American Hope Group and the Donado Law Firm worked hard to sign up Queens homeowner Ana Lopez for their foreclosure rescue services.
Lopez says that after an illness caused her to fall behind on loan payments, she began receiving solicitations from American Hope — a company affiliated with Donado — saying it knew she was having problems and could help.
At first she declined the sales pitches. But in April 2011, increasingly fearful of losing her home, Lopez met with an employee of American Hope. She says she then began making monthly payments to the company, believing in promises of a loan modification and dramatically reduced payments.
The assistance turned out to be a scam, Lopez says. She is out $14,000, has not received a modification and fears she will end up on the street.
Now, Lopez is joining a groundbreaking lawsuit brought last year by Queens homeowner Elva Brardo, alleging that Donado and American Hope run a fraudulent foreclosure rescue operation targeting Spanish homeowners.
"I've been paying these people all this money for the modification, for nothing," she told The Post.
The defendants' attorney, Harlan Protass of Clayman & Rosenberg, called the lawsuit's claims "meritless" and said American Hope "plans to continue vigorously defending" against it.
Brardo and Lopez' case is moving forward now that a New York Supreme Court judge in Queens County has denied the defendants' request for dismissal. Judge Robert J. McDonald also allowed two other plaintiffs alleging similar harm to join the suit.
"The judge makes it crystal clear that individuals or firms performing distressed property consulting services can be held accountable for deceptive or unlawful practices," said Lopez' attorney, Nicole Arrindell of MFY Legal Services.
Regulators and the government's top attorneys are stepping up efforts to halt foreclosure rescue scams. Last week, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a lawsuit against a Brooklyn law firm, its principal attorney and an affiliated Florida firm, alleging they were running a foreclosure rescue scam. The Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the US Attorneys' office have also brought major lawsuits against alleged foreclosure scammers.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Homeowners get OK to fight foreclosure scams
Dengan url
http://susuvirus.blogspot.com/2014/10/homeowners-get-ok-to-fight-foreclosure.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Homeowners get OK to fight foreclosure scams
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Homeowners get OK to fight foreclosure scams
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar