavengers to buy up the taxes on a home. Eventually these persons end up owning the home. Sometimes this makes sense and at other times it makes no sense. Our office has represented a number of individuals whose homes were sold from under them when they were emotionally imbalanced.
| Martha L.* has been psychiatrically hospitalized on approximately 30 separate occasions over the past 20 years. In 1995, police found her naked and disoriented. When they went back to her house, they found that her male companion was dead. Martha had been sleeping with him for at least a week after his death. She was then hospitalized. At this point, a tax scavenger bought the taxes on her home. He sent notices by mail to her home concerning the delinquent taxes. But she, of course, never received them. Her mail carrier wrote, "person is hospitalized" on the letters and sent them back unclaimed. The tax scavenger's attorney went to court to get a tax deed for the property. When asked by the Judge as to the whereabouts of Martha L., he replied he did not know. He did not mention the letters to the Judge. The tax scavenger was then able to buy up the taxes and ultimately ended up owning the home. We were appointed and tried to set aside the tax deed arguing that Martha L. was hospitalized and could not have received effective notice. Despite this, the judge ruled against us. This case is now on appeal. |
*Names have been changed to protect client confidentiality
Too greedy to care
| Seventy nine year old, Cathy Reed* went to her bank. While speaking with the teller, she happened to mention that she was a lonely widow. After hearing this, the teller brought her to his home for a family dinner. Ms. Reed thought she had befriended a second family. However, within two days the teller and his family were able to convince her to give them $100,000, a Mercedes SUV, a Jeep Cherokee, a Mercury Sable and endless charges on a visa account. Our office is currently seeking to recover these assets. |
| Roger Fernald* was a very lonely and impressionable elderly man. A suspected prostitute took advantage of him and it is alleged that she took up to $20,000 of his money. She also physically abused him. She has since pled guilty to both crimes. However, we are currently trying to get the trustee of his account to resign. Apparently, his trustee knew that Roger needed help and that his accounts were being depleted, but did nothing to protect him. |
*Names have been changed to protect client confidentiality.
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