Queens Law Firm, Affiliated Foreclosure Rescue Outfit Face Additional Lawsuits Accusing Them Of Running Illegal Loan Modification Racket Screwing Long Island Homeowners Out Of Thousand$

On Long Island, New York, Newsday reports:

• A Queens-based law firm and an affiliated foreclosure “rescue” firm have cheated Long Island homeowners out of thousands of dollars and put them at greater risk of losing their homes, the homeowners have charged in four separate lawsuits.
  
  The Donado Law Firm and the American Hope Group persuaded the homeowners to pay for mortgage modification services but provided no help, the homeowners stated in court papers. The affiliated companies share office space in the Elmhurst section of Queens, and the American Hope Group also has locations in Hempstead and Amityville, according to the lawsuits.(1)
  
  Valmiro Donado, who is named in court papers as owner of the two companies, did not return calls and an email seeking comment. In two of the four lawsuits, Donado has asked for more time to respond to the allegations, according to the Manhattan-based nonprofit New York Legal Assistance Group,(2) which is representing the homeowners.
  
  “As people are in foreclosure longer and longer, they are becoming more susceptible to these scammers who make promises they can’t fulfill,” said Rose Marie Cantanno, a supervising attorney with the nonprofit legal group. “A lot of our clients say, ‘We thought they were from heaven.’”
  
  The two companies promised to lower homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments, collected as much as $17,000 in fees from each client from 2012 through 2014, and told the homeowners to stop making mortgage payments, the homeowners charged in court papers filed in state Supreme Court in Nassau and Suffolk counties late last year.
  
  Among the plaintiffs is Jose Ventura, a 58-year-old immigrant from El Salvador who lives with his wife and their three children in a sparsely furnished Bay Shore home. Promising to lower Ventura’s mortgage balance, the companies charged him $15,360, most of it deducted electronically from his bank account, according to his lawsuit.
  
  A former factory worker, Ventura is now seeking a job in construction. “I had to work a whole lot to get that much money,” Ventura said in Spanish, with his attorney, Julie Howe, translating. “I took all of my money out of my bank account, and all they did was harm people, and they’re still just harming people.”
  
  Ventura is now current on his mortgage, after receiving a $40,000 loan through the New York State Mortgage Assistance Program, which lends money to homeowners at risk of foreclosure, Howe said.
  
  The other plaintiffs declined to comment, their attorneys said. Three of the four plaintiffs — including Ventura — were current on their mortgage payments when they signed on with the “rescue” firm, but after they took American Hope’s advice to stop making mortgage payments, their lenders sued to foreclose, the homeowners said in their lawsuits. A fourth homeowner was already in foreclosure.

For the story, see Foreclosure ‘rescue’ firm cheated LIers, lawsuits charge (Queens firm charged thousands; provided no help, suits allege; Some homeowners now in greater danger of losing their houses).

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(1) This is not the first time these outfits have been accused of running loan modification rackets. See:

• New York Post (October 5, 2014) Homeowners get OK to fight foreclosure scams (homeowners allege that Donado and American Hope run a fraudulent foreclosure rescue operation targeting Spanish homeowners),
• Lawsuit: Brardo v. American Hope Group, The Donado Law Firm, et al.

(2) The Manhattan-based New York Legal Assistance Group provides free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers who cannot afford attorneys. Their services include direct representation, case consultation, advocacy, community education, training, financial counseling, and impact litigation. NYLAG has 125 community offices located in courts, hospitals, and community based organizations in all five boroughs of New York City as well as Westchester, Rockland and Long Island.