More On Now-Defunct, Alleged Attorney-Based Loan Modification Scam That Victimized 2000+ Homeowners

In San Francisco, California, SF Weekly recently ran a column on an alleged loan modification foreclosure rescue scam that clipped homeowners in foreclosure out of thousands of dollars and that is now out of business:

• The State Bar of California has taken over the law firm of Mitchell Roth, who had, in partnership with convicted felon Paul Noe II, convinced more than 2,000 troubled homeowners to fall for an apparent "foreclosure assistance" scam.

• The apparent swindle, fi[r]st described in the September, 2008 SF Weekly column "Facing foreclosure? Con man Paul Noe II has a deal for you," involved a boiler room of agents who would contact Spanish-speaking homeowners behind on their mortgage payments. Roth's canvassers would convince apparent victims they might save their homes by entering into a business deal with convicted con artist Noe, scion of a legendary con artist dynasty. Under the terms of the deal, Roth's employees would offer a complex contract to prospective clients. The deal required the client to pay monthly fees to a Noe-formed company. That company -- which happened to be partially owned by Roth's wife -- would in turn hire Roth as counsel for the client, supposedly to fend off foreclosure via lawsuits.

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• Attorneys now suing him on behalf of former clients say the scheme involved Roth stringing homeowners along long enough to collect thousands of dollars in fees, then months later claiming to have lost the lawsuit, despite his best efforts.

For more, see State Bar Takes Over 'Son of Super Swindler' Law Firm -- 2,000 Con Jobs Too Late. UnauthPractOfLawTheta