Florida Foreclosed Rescue Fraud Uncovered

When the mortgage crisis erupted, millions of Americans ended up with their homes foreclosed. Such unfortunate circumstances did not stop there. When the number of homes entered some stage of repossession, the number of foreclosure rescue companies also increased. Sadly, some of them simply wanted to take advantage of the desperation of these distressed homeowners.

In South Florida, Attorney General Bill McCollum held a press conference to announce the filing of a lawsuit that seeks to stop the operation of Safety Financial Services Inc., Housing Assistance Now, FHA AllDAY.com and Housing Assistance Law Center for allegedly charging troubled homeowners with upfront-fees.

The four companies, all of which are based in South Florida, are believed to have collected approximately $8 million from these homeowners. All companies are under the ownership of Jason Vitulano.

For McCollum, this is one of the most terrible frauds perpetrated in the state, if not the nation. The foreclosed rescue companies allegedly solicited via telemarketing and the Internet hundreds of clients located all over the country. They even used the voice of President Obama in their robo calls, which is already illegal to begin with.

Up front-fees amounting to as much as $5,000 were collected as payment for services related to foreclosure such as loan modification. Unfortunately, these services were never performed and hundreds of distraught homeowners called up the office of the Attorney General to complain. These homeowners resided not only in Palm Beach but also in Illinois, California, Massachusetts and New York.

The lawsuit was filed seeking to prohibit the foreclosed rescue companies from charging up-front fees, claim restitution for the victimized homeowners and civil penalties for violating the Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act and reimburse investigation cost.

The action of the Attorney General’s office is just one way of dealing with fraudulent activities like this. Of course, it would still be better if distressed homeowners will be more cautious when dealing with foreclosure rescue companies.

It is important for homeowners to understand that paying upfront-fees, signing documents to transfer ownership of the property and even entering suspicious rent-and-buy-back agreements are considered to be illegal. Although you would do anything to keep your home from being foreclosed, you should still be wary of such unscrupulous individuals or companies. You might end up losing more.