Another Attorney Goes Down In Smoke For Ripping Off Financially Distressed Homeowners Out Of Hundred$ Of Thousand$ By Making False Loan Modification Promises w/ Most Victims Losing Homes To Foreclosure; Cops Guilty Plea To Running A Criminal Enterprise

In Detroit, Michigan, The Detroit News reports:

• An Orchard Lake man has pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Michigan residents who were facing mortgage foreclosures.
  
  [M]ichigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced that his Home Protection Unit had secured a guilty plea from Steven Ruza, 52, and his company, Home Legal Group, Inc., on Sept. 2.
  
  According to Schuette, Ruza promised victims they could obtain mortgage modifications that would then save their homes from foreclosure.
  
  But Ruza did nothing, or little, to obtain the modifications.
  
  “In many cases, Ruza even filed false documents with the bank,” Schuette said. “The victims never received a modification through Ruza and Home Legal Group and most lost their homes to foreclosure.”
  
  As part of the plea agreement, Ruza will pay restitution to the victims, with the possibility of additional restitution at the determination of a judge.
  
  The initial payment of restitution will be made by Ruza with additional restitution being paid to qualifying victims by the Homeowners Protection Fund to ensure they receive timely payments.
  
  Ruza will then be required to reimburse those funds to the state.
  
  On Sept. 2, Ruza pleaded guilty to one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony, before Oakland County District Court Judge Marc Barron.
  
  The plea agreement contains the following requirements:
  
  ■ Provide a list of the 50 satisfied Home Legal Group clients by Oct. 1.
  
  ■ Pay $250,000 in restitution [...] as well as any remaining restitution as ordered by the court as a condition of parole or probation.
  
  ■ Agree to a psychological exam and complete any recommended counseling.
  
  He will be sentenced by Oakland County circuit Court Judge Nancy Grant on Oct. 15.
  
  Under the agreement, the court agreed to a sentence guideline range of 24-40 months for the minimum sentence to a maximum of 20 years, on the charge.
  
  The guilty plea also ensures that Ruza cannot operate as an attorney or run this kind of business again in the future.
  
  “Scams that take advantage of Michigan residents trying to save their homes are unacceptable,” Schuette said in a statement. “These are hardworking men and women who needed a little bit of extra help. Instead of help, they got cheated out of money they could not afford to lose.”
  
  Schuette worked with the Legislature and Gov. Rick Snyder to establish the Michigan Homeowner Protection Fund to ensure these funds are directed toward victims of foreclosure scams or fraud.
  
  On Aug. 1, 2012, Snyder signed legislation creating the $97 Million Homeowner Protection Fund.
  
  Anyone who believes they may have been victims of Steven Ruza and/or Home Legal Group should file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office at www.michigan.gov/ag by clicking “File a Complaint.”

Source: Orchard Lake man pleads guilty to mortgage scheme.

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(1) Clients found to have been victimized by any alleged theft by a Michigan-licensed attorney may be able to seek some reimbursement for being screwed over by turning to the Client Protection Fund Of the State Bar of Michigan, which manages and distribute money collected from annual dues paid by members of the state bar to members of the public who have sustained a financial loss caused by the dishonest conduct of a member of the bar acting as an attorney or a fiduciary.

See generally:

• N.Y. fund for cheated clients wants thieving lawyers disbarred, a July, 2015 Associated Press story on the client protection fund in New York, reporting that the Fund's executive director, among other things, is calling for prompt referral to the local district attorney when the disciplinary committee has uncontested evidence of theft by a lawyer injuring a client or an admission of culpability;
  
  Thieving Lawyers Draining Client Security Funds, a December, 1991 New York Times story that gives some-real life examples of how client security funds deal with claims and the pressures the administrators of those funds may feel when left insufficiently financed as a result of the misconduct of a handful of lawyer/scoundrels.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that attempt to clean up the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (now includes a listing for Canadian client protection funds, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.