We take pride in empowering our customers to remain in their homes. While many financial institutions overlook many American homeowners despite the consistent demand for better options, EasyKnock is committed to transparency and helping people convert the equity they’ve worked hard to build in their homes, while allowing them to stay in their communities near family, work or within their school districts.
Any time you are dealing with innovation, it will invite questions because it's unfamiliar, people are learning about it for the first time. It is expected that states and government agencies would be curious and want to take a closer look -- not only at our company -- but any company that is operating in the homeownership space.
We’re very active on both the state and local levels to provide clarity and understanding about the many ways we transparently communicate and support our customers. Once people - including those at State agencies - have a clear understanding of our products and practices, they respond positively.
EasyKnock recently filed a suit against a Connecticut bankruptcy trustee alleging defamation and conspiracy to extort. Following is an excerpt of the full filing, EasyKnock's press statement, and coverage of the suit in LAW360. Please contact press@easyknock.com with any additional questions.
“EasyKnock is committed to helping customers navigate unexpected and challenging life events while staying in their homes. Despite our advocacy, we believe bankruptcy trustee Kara S. Rescia has wrongly displaced a customer from her home and disrupted her family life, made false and defamatory statements about EasyKnock and sought a baseless investigation by the Connecticut Attorney General, all to enrich herself as trustee. As a result, EasyKnock has been forced to respond to these unlawful practices by filing a complaint in the Connecticut Bankruptcy Court, alleging claims for tortious interference with contract, tortious interference with business expectancies, conspiracy, and defamation.”
Real Estate Co. Says Ch. 7 Trustee Ginned Up Conn. AG Probe By Aaron Keller Law360 (March 22, 2024, 9:59 PM EDT) -- A company that buys houses from financially distressed individuals and rents the homes back to their former owners filed a scathing adversary proceeding against a Chapter 7 trustee's avoidance action, claiming the trustee ginned up a "baseless" state government probe and is harming several estates she claims to be protecting.
New York-based EasyKnock Inc. filed the adversary proceeding in Connecticut bankruptcy court on Wednesday after Kara S. Rescia, a Connecticut bankruptcy lawyer and Chapter 7 trustee in the personal bankruptcy of Susan J. Allen, filed a clawback action seeking to avoid Allen's February 2020 sale of her home to EasyKnock. Allen filed for bankruptcy in February 2022, citing $16,884 in assets, including a $12,500 Kia automobile, and $80,011 in liabilities, mostly medical and credit card debts.
EasyKnock on Wednesday defended the home sale as valid, saying it was the best way for the homeowner-turned-renter, "a single, divorced mother, raising three children on her own without alimony or child support … to raise the cash necessary to pay off debts, pay living expenses, and continue to reside in the family home so that her children could complete their education in the local public schools," according to the complaint.
The filing asserts that Allen's rent was $600 to $1,400 lower than market rates in her area and that the deal contained an option for Allen to repurchase her home if she was able. It also defended the transaction documents as "complex" but clear.
EasyKnock argues that Rescia committed "gross overreach" and "improperly interfered" with a financial deal that it claims was working. It called Rescia's assertion that the home sale was a fraudulent transfer — one that Rescia argues is avoidable in bankruptcy court — "demonstrably false."
The company also argues that Rescia colluded with trustees in two other Connecticut bankruptcies and threatened to go to the state attorney general's office if EasyKnock failed to pay its tenants' estates.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE
