Ohio AG Says Two Calif. Loan Modification Outfits Bilked Homeowners, Failed To Deliver Services In Separate Suits; Scores $81K+ Judgment Against 3rd

From the Office of the Ohio Attorney General:

• Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray this week named United Law Group, Inc. (ULG), a California law firm founded by California attorney Sean Alan Rutledge, in a lawsuit for bilking Ohioans who faced foreclosure out of thousands of dollars.(1) The lawsuit alleges that the law firm promised foreclosure rescue and legal services to save homes and collected upfront fees but failed to deliver. In at least one instance a consumer was forced into foreclosure. ULG’s attorneys are not licensed to practice law in Ohio and never filed any court documents or provided legal representation on behalf of their clients.

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• In a separate action [], Cordray filed a lawsuit against Guardian Services Group, also based in California, for promising foreclosure rescue services to Ohioans, accepting upfront fees and never delivering. The suit, filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, accuses the company of charging consumers thousands of dollars and refusing to provide refunds even though the services were never provided.

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• In early January, Cordray secured a judgment of $81,894 against Michael Brotherton, who operated Financial Emergency, Inc., a rescue business in Greene County. The judgment, filed in the Common Pleas Court of Greene County, stemmed from a lawsuit filed in June charging Brotherton with promising to negotiate debt settlements and loan modifications, collecting upfront fees for up to $1,269 and then failing to deliver. The court ordered full reimbursement to the five victims named in the case.

For the Ohio AG press release, see Cordray Sues two California Rescue Operations for Scamming Ohioans Facing Foreclosure.

For the lawsuits, see:

• State of Ohio v. United Law Group, Inc.,
• State of Ohio v. G Services Group LLC.,
• $81,894 Judgment - State of Ohio v. Brotherton.

(1) According to the press release, in November 2009, the State Bar Court of California ruled that ULG founder Sean Alan Rutledge was to be involuntarily enrolled as an inactive member of the State Bar of California for his conduct, which was found by the court to pose “a substantial threat of harm to his clients or the public.”