Florida Attorney Peddling Loan Modifications Disbarred For Abandoning Clients After Pocketing Hefty Upfront Fees

In South Florida, the Miami Daily Business Review reports:

• When Maryann Salvas sent $1,795 to Aventura attorney Daniel Fox to arrange a modification of her mortgage and reduce her monthly payments, she didn’t hesitate because she thought “people were supposed to trust lawyers.” Almost a year passed without the loan on her Rhode Island house being modified, said Salvas who hired Fox based on a phone solicitation. In order to pay Fox’s fee, Salvas said she missed a mortgage payment, never caught up on the late payment, and is now four months behind on the mortgage.

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• Salvas and dozens of other homeowners filed complaints against Fox with the state attorney general or Florida Bar. Fox, 32, was disbarred on Sept. 3 after pleading guilty to disciplinary charges that he abandoned the “representation of clients” seeking real estate loan modifications. The attorney general’s office, which has received 50 complaints involving Fox, said its investigation of him continues.

Source: Record number of complaints target modification lawyers. UnauthPractOfLawTheta