Legal Action is Being Initiated Against Lenders
Across USA legal action is being initiated against consultants falsely cheating those seeking help to avoid foreclosures. So far 189 suits have been filed. The Federal Trade Commission’s chairperson Jon Leibowitz and the Attorney General of California Edmund G. Brown announced that these steps were part of a national move against false consultants covering 18 states. Utah is not one of the states.
The announcement served the purpose of sending out a warning to the con artists as well as a word of caution to home owners to be wary of the breed. These fraudsters approach their victims with hollow promises to line their own pockets without delivering goods.
FTC filed legal suits against Lucas Law Center of Aliso, for taking as fees $3,995 while telling them not to pay their mortgage dues. Suits were also filed against US Foreclosure Relief Corp of Orange, Loss Mitigation Services of Santa Ana and Appoy2Save of Idaho.
The legal suits were filed in the counties of Orange and Los Angeles roping in the five companies, their branches and members of their staff. Brown said, “We are going to do everything we can to stop it, realizing that there are more rats to come out of their holes than we can stomp on. But we will keep doing the best we can because it is horrible to take advantage of somebody who is vulnerable with their family exposed to foreclosure.”
The CEO of Loss Mitigation Services, Dean Schafer had his sympathies for the steps being taken by FTC to sift out the black sheep but failed to understand why his firm had been especially marked out. He had no comments to make about the suit and was still going through the allegations.
The suit seeks millions in penalties, compensation to the victims and a permanent stay order to keep the companies out of the mortgage advising and consultancy business. One of the accused, US Homeowners Assistance of Irvine has been charged for collecting fees amounting to $3,500 for each of the victims faced with foreclosure. One of the victims alleged that her signature had been copied and false information given in the documents that had been submitted to her lender.
The FTC is combing through rules that will put a ban on mortgage help services from accepting upfront fees. He is hopeful to have the regulations in effect before the end of this current year.
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