Thursday, June 21, 2012

Court Order Slams Brakes On Outfit Targeted By Feds For Alleged Bogus Promises Made In Connection w/ Peddling Forensic Loan Audits To Halt F'closures

From the Federal Trade Commission:

  • At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. district court has halted an operation that allegedly preyed on financially vulnerable homeowners, convincing them to pay $1,995 or more by holding out bogus promises that they could help them avoid foreclosure and renegotiate their mortgages.

  • The order issued by the court stops the allegedly illegal conduct, freezes the operation’s assets, and appoints a receiver to run the business while the FTC moves forward with the case.

  • According to the FTC complaint, the defendants behind the operation claimed on their website thatup to 95% of mortgages may be legally unenforceable due to defects like lost documents, improper notices, appraisal and/or predatory lending.” Using this claim, several defendants, including Consumer Advocates Group Experts, LLC, virtually guaranteed that they could get mortgage modifications with reduced interest rates and lower monthly mortgage payments for consumers.

  • The defendants offered to review consumers’ mortgage loan documents to determine whether their lenders complied with state and federal mortgage lending laws, and made allegedly false claims that the consumers could use the resulting “forensic audits” to avoid foreclosure and negotiate more favorable terms on their mortgages.
For the FTC press release and links to the related court order, lawsuit, etc., see FTC Action Halts Alleged "Forensic Audit" Scam that Targeted Consumers in Danger of Losing Their Homes (Forensic Mortgage Loan Audit Scams: A New Twist on Foreclosure Rescue Fraud).

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