About Us
The Story
The Cortez' came to New York City in the late 50s from Peru.
Mr. Cortez and his now deceased wife, decided to make a home in Park Slope. With hard work and sacrifice they were able to buy this property in the late 60's.
In 2006 Mr. Cortez was conned by a career criminal who under the guise of helping him obtain a loan to fix the rental apartments requested that Mr. Cortez sign over the deed to his home which was paid in full.
Shortly thereafter this criminal took out a $700,000 mortgage unbeknownst to Mr. Cortez and disappeared.
Along the way, the system (banks [WELLS FARGO!!], title insurance companies, attorneys, developers, courts) failed to do their due diligence to not only prevent this from happening but also correct this criminal injustice.
Mr. Cortez is in danger of being evicted and losing his home of fifty-four years.
Who To Reach Out To
NYS District Attorney Letiticia James
District 39 Councilwoman Shahana Hanif
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso
ELDERLY IMMIGRANT PARK SLOPE HOMEOWNER SWINDLED!
IN DANGER OF BEING EVICTED!
YOUR INVOLVEMENT IS NEEDED!
PHONE / EMAIL DRIVE
Please call and/or email the following elected officials requesting they assist Mr. Cortez in not only stopping the eviction process but that the original fraud case be reopened and reheard so that justice can be served.
We’ve provided an example of what you might want to say and/or write.
Thank you all for your time, concern and support.
Justice For 91 St Marks Place
"Hi my name is ____ and I am a (neighbor / petition signer) of Ray Cortez, an elderly, immigrant, long-term community member of Park Slope, who lost his home in a dubious foreclosure sale and is now in danger of being evicted from his home of 54 years. I'm (calling / writing) to demand that (elected official) intervene to not only stop Mr. Cortez’ eviction, but also reopen his original fraud case and restore legal possession to Mr. Cortez."
New York State Attorney Letitica James: 800 - 771 - 7755 (opt 1 - 2 - 2)
District 39 Councilwoman Shahana Hanif: 718 - 499 - 1090
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso: 718 - 802 – 3700
WE NEED YOUR HELP! JULY 2024
Good evening,
Hope everyone is in good health surrounded by loved ones.
It's been a minute since an update was posted. To be honest, nothing much had transpired...until recently.
The case in Supreme Court unbelievably was dismissed. The attorneys are in the process of filing an emergency appeal.
The case in Housing Court was also dismissed and the eviction stay has been lifted. The Housing Court and guardianship attorneys are filing appeals to try to get the stay reinstated. If this fails Ray Cortez will be heading to Housing Court on August 8th and 12th. There is a potential that this court might issue a "judgment of possession" followed by a "warrant of eviction".
It goes without saying that what Mr. Cortez is going through is truly unfair and unfortunate but we're still fighting.
At this moment we need your help more than ever. Please contact your representatives. Let them know that they need to get involved in this case and help Mr. Cortez maintain his home of fifty-five years.
The system (bank, court and the attorney hired to fight this originally) has failed Mr. Cortez tremendously to the point where he's about to lose the only place he's called home for over half a century.
Here are some names, numbers and emails that might come in handy. Your assistance with this can prove invaluable.
Thank you for your time, cooperation and caring.
- NY State Attorney General Leticia James Brooklyn Office 718-560-2040 / You can also send feedback at https://ag.ny.gov/contact-attorney-general-letitia-james. When contacting the AG please mention that a Deed Theft Complaint was filed in June of 2022 (Intake# 1-381093662) and apparently nothing has been done about it.
- The New York City Council Black, Latino and Asian Caucus BLAcaucus@council.nyc.gov
- District 39 Councilwoman Shahana Hanif's office 718-499-1090 / District39@council.nyc.gov
- Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso 718-802 – 3700 / AskReynoso@brooklynbp.nyc.gov
- If you have any media contacts that might help bring attention to this fight please have them contact Ray Cortez Jr 917-838-5734 / raycortezm@msn.com
OCTOBER 2024 UPDATE: AG Leticia James' Office Will Not Intercede In Mr. Cortez's Deed Theft Compaint
Good evening,
We just received some discouraging news from Leticia James’ office. The State Attorney General will not intervene in Mr. Cortez’s case.
The primary reasons given were that:
· The statute of limitations on the fraud case had expired (while Wilson Calle committed this fraud in 2006, in 2021 he filed a claim to get his hands on the surplus funds left over from the foreclosure sale. It is our understanding that by doing so Wilson Calle “restarted” the statute of limitations by trying to continue to profit from his 2006 crime).
· In a previous court decision, the developer who bought Mr. Cortez’s home through Wells Fargo’s foreclosure sale, had been determined to be the “bona fide purchaser”. The attorneys representing Mr. Cortez quickly filed an appeal and that determination was expunged from the record in 2023, so that is no longer the case.
It goes without saying that we are extremely disappointed with the State Attorney General Office’s decision especially since it took so long to hear from them. The original Deed Theft complaint was filed back in June 2022. We’re not sure why it took over TWO YEARS to get a decision or comment from them.
One of the reasons we are so disappointed with this decision is because Leticia James promised to make Deed Theft one of the main issues her office would be tackling. When RPAPL Section 756-A was passed last year (https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2024/attorney-general-james-announces-new-protections-against-deed-theft) it gave her office broad powers to issue a stay on an eviction while a party’s claim in regards to Deed Theft was investigated.
We’re still holding hope that at some point the AG’s Office will reconsider their decision and look into Mr. Cortez’s tragic situation (the truth of the matter is, they could if they wanted to).
In the meantime, there is still a TRO in place from the Appellate Division blocking the eviction case from moving forward while the Brooklyn Supreme Court’s decision is appealed.
T
hank you all for your continued support and interest. With your help we’re still fighting to correct this unbelievable injustice.
We Need Your Help - October 21, 2024
Good evening everyone,
We’re reaching out for help.
If you know of any NYC Deed Theft cases that might’ve occurred during the 2007 Real Estate Market Crash, please forward them to us. If you know of anyone that this might’ve happened to, during that time, please refer them to us.
As we all know now, several banks and “lending institutions” embraced corrupt and unethical practices which led to the meltdown. Criminality was committed prior to the meltdown AND AFTER. These unscrupulous institutions did their best to hide their heinous crimes to avoid accountability, both criminal and civil. We believe there are plenty of people, like Mr. Cortez, who experienced this tragedy. Blindsided by such an event, they were lost on how to deal with and fight these lawless companies. Our tax-payer agencies and institutions were not prepared on how to deal with such an economic catastrophe. Some of the victims most likely ended up losing their homes due to these events.
So why are we trying to put this information together, you might ask. Well, we’re hoping to come up with enough cases so we can reach out to our elected representatives and request they enact a temporary law that would allow victims of Deed Theft during the real estate market crash, to file a lawsuit (much like what was done with the Adult Survivors Act).
One thing to realize about Mr. Cortez’ ordeal is that the original fraud by Wilson Calle took place in 2006. Immediately after, Calle took out a $668,000 loan from Freemont Investment & Loan (a corrupt institution if ever there was one. They were shut down by the FDIC in 2007). https://archive.fdic.gov/view/fdic/2966
Within a couple of months of “facilitating” this loan to Calle, Freemont turned around and sold it to Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo in turn, for some inexplicable reason, sat on it for almost nine-years, without following through on what would be normal foreclosure proceedings when a loan is not being repaid.
It wasn’t until 2015 that Wells Fargo had an epiphany and decided to foreclose on the loan. A long time had transpired by then (2006 to 2015). During that time the six-year Statute of Limitations on Calle’s fraud had expired. By the time Mr. Cortez became aware of what was happening, a lot of the pertinent, necessary documentation to mount a fight with, had been destroyed and/or lost. Freemont was no longer in business. Calle was serving time in federal prison for unrelated crimes. Time became one of Mr. Cortez' biggest enemies. Wells Fargo was made aware of Mr. Cortez' deed dispute but never bothered to look into it and eventually went through with the foreclosure sale. Wells Fargo most likely profited over $1 million dollars in that sale.
Was this delay by Wells Fargo intentional? If it was, how many other people were victimized like this? We believe there were many, many more. This is why we’re trying to gather this information.
Again, thank you always for your support. We are eternally grateful. Without you this fight would be that much harder.
Stay safe and blessed.
Appellate Court Update - October 22, 2024
Good day everyone,
We just heard from the Appellate Court.
The Appellate Court has agreed to take on the appeal regarding the May 16th decision rendered by the Brooklyn Supreme Court. Also, they agreed to give the appeal “Calendar Priority”, which means the hearing will be expedited.
Mr. Cortez’ attorneys will be submitting their case to the Appellate Court shortly. Once submitted, Chai 91 (the developer) has thirty days to respond (they can also request a one-time sixty-day adjournment). Once Chai 91 responds, Mr. Cortez’ attorneys are given ten days to submit their reply.
In the meantime, Mr. Cortez is scheduled for a Housing Court “control date” meeting on Nov. 21st.
We might be asking kindly that you attend this meeting in support of Mr. Cortez and more importantly, to demonstrate to the court that the community is behind him one hundred percent.
We will be in contact.
Again, thank you for your time, interest and support.
Housing Court Update - Nov 28, 2024
Happy Thanksgiving everyone,
Mr. Cortez had a Housing Court conference on Thursday, November 21st 2024. The judge heard from both sides (Legal Aid for Mr. Cortez and the developer’s attorney). We were hoping she would reinstate the Eviction Stay while the case in the Appellate Court ran its course. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
The judge scheduled the eviction trial to commence on January 17th, 2025 at 9:30am.
We’re asking for supporters to email elected representatives in hopes of re-opening the original fraud case. We need your help.
If you can spare a couple of minutes of your time please email us at justicefor91stmarksplace@protonmail.com so we can provide the template which can be copied and pasted. We’ll also provide the email addresses of the elected representatives.
Thank you all for your time and support. We are still fighting this injustice.