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~ Blogs from Andrew H. Griffin,III

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Tag Archives: fraudulent loan modification companies

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Deceived by her Brother

01 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by griffinlaw in The Law Office of Andrew H. Griffin,III

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Adversary Complaint, Andrew H. Griffin, Equity saver, Equity Savers, foreclosure, fraudulent loan modification companies, III, Load modification scam, loan modification fraud, mortgage company, Superior Court Judge, The Law Office of Andrew H. Griffin, Timothy Taylor, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Wayne Johnson

brother_sister_bond_quotes

       Diane  trusted Victor  to refinance her home. After all, Victor was her brother. Victor had refinanced her home and their mother’s home on multiple occasions. Diane had no reason to mistrust her brother. So, on February 12, 2009, when Victor told Diane that his company called “Equity Savers” would “save” her home by a loan modification, she trusted him.

      Victor told his sister that he, and Francisco, through their company, Equity Savers, would purchase Diane’s home and then enter into a one-year lease with her.  Diane paid her brother $3,605.00, which he said was payment for the first and last month’s rent. Victor promised that after a year he would sell the home back to Diane for $230,000.00. Victor also represented that $10,000.00 would be credited to be used as a down payment. Victor advised his sister to stop making payments to the mortgage company so that the purchase would be easier.

     On November 20, 2009, Victor’s partner, Orozco visited Diane at her home and changed the terms of the agreement to repurchase the property for the sum of $350,000.00 and that they would finance the loan at Eight (8%) percent. Diane signed the agreement without knowing that on September 30, 2009, the bank had already taken back the home through foreclosure.  Her brother knew or should have known that Diane no longer owned her home at the time of the agreement because she shared all the letters and notices that came from the bank. On each occasion Victor told Diane not to worry because this was part of the purchase process of his company.

     Diane and her husband, Eduardo, did not know that their home was owned by her bank until she met her attorney, Andrew H. Griffin, III of the Law Office of Andrew H. Griffin, III. On June 22, 2010, Griffin filed a lawsuit action against Victor and others in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. The case took almost two years to complete. On January 27, 2012, Superior Court Judge, Timothy Taylor, granted a judgment against Victor and in favor of Diane and her husband in the amount of $150,000.00 and in the amount of $950.00 for the total judgment in the sum of $150,950.00.

     Victor filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 on March 17, 2011, but did not list the debt to Diane in his Bankruptcy Petition. Victor received a discharge on or about September 26, 2011. The Case was closed on October 14, 2011. On July 5, 2012, Griffin, received a letter informing him of the bankruptcy petition asserting that Victor no longer had the obligation to pay Diane. As a result, Griffin filed an Adversary Complaint  against Victor to determine whether the judgment based in fraud would still have to be paid. On September 30, 2013, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Wayne Johnson, signed a judgment stating that the State Court judgment of $150,950.00 was a debt based upon fraud and was not excluded from the debts discharged in Victor’s Bankruptcy.

     Victor is still obligated to pay his sister $150,950.00, but the relationship between bother and sister and the entire family will forever be changed.

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Victory over Loan Modification Fraud!

27 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by griffinlaw in The Law Office of Andrew H. Griffin,III

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

advocate for fair lending, advocate for fair lending mark shoemaker, damages for loan modification fraud, disbarred attorneys, foreclosure in san diego, fraud, fraudulent loan modification companies, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation case, Judge, Judge Judith F. Hayes, Law Office of Andrew H. Griffin, loan modification companies, loan modification fraud, loan modification scam, loan scams, mark shoemaker, nondischargable, relief from automatic stay, State Bar of California

Fraudulent Loan Modification Companies prey on the Distressed

Fraudulent Loan Modification Companies prey on the Distressed

George Castro, like many other homeowners who purchased a home in 2004, obtained an Adjustable Rate Mortgage. The loan was secured by his residence which he shared with his wife, three children, a dog and a pet horse. The interest rate adjusted after five years to a point where the monthly loan payments increased substantially and he found it difficult to keep the payments current.
Castro attempted to resolve the problem with his Lender but was met with insurmountable obstacles. A loan modification company, Advocate For Fair Lending,LLC (AFFL) promised to assist distressed homeowners with problems like his.  Castro heard about AAFL from a friend. Castro went onto the AAFL website where he read sales materials indicating that AAFL offered to help borrowers “Save your home”. The internet sales materials indicated, “We force the lender to work with us on your behalf. If necessary, we will initiate legal action against your lender…. We force the lender to recast the terms of your loan… The lender will be forced to reimburse all loan settlement monies paid by the borrower in regards to this loan. You might even own your property free and clear… If the lender doesn’t accept demand (sic), then Court action is initiated”.
AAFL was owned and operated by Mark A. Shoemaker who was a Real estate broker licensed by the state of  California and attorney who owned and operated the Law Office of Mark A. Shoemaker.  As the President/Chairman of Advocate for Fair Lending, LLC.,  Shoemaker promised that he could “analyze” the loan and if the loan was found to be illegal, the loan could be completely removed from Castro’s residence.

On August 6, 2008, Castro telephoned AAFL who promised that in exchange for payments of 70% of his mortgage payments that AAFL would perform an “audit of their mortgage to search for and identify legal defects in the mortgage agreement. Once the “defects” in the mortgage were identified, steps, including the initiation of a lawsuit, would be taken to halt foreclosure proceedings and force loan restructured or modification. Castro sent AAFL all of his paperwork regarding the loan and mailed three payments totaling $9,162.66 as instructed. Despite this fact, the foreclosure sale of the property took place on November 3, 2008, and the bank repossessed the home displacing Castro, his family and his pets. No litigation was ever initiated by Shoemaker or AAFL against his lender as promised.

Castro then hired attorney, Andrew H. Griffin, III of the Law Office of Andrew H. Griffin, III to represent him. Griffin filed a complaint against AAFL and Mark Shoemaker in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego on December 31, 2009. (Case No.: 37-2009-00080288-CU-OR-SC) The case took almost 4 years to complete. During this time Shoemaker filed for Bankruptcy. He lost his license to practice law and he also lost his license as a California real estate broker.

Shoemaker, in spite of being a disbarred attorney, blamed Castro’s problem on Castro, his  Lender, and Griffin as Castro’s Attorney. The Court in the State Bar of California found that Shoemaker “used Advocate and his status as an attorney to convince cash-strapped homeowners to pay him thousands of dollars in hopes of saving their homes from foreclosure,” Judge Honn wrote in his May 28, 2010, order Shoemaker, however, “often did little to nothing to help these clients. In fact, many of these homeowners were worse off after retaining [Shoemaker’s] services.”

The State Court trial lasted for 4 days. On  September 20, 2013, Judge Judith F. Hayes of the Superior Court found that Shoemaker was liable to Castro for fraud and unlawful business practices under Business and Professions Code section 17200 for his actions in operating AAFL. Judge Hayes opined that the fraud was committed in Shoemaker’s professional capacity as a lawyer and as owner of AAFL. The Court further held that as the owner and sole shareholder of AAFL, and as an attorney, Shoemaker made false statements of material fact to Castro to induce him to pay a total of $9,162.66 for the purpose of stopping the foreclosure sale of their home. Judge Hayes stated that Shoemaker “through his company, AAFL, falsely represented that they had the power to force the lender into a restructure or modification of [Castro’s] mortgage. AAFL’s advertising materials failed to disclose to [Castro] that AAFL had little or no success in this regard”.

The finding of fraud by the Court is of particular importance because Shoemaker had filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. Griffin, a bankrutuptcy attorney, obtained a relief from automatic stay to bring the lawsuit. The judgment of fraud is significant because the debt by Shoemaker would be nondischargeable in his Bankruptcy Petition. After entry of judgment, Griffin will return to the bankruptcy Court to obtain a judgment determining that the debt to Castro is nondischargeable. This means that Shoemaker would have to pay the money to Castro regardless of his Bankruptcy Petition. The Statement of Decision will become a final judgment 15 Court days after it was filed. The decision awarded the amount of $34,162.60  plus costs of suit per code to Castro.

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