California prosecutors filed a major lawsuit against several lawyers and call center operators for allegedly running a nationwide scam to dupe desperate homeowners into paying thousands of dollars to join dubious lawsuits against some of the country’s largest banks.
The complaint to be unsealed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court accuses prominent foreclosure attorneys Philip Kramer and Mitchell Stein and at least 17 other individuals and businesses of luring borrowers into a scheme that falsely promised a cut of future settlements.
The lawsuit portrays the defendants as the most recent in the chain of mortgage-related scammers who helped fuel the housing bubble and have cashed in on its collapse. The defendants previously worked in the fraud-ridden loan modification industry.
Borrowers were lured into the scheme with claims that courts have found most mortgage lenders to have practiced predatory lending or approved inappropriate loans, and that the homeowners’ own banks meet the criteria for having perpetrated such “violations,” the complaint says.
“Defendants use deceptive advertising and telemarketing to recruit consumers to join these lawsuits,” according to the complaint filed by prosecutors.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris was set to announce the case Thursday, a day after state bar investigators and state Department of Justice agents served defendants with copies of the complaint at nine locations in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Sit down and relax… you’re going to need a comfortable chair. But, I promise you… it’ll be worth it.
In the fall of 2008, news stories about “scammers” taking advantage of homeowners at risk of foreclosure started appearing frequently in the media. I remember watching a prime-time national news magazine type program, I think it was 20/20, that was airing a story that featured a sleazy looking middle-age man in Denver, hurriedly walking from a small, strip mall store front to his car, his hand covering his face, as a reporter tried to ask him questions that he obviously did not plan to answer.
The story involved a company that had charged a handful of homeowners several thousand dollars up front to help them negotiate with their banks to get their mortgages modified. The core issue being raised by the show’s host was that the homeowners had been victims of a scam because, as a couple of the homeowners interviewed were saying, their loans had not yet been modified.
I remember wondering, to begin with, how in the world such a story had become the subject of a national news magazine television program. I mean, “Three homeowners get ripped off by small business in Denver,” is not usually the sort of event that makes national headlines. The implication being made was that this case was emblematic of a more widespread problem, but nothing further was offered in the way of proof… no statistics, no additional facts… just statements about how homeowners should NEVER pay anyone up front to help them negotiate with their bank over a loan modification because they were “scammers.”
Before StopForeclosureFraud puts up posts it tries its best to research sources and is not quick to rush to post what may not seem right for its readers. SFF had several tips of such Mass Joinder request to post but refrained from doing so for the following reasons and please make sure you read both articles below to fully understand.
Martin who runs Mandelman Matters was first to post an alert warning homeowners about Mass Joinder lawsuits in which he states
Last week I posted a “Homeowner Warning” about a mailer I’d received from a homeowner promoting participation in a lawsuit, referred to as a “Mass Joinder” lawsuit, being filed against several major banks on behalf of homeowners by the law firm of Kramer & Kaslow. Before I posted the “warning” I spoke with several attorneys I know that are well-versed in law firm marketing compliance, and I made two attempts to contact the Kramer & Kaslow attorneys at the number provided on the mailer, but received no response.
Everyone who follows Mandelman Matters knows Martin puts an enormous amount of effort into his investigative reports.
Today Reuters is reporting the same, warning homeowners
The scam is particular elaborate since a federal ban went into effect earlier this year against requiring up-front payments to those offering mortgage relief. Rules being what they are, there is an exception to it — for lawyers. While the terms are a bit more specific than that, it opened the door to people supposedly working on behalf of lawyers to still preying on those whose homes are being foreclosed.
“Those who continue to prey on and victimize vulnerable homeowners have not given up,” the warning by Wayne S. Bell, chief counsel of the California Department of Real Estate, says. “They just change their tactics and modify their sales pitches to keep taking advantage of those who are desperate to save their homes. And some of the frauds seeking to rip off desperate homeowners are trying to use the lawyer exemption above to collect advance fees for mortgage assistance relief litigation.”
Long story short do your homework so you don’t fall victim to scams.
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