Attorneys Accused Of Misleading Consumers About Nature Of Legal Services, Level Of Attorney Involvement When Offering Loan Mods Begin Feeling The Heat

Buried in a recent column in the Miami Daily Business Review is a recounting of a South Florida homeowner's experience with a local attorney selling loan modification services to the public:

• The [Florida Attorney General's] office is investigating consumer complaints that Brian Korte, a West Palm Beach attorney tied to a Fort Lauderdale company called Legal Modification Attorney at Law, allegedly charged advance fees and “misled consumers regarding the nature of the legal services provided by the company and the level of involvement the attorney would have with each consumer’s case,” [deputy director Ryan] Wiggins said.(1)

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• Homeowner Peter Fischer of Sunrise said in a complaint to the AG’s office that he paid Korte’s law firm $2,900 to oversee a loan modification. According to Fischer, Korte and his staff told him to stop paying his mortgage and not to contact or answer calls from the lender. Fischer said he was told the fee would be refunded to him if the modification did not go though.

• Fischer said after several failed attempts to reach Korte, a member of the lawyer’s staff called and said Fischer’s files had been lost and they needed his information again. Shortly after that, Fischer said, a Korte staffer told him he did not qualify for a loan modification. “I asked for the paperwork on why I was denied and nothing was ever sent to me,” Fischer said. “So I asked for my money back and they said ‘let me think about it.’"

• Fischer said he was later told half of his fee would be returned. Fischer said ‘half is better than nothing,” but still filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office. The AG’s Wiggins said it has received six other complaints about Korte, but declined to discuss details of the investigation. The Florida Bar said it too has received multiple complaints against Korte, but would not provide additional information because the investigation is confidential. Bar complaints remain confidential until a grievance committee finds probable cause for the investigation to continue.

For the story, see Record number of complaints target modification lawyers.

(1) Reportedly, the attorney general’s investigation is continuing and no charges have been filed. Korte did not return messages left at his West Palm Beach office and did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment, according to the story. UnauthPractOfLawTheta