Indiana AG Files Suit Against Loan Modification Firm Accused Of Screwing Homeowners Out Of Upfront Fees & Failing To Successfully Assist Homeowners

In Evansville, Indiana, the Evansville Courier & Press reports:

• Attorney General Greg Zoeller came to the Civic Center [] to file the suit against Mortgage Modifiers LLC, based in Tampa, Fla. The complaint alleges that the firm took $907 from Karen Helmbock, an Evansville resident, in return for services intended to prevent her from losing her home in a foreclosure. Mortgage Modifiers “failed to successfully assist Helmbock in obtaining a postponement of her payments, a postponement of the foreclosure, a stoppage of the foreclosure, or any other services the defendant advertised,” the suit alleges.(1) Helmbock, [...] is one of 18 of Indiana residents who entered into contracts with the company, Zoeller said. “And we are likely to find in the middle of this case that there were more victims,” he said.

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• Zoeller said he has taken action in the past three months against 14 companies that claim to help clients avoid foreclosures, either filing a lawsuit against them or reaching a settlement with them.

For more, see Attorney General files suit in defense of Evansville woman.

(1) According to the story, the suit alleges that the company said it had a 100-percent-money-back guarantee but never refunded Helmbock her initial payment after failing to get her home out of foreclosure, Zoeller alleged. The suit also says that Mortgage Modifiers neglected to buy a surety bond, to be in the amount of $25,000, as required by Indiana law, which would have served as insurance for Helmbock had she not received the services she had bought, the story states. Mortgage Modifiers also reportedly failed to give her a written notice of her rights, according to the suit.