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Loan Modification Scammers–Consumers Lose Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars In Scams
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County, Calif., against a network of for-profit loan modification companies on behalf of eight California homeowners.
The lawsuit filed in state court reflects a battle against a troubling trend: Just as the housing bubble prompted predatory lenders to foist subprime loans on consumers, the foreclosure crisis has given birth to shysters that defraud distressed homeowners out of tens of thousands of dollars by falsely promising to obtain—for substantial upfront fees—much-needed mortgage modifications on the homeowners’ behalf. And as with predatory lending, these schemes disproportionately target minorities.
Baker, et al. v. Platinum Law Group, et al., is the Lawyers’ Committee’s 14th loan modification scam lawsuit filed nationwide and its fifth filed in California.
“These scamming activities have a devastating effect on vulnerable homeowners who are seeking solutions and, instead, find themselves at a greater risk or foreclosure and in greater financial peril as a result of the deceptive and unlawful conduct,” said Linda Mullenbach, senior counsel for the Fair Housing and Fair Lending Project of the Lawyers’ Committee, in a statement.
The most recent complaint alleges that the defendants promised to work directly with plaintiffs’ lenders to renegotiate their home loans and to secure lower monthly payments and interest rates in exchange for significant advance fees of up to nearly $3,700, collected in violation of California and federal law.
The defendants lured the plaintiffs by touting their specialized experience in the industry, claiming success rates of 90 percent or higher and promising a refund of all or most of the fees paid if they defendants did not obtain loan modifications for the plaintiffs, the complaint further claims.
However, the defendants broke all of those promises, the suit alleges.
If a purported loan modification company requests advance payment or instructs the homeowner to not contact his or her lender, those are “red flags” that the company may be fraudulent, the FBI warns. MOREHERE
