Florida Firm Charged In 14th Civil Suit Brought By Illinois AG Against Foreclosure Rescue Operators

From the Illinois Attorney General's Office:

• [Illinois Attorney General Lisa] Madigan filed suit [last week] in Cook County against Law & Associates LLC, and its managing member, Thomas E. Law, II, alleging the defendants violated the [Illinois] Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act and the [Illinois] Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by falsely promising to help consumers save their homes after falling behind on their mortgage payments. According to the complaint, the defendants charged consumers up to $1,900 and promised to provide mortgage foreclosure rescue services that they either failed to perform the services or only performed ineffective services. Attorney General Madigan’s Consumer Fraud Bureau has directly received one complaint relating to the defendant and 68 complaints referred from the Better Business Bureau.(1)

For more, see Illinois AG Sues 14th Company For Mortgage Rescue Fraud (Madigan Alleges Florida Company Takes Advantage of Homeowners on the Verge of Losing their Homes to Foreclosure).

For other recent civil actions by other state attorneys general against Law & Associates, see:

• Minnesota: State sues two firms that asked cash for foreclosure assistance (The attorney general says some companies claiming to help in a foreclosure do anything but),
• Florida: State of Florida v. Law & Associates, et al. (alleges an upfront fee foreclosure rescue operation).

(1) According to the Illinois AG's news release, Madigan’s suit asks the court to prohibit the defendants from engaging in mortgage rescue practices. The suit also seeks a civil penalty of $50,000, additional penalties of $50,000 for every violation found to have been committed with the intent to defraud, and a $10,000 penalty for each violation committed against a person 65 years or older. Further, the suit asks the court to rescind the contracts signed as a result of these deceptive practices and offer full restitution to affected consumers. Finally, Madigan’s suit asks the court to order the defendants to pay all costs associated with the investigation and prosecution of the lawsuit.