Florida AG Sues 19 Foreclosure Rescuers

Thursday, January 24, 2008

National Foreclosure Management, Inc., American Home Rescue, Inc., National Property Holding Group, LLC,, The Mortgage Practice, Inc., Southeast Capital Mortgage Company, Barrister Title Services, Inc., GMC Land Services of Florida, Inc., doing business as Richmond Abstract, Inc., Bernard Williams, Wyman F. Roberts, Lakeisha Marion, Anna Silva, Albert Nae, Linda Rubinchik, Rhona Oliver, Tracy Needleman, Gina Rock, John Sarlo, Dianna Brown-Flournoy, and Reina Roman have all been named defendants in a suit by Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Beginning in October 2004, National Foreclosure Management – which now does business as American Home Rescue, Inc. – selected homeowners who had substantial equity in their homes but were in the process of being foreclosed upon. The company would offer to hold the titles to the homes for a year, refinance the debt, and provide cash and credit repair counseling to the homeowner, all while allowing the homeowner to remain in the house. The company claimed it would deed the property back at the end of the year after the foreclosure had been avoided and the homeowner’s credit was repaired.

Once the company had obtained the title to the house, the Attorney General’s lawsuit alleges the company would strip the equity from the homes by refinancing them at inflated prices and by assessing fraudulent fees and costs, leaving little or nothing for the homeowner to recoup. The home would then be sold outright to an investor or a straw buyer who would lease the home back to the homeowner at a rental rate far exceeding the original mortgage payment, virtually ensuring the homeowner’s eventual eviction. According to the lawsuit, the homeowners would end up with neither the titles to the homes nor the equity that rightfully belonged to them.

The complaint, filed with the Office of Financial Regulation, seeks restitution to the affected homeowners, dissolution of the rescue foreclosure companies, and revocation of the mortgage brokers’ licenses revoked. Don Saxon, Commissioner of the Office of Financial Regulation, expressed gratitude to Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink for their continued support and commitment to protect consumers.

“Mortgage fraud is a destructive crime that can destroy a family’s future in an instant, and we need stronger laws to protect Florida’s consumers,” said Chief Financial Officer Sink, who oversees the Department of Financial Services and who heralded today’s actions as essential to the fight against mortgage-related fraud. “It is downright disgraceful that some would use trickery to steal the dream of homeownership from a struggling Floridian.”

The lawsuit is the first filed by the Attorney General’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force, created to investigate these various schemes and, where appropriate, seek solutions to protect consumers. The task force has been in operation since September and is comprised of 25 lawyers and investigators in the Attorney General’s Office, stationed in locations throughout the state.

In addition to the lawsuit, McCollum announced a multi-pronged initiative to combat mortgage-related fraud, specifically fraud involving “rescue foreclosure” scams. As part of the litigation and legislation-based initiative, the Attorney General filed the lawsuit asserting that the South Florida-based National Foreclosure Management and multiple affiliates defrauded at least 80 homeowners out of approximately $1.7 million in home equity. These allegations were investigated by a new task force developed by Attorney General McCollum to target mortgage-related fraud, an effort bolstered by proposed legislation to strengthen provisions against mortgage rescue scams.

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