Maryland Regulator Issues C & D Orders Against Five Firms Accused Of Running Illegal Upfront Fee Loan Modification Schemes

In Baltimore, Maryland, The Daily Record reports:

• State officials have ordered five companies to shut down illegal home loan modification schemes that targeted Maryland residents facing foreclosure, the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation announced [late last month].(1) Homeowners paid thousands of dollars in upfront fees to companies that promised to modify their loans in order to avoid foreclosure, according to DLLR. Not only did the companies fail to deliver, but they stopped returning phone calls, misrepresented the loan modification process and ignored requests for refunds, the department alleged.

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• The cease and desist orders are usually enough to bring the companies to the bargaining table to discuss refunding consumers' upfront fees, which typically amount to about $3,500, [Assistant Commissioner for Enforcement Stephen] Prozeralik said. It is illegal for foreclosure consultants and credit services companies to charge such fees. "We've been successful in the past with Maryland companies," he said "They've sat done with us and worked something out. It is a little more difficult with these entities in California and Florida." [...] "We have well over 120-odd cases under investigation," Prozeralik said. "And then when you look at those cases, they're multiplied by the number of consumers under them. It adds up to thousands of consumers who have been ripped off."

For the story, see Md. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation orders 5 firms to end loan modification schemes.

(1) Companies served notices were:

• Equity Recovery Services, Towson, Md.;
• U.S. Equity Solutions, Owings Mills, Md.;
• GIAN Inc., Laurel, Md.;
• Save My Home USA Co. Inc., Michigan;
• Help Modify Now Inc., California (The owner, Larry Ervan Gunter, 34, has reportedly recently been arrested by Newport Beach, California police in connection with alleged ripoffs his firm is accused of - see CBS 2/KCAL-TV Channel 9: Newport Beach Man Accused Of Loan Mod Fraud).