NJ AG Reaches $800K Deal w/ Firms, Principals To Settle Phony Loan Modification Allegations; Outfit Allegedly Used 'Non-Profit' Front To Con Victims

From the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General:

• Attorney General Paula T. Dow announced [] that the owner of several New Jersey loan modification companies has agreed to pay the state $805,000 and stay out of the foreclosure rescue business to resolve allegations he defrauded struggling homeowners who sought help in staving off foreclosure.

• Defendant Stephen Pasch of Greenbrook Township, Somerset County, agreed to a judgment of $805,000 -- $205,000 of it payable to the Division of Consumer Affairs within 60 days – to settle charges that his New Day Financial Solutions, Inc. and other companies collected up-front fees from homeowners in return for promised mortgage modification help – a prohibited practice in New Jersey. Pasch’s other companies include American Credit Repair and Settlement, NDROA Inc. and Paramount Debt Settlement USA.

• In addition to Pasch, another defendant in the same lawsuit, licensed attorney Ejike N. Uzor of Newark, has settled claims against him for $25,000. Two Uzor companies were also corporate defendants in the state suit: Uzor Financial Solutions and Ejike N. Uzor and Associates.

• In most cases, the foreclosure rescue services for which homeowners paid Pasch and Uzor up front never materialized or actually made their situations worse. In addition, the state’s lawsuit charged that a Pasch/Uzor “non-profit” known as American Financial Advocacy Council – through its Web site at www.lordsavemyhome.com – fraudulently sought to instill consumer confidence in the defendants’ profit-making operations.

For the entire press release, see Attorney General Announces Settlement of Fraud Case with Mortgage Rescue Firms; Principal Defendant Agrees to Judgment of $805,000, Ban on Future Involvement.

Go here for the Consent Judgments.