Connecticut AG Closing In On Legal Action In Predatory Lending Scheme

In Connecticut, TheDay.com reports:

• "Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Friday that his office has had preliminary discussions with the chief state's attorney and is close to taking legal action in a local predatory lending scheme that has affected dozens of individuals, many of them Hispanic. Those individuals now are facing foreclosure and ruined credit after they were approved for home loans they could not afford based on false information."

TheDay.com ran a story last Sunday (Predatory Lending Shatters Dreams Of Dozens Of First-Time Home Buyers) reporting that in a number of transactions it reviewed, houses that consumers purchased appear to have been sold at inflated prices, and false information may have been used to qualify buyers for high-interest, variable loans in the sub-prime housing market. Reportedly, "[e]ach transaction involves the same group of individuals — [loan originator] Jose Guzman; Elizabeth Athan Real Estate, which employs Guzman's daughter, Isaura Guzman; New London lawyer Alan Messier and Trumbull lawyer Maurizio Lancia."

Reportedly, AG Blumenthal's office received additional complaints from homeowners since last Sunday's article and that his office is building a case and is close to initiating legal action. For more, see Predatory Lending May Draw Legal Action By AG (Blumenthal Asking People Who May Be Victims To Call Him).

Go here for other posts on this investigation.