Have you ever wondered what happened to the companies and individuals that handed out subprime loans, earning themselves fees and commissions in the billions while setting the stage for the largest economic crisis in the United States since the Great Depression?
You should wonder no more. It turns out that many of the above predators have re-invented themselves as “loan modification consultants” or “mortgage rescue consultants”. After first wreaking havoc on the economy by writing loans that ignored a century of underwriting standards and which have fleeced the next two or three generations of taxpayers, the same individuals have resurfaced, claiming to help the very people for whom they once wrote bad loans. The good news? Somebody is watching this time.
Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., after warning for months that he is going to crackdown on mortgage relief firms, has kept his promise and is doing just that. He recently announced at a press conference that his office has filed legal actions against 21 individuals and 14 companies that are alleged to have scammed homeowners trying to prevent foreclosure of their properties.
Called “Operation Loan Lies”, AG Brown’s office teamed up in a nationwide effort with the Federal Trade Commion (FTC), the U.S. Attorney’s office and dozens of federal and state agencies. In California alone, lawsuits have been filed in Orange County and the Central District (Los Angeles) of the U.S. District Court. Said Brown, “the loan modification industry is teeming with confidence men and charlatans, who rip off desperate homeowners facing foreclosure.”
According to the report on the California Attorney General’s website, one of the most egregious offenders of loan modification firms was U.S. Homeowners Assistance (Irvine) and its executives Hakimullah “Sean” Sarpas and Zulmai Nazarzai, all three of which have been sued by the AG’s office. This firm, in addition to bilking homeowners, claimed to be a government agency with a 98% success rate. U.S. Homeowners Assistance also did business as Statewide Financial Group, Inc., We Beat All Rates and U.S. Homeowners Preservation Center. U.S. Homeowners Assistance and its executives have been charged with violations of just about every related California Civil Code.
Here are the charges against U.S. Homeowners Assistance:
- California Business and Professions Code section 17500: falsely stating they were a
government agency and misleading homeowners by claiming a 98 percent success rate
in obtaining loan modifications;
- California Business and Professions Code section 17200: failing to perform services
made in exchange for upfront fees;
- California Civil Code section 2945.4: unlawfully collecting upfront fees for loan
modification services;
- California Civil Code section 2945.45: failing to register with the California Attorney
General's Office as foreclosure consultants; and
- California Penal Code section 487 for grand theft.
Brown is seeking $7.5 million in civil penalties, full restitution for victims, and a permanent injunction to keep the company and the defendants from offering foreclosure consultant services.
Here are some of the other companies and individuals against whom Attorney General Brown’s office has filed lawsuits:
- U.S. Foreclosure Relief Corp and Adrian Pomery
- Home Relief Services, LLC and the Diener Law Firm
- RMR Group Loss Mitigation, LLC, the law firm of Shippey & Associates and Arthur
Aldridge
- United First, Inc. and attorney Mitchell Roth
IF you are considering using a mortgage relief firms, first confirm that the company has registered with the California Attorney General’s Office as a foreclosure consultant. If you have already been victimized, then contact the Attorney General’s Public Inquiry Unit at the link below.
For more info:
California Attorney General's Office
California Real Estate Fraud Report
Comments
They've got the guppies, when are they gonna score the 'Big Fish'?
Countrywide's Anthony Mozillo made it possible for all of these 'little guppies' to tap dance in the enoumous grey area of NO-DOC, NEGATIVE-AM, subprime loans backed by the implicit government gaurantee of FANNIE MAE and FREDDIE MAC?
The whole Truth is the government is the biggest mortgage fraud crimina.
"The mortgage brokers scam." You brought in your taxes and bank statements. Your broker says you’re self-employed so you need an Option-Arm due to your fluctuating income. What he didn't tell you is he didn't use your taxes to create the loan. He didn't have to. No doc. and stated income loans allowed the broker to write down whatever and say you lied.
All he had to do was make sure you signed and verify your bank statements showed enough cash reserves to survive a few years. Escrow closes and you spend the first year either making the Negative payments or combining your income with savings to make the interest or full. If you had defaulted within the first year the lender would have raised a red flag. But you didn't. Now its two years later and you can't figure out where your savings are going. You qualified for the loan. What's wrong? The answer is. You never qualified to make the principal plus interest in the first place. You only qualified at best to make the Negative pay.
It has nothing to do with the adjustment. Now even if that red flag appeared the lender wouldn't have cared. They took out an L.P.M.I. (lenders paid mortgage insurance). I don't mean the P.M.I. I'm talking about the high-risk insurance policy they took out on you. They were required to give you a written statement telling you were a high-risk before the loan closed. Why? It caused you to pay a higher interest rate. It's under... TITLE 12 CHAPTER 49--HOMEOWNERS PROTECTION
Sec. 4905. Disclosure requirements for lender paid mortgage insurance.
If you lied about the income then how does that income add up to be three times more than what was on your taxes. Did you lie to the IRS paying more in taxes so you could go out an qualify for a house you never could afford? Where is the loan data? Why was the income so difficult to prove. Does everyone in America work for cash?
TITLE 12 CHAPTER 29--HOME MORTGAGE DISCLOSURE
Sec. 2803. Maintenance of records and public disclosure.
L
Those are all violation of licenses, I don't understand why this article would be considered or titled fraud? Totally misleading article and Brown has already cleared half of dozen as non fraud!
What is the best way to file a small claims law suit against a Irvine Ca. company committing Loan Mod Fraud?
Thank you
Richard
nlpbuild@yahoo.com
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