FTC, Central Florida Upfront Fee Foreclosure Rescue Operator Resolve Charges Of Screwing Financially Strapped Homeowners

The Federal Trade Commission announced:

• A mortgage foreclosure rescue service that claimed that, for a $1,200 fee, they would stop foreclosure and save consumers’ homes, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated federal law. Many consumers who paid the company ultimately lost their homes to foreclosure, and others avoided foreclosure only through their own efforts.

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• The settlement imposes a judgment of $1,178,920, all but $8,320.84 of which is suspended based on the defendants’ inability to pay. The full judgment will be imposed if they are found to have misrepresented their financial condition. The settlement also contains record-keeping provisions to allow the FTC to monitor compliance with the order.

• The Commission vote to authorize staff to file the stipulated final order regarding Florida-based Mortgage Foreclosure Solutions, Inc., Debra Behrens, and Michael Siani, was 4-0.

For more, see:

• FTC Press Release: Mortgage Foreclosure "Rescue" Operators Settle with FTC,
• Stipulated Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction,
• Original FTC lawsuit: Federal Trade Commission v. Mortgage Foreclosure Solutions, Inc., et al. loan modification