Minnesota AG Targets Mortgage Broker For Alleged False, Misleading, Deceptive Acts & Practices

In Hennepin County, Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

• Noting that lending practices behind the nation's tenacious mortgage crisis still occur, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson singled out Source Lending Corp. in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Hennepin County District Court. The suit alleges that the Plymouth-baed mortgage brokerage misled borrowers into buying risky mortgages, causing some to lose their homes. The state is asking for an injunction, penalties of up to $25,000 per violation, and restitution for any borrowers harmed, Swanson said.

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• Swanson's suit is the second against Source Lending in five months. The Foreclosure Relief Law Project in St. Paul sued in April -- the first suit under a new state anti-predatory lending law -- claiming violation of a new fee limit of 5 percent of a loan's value.

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• The suit's allegations fall under state statutes on deceptive trade practices, false advertising, consumer fraud, and mortgage brokering. The events predate the state's new anti-predatory law. Swanson said her office expects to file more lawsuits involving both mortgage and foreclosure services.

For more, see Swanson sues mortgage firm, alleges deceit (Minnesota's attorney general says Source Lending misled buyers into risky mortgages, causing some to lose their homes).

For the Minnesota AG's press release, see Minnesota AG Files Suit Against Source Lending Corporation Over Abusive Predatory Mortgage Lending Practices.