State Bar Of California Clobbers Another Rogue Member For Involvement In Loan Mod Ripoffs; Usually Never Met Clients In Possible Lawyer-Renting Racket

In Los Angeles, California, Metropolitan News Enterprise reports:

• Orange County attorney Brian Colombana, who handled dozens of foreclosure cases, has admitted extensive misconduct that will lead to his disbarment, the State Bar of California said []. [...] He becomes the fifth attorney to agree to disbarment in the wake of complaints by homeowners who paid fees to lawyers the State Bar says did little or nothing to help them.

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• According to the State Bar, Colombana, who practiced in Laguna Hills, accepted nearly $36,000 in fees from 12 distressed homeowners, but did not obtain a single loan modification. Eight of the clients live in states where Colombana is not licensed to practice, and he admitted to engaging “in a scheme to defraud these clients, by exploiting them for personal gain and accepting employment where he was not licensed to practice law.”(1)(2)(3)

For more, see Lawyer Faces Disbarment for Misconduct, State Bar Says.

See Another Lawyer Agrees To Disbarment For Loan Modification Activities for the State Bar of California press release.

(1) Reportedly, two of Colombana’s clients lost their homes to foreclosure, one had to sell his home at a loss and another cashed in insurance policies to bring the mortgage current and avoid foreclosure. Colombana, 29, affiliated with several loan modification companies, including Loan Negotiators of America, Housing Law Center and Mortgage Relief Law Center, and in most cases, he never met his clients, the story states.

No word in the story on whether law enforcement authorities are considering whether criminal theft by deception charges are applicable in this case.

(2) Online rumor has it that Colmbana may be back in the troubled mortgage business, peddling reports to help people know if they meet the federal guidelines for the HAMP program. See NPV Report. Brian Colombana is Back in the Mortgage Modification Business. This Time With a Report. In related posts, see:

• Liberty Law Firm in California. Is It Brian Colombana, Esq. or American Financial Modifications?,
• Liberty Law Firm – Scam, Complaint, Review, or Praise?

(3) Homeowners ripped off by the dishonest conduct of a California attorney (including a failure to refund unearned legal fees) who want to recover their money can apply for possible restitution from the Client Security Fund of the State Bar of California (see also Can the Client Security Fund Help You?).

For earlier posts referencing California's Client Security Fund in the context of loan modification ripoffs, see:

• Thousands Of Distressed Homeowners Left Hanging After Attorney Abruptly Chucks Law License; Calif. State Bar Urges Victims To File Restitution Claims,
  Calif. State Bar Probers Have Hands Full With Loan Mod Ripoff Complaints; 1200 Probes Pending; Attorney Scams Begin To Drain Client Security Fund.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that sometimes help cover the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (list now includes Canadian protection funds, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.