Texas AG Moves To Recover Upfront Fees From Alleged Foreclosure Rescue Racket That Targeted Financially Strapped Homeowners

From the Office of the Texas Attorney General:

• Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott [...] took legal action to obtain restitution for a fraudulent “mortgage rescue” firm’s victims. Dallas County 134th District Judge James M. Stanton granted an agreed temporary injunction barring Markus and Tyrone Bailey from deceptively operating the unlicensed businesses, Behind on Mortgage and Behind on Mortgages USA [...] in Dallas. The agreement requires the defendants to either reimburse all customers from whom it collected unlawful fees, or place these monies in a trust pending final judgment.

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• The defendants visited homeowners facing foreclosure and pitched a way for them to obtain new loans, renewals, extensions of time to pay and modifications of existing mortgage loans. In return, the defendants required at least $1,000 in advance from homeowners and demanded they have no contact with – or make future payments to – their original mortgage servicers.The defendants retained homeowners’ fees for services and provided no measurable foreclosure relief, nor did they negotiate with mortgage servicers. Thus, many homeowners who dealt with the defendants ultimately lost their homes to foreclosure action.

For the entire Texas AG press release, see Attorney General Abbott Takes Enforcement Action Against Dallas-area ‘Mortgage Rescue’ Operation (‘Behind on Mortgage’ defendants bilked unwitting homeowners).

Go here for the Texas AG's temporary injunction against Behind on Mortgages.