Restraining Order on Fraudulent Repo Homes Rescue Services
Massachusetts has intensified its crackdown operation on fraudulent repo homes rescue services. H.O.P.E. Alliance Inc. Law and Associates LLC and Florida-based Thomas E. Law III were slapped with temporary restraining orders for alleged fraudulent activities.
Attorney General Martha Coakley has issued temporary restraining orders on the defendants, claiming that they collected unlawful fees from distressed homeowners who are on the brink of losing their properties to foreclosure.
Coakley also accused the defendants of unnecessarily delaying loan modification negotiations between lenders and distressed homeowners which would have prevented properties from turning into repo homes.
According to the complaint filed, the H.O.P.E. Alliance sent letters to unsuspecting homeowners directing them to contact a toll-free number and accessing a Web site. On its Web site, the company misrepresented itself as a non-profit and intentionally used the name H.O.P.E. Alliance, which is similar to the name of HOPE Now Alliance, a government-supported non-profit organization.
The restraining orders, signed by Judge Christopher Muse, will temporarily stop the defendants from operating in Massachusetts. This means that as long as the temporary restraining order is enforced, the defendants are barred from making contact with any state resident to offer or solicit repo homes rescue services, destroy any asset and publish advertisements that offer any services that are related to foreclosure prevention.
Furthermore, the defendants are required to submit lists of all homeowners in Massachusetts whom they have contacted and the names of those who have paid advanced fees for their services to the office of the attorney general within 10 days.
Meanwhile, Coakley’s office has launched an educational awareness campaign to inform the public about fraudulent foreclosure rescue services. The attorney general’s office has produced and aired two television public service announcements about fraudulent foreclosure assistance and loan modification schemes.
Last month, the number of houses in Massachusetts with foreclosure fillings reached 3,621, a 45.48 percent decline from a year ago level. In the first quarter of this year, a total of 8,193 properties received foreclosure filings, representing a 9 percent drop from the last quarter of 2008 and a 50 percent decline from the first quarter level in 2008.
Massachusetts’ repo homes rate in the first quarter was one per 332 housing units, making the foreclosure rate in the state below the national average.
