Sunday, September 30, 2012

Indiana AG Tags Five More Out-Of-State Outfits For Alleged Loan Modification Ripoffs, Running Up Total To 140 Civil Lawsuits Throughout State Against Suspected Upfront Fee Rackets

From the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune:
  • You want to modify your home loan to stop foreclosure and a company offers to help for an upfront fee. You pay the fee. And your home winds up in foreclosure while the company that took your money disappears.

    On Wednesday, five out-of-state foreclosure consulting companies were sued by the state of Indiana for allegedly ripping off homeowners in St. Joseph, Elkhart, Allen and LaPorte counties.

    Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed five lawsuits -- three in St. Joseph Circuit Court and two in Elkhart County -- charging four companies and one law firm with violating the Credit Services Organization Act, the Mortgage Rescue Protection Fraud Act, the Home Loan Practices Act and the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act.

    American Home Relief Foundation of Delaware, CC Brown Law of Utah, Legacy Holding Group of Arizona, and Right Away Doc Preparations Inc. and Property Solutions Center, both of California, "... promised to modify customers' home loans in exchange for an upfront fee but didn't complete the job or provide a refund," Zoeller charged in the suit.
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  • In South Bend, homeowners can call the Notre Dame Clinical Law Center, said Notre Dame law professor Judy Fox. "We represent you for free," Fox said. Contact the Clinical Law Center at 574-631-7795.

    Since 2006, the attorney general's office has filed 140 lawsuits against foreclosure consultant companies in more than 30 counties across Indiana. Zoeller urged those who may have been victimized by a mortgage relief scam to file a complaint with the Indiana State Attorney General's Office.