Florida AG Tags Loan Modification Company & Affiliated Attorneys With Civil Suit Alleging Illegal Upfront Fee Racket

From the Office of the Florida Attorney General:

• Attorney General Bill McCollum [...] announced he has filed a lawsuit against three businesses operating in Miami-Dade County, their principles and affiliated attorneys on allegations of deceptive and unfair trade practices regarding their involvement in a foreclosure rescue scam affecting homeowners nationwide.

• The Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division began investigating Kirkland Young LLC, in July after receiving numerous consumer complaints against the company. During the course of the investigation it was discovered that Attorney Aid LLC and ABK Consultants were affiliated with Kirkland Young LLC.(1)

• The companies allegedly charged up-front fees for loan modification services, and misrepresented to consumers that lenders required “qualifying payments” in order to qualify for modifications. The companies also charged “back end” fees upwards of $1,299 for the first mortgage modification and approximately $499 to $699 for a second mortgage modification. To facilitate the collection of additional fees, consumers were required to set up escrow accounts with the attorneys affiliated with the companies, misleading consumers into believing they were retaining attorney representation for their loan modification. The funds fraudulently collected in the attorney escrow accounts were used for the benefit of all the defendants.(2)

For the Florida AG press release, see Attorney General Sues Three Companies for Loan Modification Scam.

For the lawsuit, see State of Florida v. Kirkland Young LLC, et al.

(1) Other named defendants are:

• David Botton, owner, manager, member and/or officer of Kirkland Young LLC,
• Bridget Grant, owner, manager, member and/or officer of Attorney Aid LLC
• April Botton Krawiecki, owner, manager, member and/or officer of Kirkland Young LLC, and owner, officer and/or director of ABK Consultants Incorporated,
• Samy Botton, owner, manager, member and/or officer of Kirkland Young LLC
• Michael Botton, attorney - licensed in New Jersey,
• Ryan Matthew Grant, attorney - licensed in Texas,
• Brian Michael Rokaw, attorney - licensed in Florida.

(2) The alleged racket involved an attorney licensed in New Jersey, one licensed in Texas, and one licensed in Florida. To the extent the Florida AG can prove damages that can be attributed to one or more of these three attorneys, the client protection fund for the state in which the attorney(s) causing the provable damage is licensed could have liability for a portion of the losses.

• The Florida Bar's Clients' Security Fund,
• New Jersey Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection,
• The Client Security Fund of The State Bar of Texas (try here for Client Security Fund Newsletter).

To locate the client security funds for other states, see Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (American Bar Association); in Canada, check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.