Texas AG Files Civil Suit Charging Loan Modification Firm With Selling Worthless Rescue Services To Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

From the Office of the Texas Attorney General:

• A Harris County district judge froze several Houston firms’ assets after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott charged the companies with running foreclosure “rescue” scams. According to the state’s enforcement action,(1) the defendants fraudulently charged their customers for worthless “rescue,” debt counseling and credit repair services. District Judge Patricia J. Kerrigan also granted the Attorney General’s request for a temporary restraining order.

For the entire press release, see Attorney General Abbott Charges Houston Firms with Conducting Fraudulent Foreclosure Rescue Scam (Assets Belonging to Excel Loss Mitigation, United Servicing, others frozen by Attorney General).

For more on this case from the Texas AG:

• Lawsuit: State of Texas v. Excel Loss Mitigation, et al.
• Temporary restraining order against the defendants,
• Example of allegedly misleading Excel Loss Mitigation advertisement, sales training & telephone script.

(1) The state’s enforcement action names Excel Loss Mitigation Inc., United Servicing LLC, Bell Investments & Developments LLC and key directors Frank Bell, David Bell and David Espy as defendants. All of the defendants were also charged with failing to post a bond with the Texas Secretary of State, which is required to legally conduct business in the state of Texas. Excel, which was renamed United Servicing after an influx of customer complaints, proactively contacted hundreds of homeowners who were struggling to pay their mortgages, according to the press release. The Office of the Attorney General is seeking civil penalties of up to $20,000 for each violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as restitution for harmed customers. In addition, the Attorney General seeks penalties for numerous violations of the Texas Telephone Solicitation Act and the state’s Finance Code.