The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shut down multiple mortgage relief schemes conducted by a string of California-based law firms that ultimately scammed struggling homeowners out of millions of dollars. The law firms were charging homeowners thousands of dollars and falsely promising that their services would allow them to stay in their homes.
Homeowners were told they could join a “mass joinder” lawsuit against their mortgage lenders, claiming mortgage fraud and void consumer’s mortgage notes. The attorneys, operating as Brookstone Law Group, Brookstone Law, Advantis Law and Advantis Law Group, promised homeowners they would discharge their mortgage entirely, provide monetary relief or both. However, the firms never followed through on their promises.
According to the FTC, the promise of a “mass joinder” lawsuit is a common mortgage relief scam. Mass joinder lawsuits are different from class action lawsuits because each individual defendant is required to prove his or her case in court. The FTC stated that although the attorneys did file lawsuits in this case, most were never pursued and ultimately dismissed.
The FTC’s report stated the attorneys mailed out materials including the homeowner’s name, loan amount and property identification number with statements such as, “Your home will be sold at Auction unless you take immediate action.”
Homeowners who proceeded with the case were initially charged $895 to join the lawsuit and receive a “legal analysis.” Those whose legal analysis showed they had a good case were told they were “likely or certain” to win a lawsuit against their mortgage lenders and would recover at least $75,000. The firms would then charge homeowners thousands of dollars and monthly fees and failed to deposit the fees in client trust funds as required by law.
Most of the homeowners were never added as plaintiffs in a case and some were added months later. Their questions went unanswered and their requests for refunds were allegedly refused. According to the FTC’s report, the mortgage relief scheme netted at least $15 million.
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