DC AG Settles Civil Suit With Title Closing Agent In "Money Store" Equity Stripping, Sale Leaseback Foreclosure Rescue Scam

In Washington, D.C., the Office of the District of Columbia Attorney General announced:

• Acting Attorney General Peter Nickles announced [yesterday] that the District has entered into a consent order with a title settlement company and its principal which participated in the Metropolitan Money Store mortgage rescue scam. The companies, Regional Title & Escrow, LLC and RTE Title LLC, and their principal, Valeria Tomlin, are permanently prohibited from performing settlement services in the District and will pay $575,000 to homeowners in the District of Columbia and Maryland who were stripped of title and substantial equity in their homes. The settlement is subject to approval by the DC Superior Court.

• The District’s complaint alleged that Tomlin and her title companies performed settlement services and otherwise participated in mortgage loans they knew were not bona fide. In entering into the consent judgment, Tomlin and her title companies denied that they engaged in wrongful conduct.

[...]

• The complaint also alleges that Metropolitan Money Store conducted a major mortgage rescue scam in which it targeted 25 homeowners in the District of Columbia. As part of a “Foreclosure Reversal” scheme, Metropolitan Money Store and others falsely promised to help the homeowners avoid foreclosure, keep their homes, and repair their damaged credit. Metropolitan Money Store then diverted proceeds from purported sales of these homes to itself and related companies.

• The District continues to seek relief for victimized homeowners from other defendants in its lawsuit filed in Superior Court, District of Columbia vs. Metropolitan Money Store, et al., Civil Action No. 6023-07 B.

For the D.C. AG's press release, see District Announces Agreement With Title Settlement Company in Mortgage Rescue Scam.

Go here and go here for other posts on the alleged Metropolitan Money Store foreclosure rescue scam. joyjackson