Deborah Martell, Livonia, Michigan, filed suit against 17 defendants for allegedly fraudulent conduct that induced her to hold sole title to what was supposed to be an investment group purchase. The subject residence is located at 28560 Swan Island Drive, Grosse Isle, Michigan.
The Defendants include:
Robert Turcheck, Grosse Ile, Michigan- ostensible seller of Swan Island property;
Nicole Turcheck, Grosse Ile, Michigan, ostensible seller of Swan Island property;
JS Realty LLC, a Michigan limited liability company, Grosse Ile, Michigan- Nicole Turcheck is the operating member and resident agent of JS Realty LLC;
Ronnie Duke, Fenton, Michigan- Duke is the alleged head of the fraudulent "investment group" and is the President, Director, Secretary, and Treasurer of Specialty Holdings, Inc. Duke is also a licensed Mortgage Broker who has been prohibited from practicing under his broker license from the State of Michigan;
Specialty Holdings, Inc., a Michigan corporation, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan;
Danielle Napper, Southgate, Michigan- Napper assists and coordinates "investors" on behalf of the Turchecks, Duke, and Specialty Holdings;
Alfredo Santilli, Dearborn, Michigan- Santilli is the representative of the title agency who closed the loan on the Swan Island property;
Metro-West Title Agency, Inc., a Michigan corporation, Dearborn, Michigan,whose resident agent is Sarah Fawaz- Metro-West Title is the title company who conducted the closing on the Swan Island property;
Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation, a Virginia corporation conducting business in Michigan and issuing policies for real estate located in Wayne County, Michigan- Lawyers Title is the underwriter for the title on the Swan Island property;
Kassem Ahmad Zreik, doing business in Dearborn Heights, Michigan- Zreik is a licensed appraiser who provided the alleged inflated appraisal of the Swan Island property;
Zreik Investments, LLC, d/b/a Desktop Appraisal Services, LLC, a Michigan limited liability company, Dearborn Heights, Michigan- Desktop Appraisal provided the alleged inflated appraisal of the Swan Island property;
Brandon Gubacz, Livonia, Michigan- Gubacz is an employee of Premier Mortgage Funding, Inc. and Countrywide Bank, N.A., who allegedly prepared the falsified loan application;
Premier Mortgage Funding, Inc., a Florida corporation doing business in Livonia, Michigan- Premier is the broker for the mortgage on the Swan Island property;
Countrywide Bank, N.A., a national banking association conducting business in Michigan and issuing and closing loans in Wayne County, Michigan- Countrywide is the lender of the first and second mortgages on the Swan Island property;
Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., a Delaware corporation and nominee for Countrywide on certain loans that Countrywide issues in Michigan- MERS is an alleged necessary party as the recorded mortgagee and Countrywide’s nominee in regards to the Countrywide loans on the Swan Island Property; and
Amanda Birch, Southeast Michigan- Birch signed the purchase agreement as a witness to Plaintiff’s signature.
The First Amended Complaint alleges as follows: "Defendants are participants or are vicariously liable for their employee’s participation in a giant fraud scheme which resulted in hundreds of faulty mortgages, including the one at issue in this Complaint. Participants obtained the personal information of dozens of individuals, including Plaintiff, under the guise of becoming members of a certain "investment group." In this case, the sellers, appraisal company, and employees of the title company, mortgage company, and brokerage firm conspired together to provide false information and falsify documents in order to inflate the value of this $1.2 million dollar home and close on the sale to Plaintiff. Plaintiff, meanwhile, was told to attend a closing as a representative of the investment group. Plaintiff signed documents and left. A few months after the closing, Plaintiff discovered that, as a result of the fraud, she was the sole obligor and owner of the property. Plaintiff immediately began efforts to remediate the situation."
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors.