Arizona AG, Out-Of-State Law Firm Settle Suit Alleging Upfront Fee Ripoffs In Racket That Peddled Loan Mods, Legal Services To Strapped Homeowners

From the Office of the Arizona Attorney General:

• Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has reached a settlement with The Mortgage Law Group a/k/a Macey Aleman & Searns, a Chicago-based law firm that the State accused, in a consumer fraud lawsuit, of participating in a deceptive scheme designed to collect advance fees from consumers looking for assistance in obtaining mortgage loan modifications. In nearly all cases, it is illegal for businesses to charge consumers upfront fees for loan modifications.

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• The State alleged that, along with co-defendant, Scottsdale, Arizona- based Underwater Property Solutions, The Mortgage Law Group (“TMLG”) marketed mortgage modification services to consumers as legal services that they represented would be performed by TMLG’s attorneys, including local "partners" in the states where TMLG's clients resided.
  
  The State alleged that Underwater Property Solutions’ non-lawyer employees did nearly all of the substantive work for consumers who paid "retainer fees" to TMLG.

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• The settlement permanently prohibits TMLG from engaging in any consumer debt or loan modification activities in Arizona or on behalf of Arizona consumers and requires TMLG to pay $39,280 in restitution and $60,000 in attorney's fees.
  
  In entering into the settlement with the State, TMLG did not admit that it violated the law nor did the court make findings that it did so. A consent judgment with co-defendant Underwater Property Solutions was approved in May, 2012.

For the Arizona AG press release, see AG Horne Announces Settlement With Law Firm That Advertised Mortgage Modification Services.