AG Coakley Puts "For Profit" Foreclosure Rescue Operators Out Of Business In Massachusetts

(original post - 9-4-07)
From the office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:

• "Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed a regulation with the Secretary of State’s Office that permanently bans for-profit foreclosure rescue transactions in the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act authorizes the Attorney General to promulgate regulations to identify unfair or deceptive conduct that violates the act. The new regulation prohibits predatory, for-profit foreclosure rescue transactions. Foreclosure rescue transactions between family members or arranged by a non-profit community or housing organization are not banned under this regulation. The new regulation also makes it an unfair or deceptive act to market foreclosure-related services without a precise description of how the promoter will assist persons in avoiding or delaying foreclosure. The regulations define a “Foreclosure Rescue Transaction” as a transaction designed to avoid foreclosure and where the homeowner transferring the property maintains an option to reacquire the home by maintaining a legal interest in the home."

For more, see Mass AG Press Release - Attorney General Martha Coakley Permanently Bans Foreclosure Rescue Transactions.

See also, Coakley bans foreclosure rescue scams (Swapping help for house title called exploitive) (The Boston Globe - 9-5-07).

For more on equity stripping scams, generally, see DREAMS FORECLOSED: The Rampant Theft of Americans' Homes Through Equity-stripping Foreclosure 'Rescue' Scams (4.61 MB approx.).