Thursday, January 3, 2013

Class Action Suits Targeting Alleged Loan Modification Rackets Using Attorney Involvement To Dupe Financially Distressed Homeowners Into Sense Of Trust Continue


From a recent press release from the Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights Under Law:

  • The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers' Committee) and pro bono counsel Cooley LLP filed a lawsuit in Orange County, California, on behalf of 14 homeowners from 10 states against a network of for-profit loan modification companies.

    The suit alleges that these loan companies defrauded vulnerable homeowners out of tens of thousands of dollars by falsely promising—for substantial upfront fees and also monthly membership/installment payments—to obtain much-needed mortgage modifications on their behalf, but consistently failing to deliver results.

    “This type of scam activity continues to have a severe impact on financially distressed homeowners who are desperately trying to save their homes,” said Linda Mullenbach, senior counsel for the Fair Housing and Fair Lending Project of the Lawyers’ Committee.

    This lawsuit also seeks to halt a disturbing trend of attorney involvement in the scam operations, touting the attorney’s specialized experience and using one’s status as an attorney to gain trust. As a result, these homeowners are defrauded out of thousands of dollars in illegal fees, and suffer other losses as a direct result of the scammers’ activities and deceit.”
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  • This case is the Lawyers’ Committee’s eleventh loan modification scam lawsuit filed nationwide and its fourth filed in California.

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