"There Is Zero Time To Waste" Says Indiana AG In Continuing Effort To Eliminate Loan Modification Scams Targeting Hoosiers

In Indianapolis, Indiana, The Indianapolis Star reports:

• The Attorney General's Homeowner Protection Unit has filed a lawsuit in Hamilton County against a Jacksonville, Fla.-based foreclosure consulting company. The lawsuit against National Foreclosure Counseling Services Corp., also known as American Financial Corp.,(1) includes 11 consumers from Allen, Hamilton, Johnson and Marion counties and reported losses of more than $10,000.(1) The lawsuit says the company asked for up-front fees and failed to modify mortgages.

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• The lawsuit claims the company did not obtain a required $25,000 surety bond to demand payment upfront from customers, and failed to register as a business in Indiana. The release says attorney generals in Florida, Illinois and Minnesota have also filed similar lawsuits against the company. "Considering the economic climate we are in, there is zero time to waste on this issue. We are taking an aggressive stand and we won't wait for more people to be victimized or lose their homes through these illegal practices," Zoeller said in the press release.

For more, see Zoeller sues another 'foreclosure consultant'.

For the Indiana AG press release, see Attorney General Greg Zoeller urges Hoosiers to avoid illegal foreclosure consultants.

For the lawsuit, see State of Indiana v. National Foreclosure Counseling Services Corp.

(1) Other defndants: Robert Dallavia and Raymond Paulk, both of Jacksonville, Florida. The suit alleges violations of the Indiana:

• Credit Services Organizations Act, Ind. Code 8.24-5-15-1 et seq.;
• Mortgage Rescue Protection Fraud Act, Ind. Code 8.24-5.5-1 et seq., and
• Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, Ind. Code 8.24-5-0.5-1 et seq.

(2) The lawsuit is the eighth filed by Attorney General Greg Zoeller against what a press release issued by his office calls "illegal foreclosure consultants." Three of the first seven cases have reached resolutions in which the sued companies agreed or were ordered to pay restitution:

• A settlement was reached in June with You Walk Away, Inc., located in California. In exchange for the case being dismissed, You Walk Away agreed to pay $4,000 in restitution to four Indiana consumers and $2,000 to the State for costs and fees.
• On June 29, a Delaware County court ordered California-based American Mitigation Group, Inc. to pay $4,064.45 in consumer restitution payments to five Indiana consumers and $33,000 to the State for civil penalties.
• On July 27, a Marion County Superior Court ordered Foreclosure Relief Agency, LLC. to pay $53,002.34 in consumer restitution to 52 Indiana consumers and $2 million in civil penalties to the State of Indiana.