Maryland Foreclosure Rescue, Equity Stripping Class Action Lawsuit Moved To Federal Court

The Baltimore Sun reports this morning:

• "A class action lawsuit seeking to recover millions of dollars in home equity allegedly bilked from hundreds of distressed homeowners in Maryland, Virginia and Washington was shifted to federal court yesterday, broadening its scope to multiple jurisdictions. [...] The lawsuit alleges violations of federal racketeering and real estate settlement laws and seeks unspecified damages for equity allegedly stolen from homeowners who thought they were being rescued from foreclosure. Under federal law those amounts can be tripled. It also charges the defendants with money laundering to evade taxes. [...] Filed on behalf of three Prince George's County families, the new lawsuit covers everyone who was tricked into conveying the title of their properties, not just those in foreclosure, said Phillip R. Robinson, executive director of Civil Justice. "It's just bigger than what we thought it was initially," he said. "Referrals come in every day. We're just getting inundated with calls." His office received two referrals yesterday alone from the Maryland attorney general's office, he said."

Named in the lawsuit as defendants are Metropolitan Money Store, its resident agent Jennifer McCall, of Beltsville; Joy Jenis Jackson, of Fort Washington, Fordham and Fordham Investment Group Ltd., of Lanham and Kurt Fordham, of Beltsville, RTE Title & Escrow LLC, of Largo; Sussex Title LLC, of Rockville; Diane Linda Jones, of Capitol Heights; Leticia Nicholls, of Takoma Park; Jamie Armand Clark, of Bowie; Alexander Jamil Chaudhry, of Rockville; Valerina Tomlin, of Lanham; Southern Title insurance Corp., of Baltimore; Chicago Title Insurance Company, of Baltimore; and 50 unnamed defendants.

Reportedly, the state, as well as federal agencies, including the FBI and Secret Service, have been investigating Metropolitan Money Store, who appears out of business.

For more, see Federal court gets home-equity suit (Md. case grows into class action seeking recovery of homes swindled from owners). (If link doesn't work, go here.)

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