Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Maine AG Squeezes $250K+ Settlement Out Of Debt Resolution Outfit To Resolve Complaints By 300+ State Residents
In Bangor, Maine, the Bangor Daily News reports:
[L]egal Helpers website trumpets that it is “the nation’s largest debt resolution law firm” with “offices in 50 states.” When Eric Wright went looking, he found an office in Thomaston but had a lot of trouble finding the attorney who was supposed to be there.
Wright is staff attorney for Maine’s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection. He was looking for the attorney on behalf of our southern Maine consumer, who was less than pleased with the iceberg-like progress Legal Helpers seemed to be making.
Wright investigated complaints from about two dozen Mainers, most of whom had dropped their business dealings with Legal Helpers.
“They didn’t appear to have done anything,” Wright told me last week. “There never seemed to be a method to the madness of what they were doing” in terms of getting clients’ debts reduced.
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There was also the matter of registering to operate in Maine, which the company refused to do even though Maine law requires registration by debt settlement companies. Attorneys are exempt, unless those attorneys’ sole activity is settling debts. Legal Helpers claimed it had “partnerships” with attorneys who were licensed in Maine, and so should be exempt.
Wright turned the whole matter over to Maine’s attorney general, William Schneider. Last week, Schneider and Will Lund, superintendent of the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, announced a settlement with Legal Helpers and with The Mortgage Law Group LLP, a sister company of Legal Helpers that claimed to have a national reputation for representing homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.
Under the agreement, the firms will pay $250,000 to be equitably distributed among more than 300 Maine consumers. The companies also agreed to stop charging monthly fees to present clients and will pay the state $15,000 to cover part of its administrative and investigative costs.
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In July, the state of Illinois reached a $2.1 million settlement with Legal Helpers.
CBC News: Betrayal of Trust (A CBC investigation reveals how lawyers across Canada have misappropriated and mishandled clients money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services)
Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets
The New York Times: The Housing Trap (In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap)
Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System
The NY Times: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice(Part 1 in series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court)
Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements
Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners
MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases
Justice Disserved: A Preliminary Analysis of the Exceptionally
Low Appearance Rate by Defendants in Lawsuits Filed in the Civil Court of the City of New York
Mortgage Mess Redux: Robo-Signers Return (A Reuters investigation finds that many banks are still employing the controversial foreclosure practices that sparked a major outcry last year)
CNN Video: As Foreclosures Mount, Florida Court Turns To 'Rocket Docket'
The Wall Street Journal: A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases (2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge)
"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions
ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
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