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Suit: Companies scammed struggling homeowners
Updated: January 21, 2013 3:29PM
Two companies that offered audits for a fee to struggling homeowners looking to avoid foreclosure and reduce their mortgages were sued Tuesday by the Illinois Attorney General’s office.
Homeowners in Cook, DuPage and Will counties behind on mortgage payments or already facing foreclosure were scammed by Mortgage FACS Corp. and Enlightened LLC, the attorney general’s office said.
The companies offered “mortgage loan audits,” promising to review if the homeowner complied with state and federal lending regulations and locate any errors that would assist in a lower monthly mortgage payment or loan modification, the attorney general’s office said.
The homeowners paid the upfront fee, often in the hundreds of dollars, and never received any assistance, the attorney general’s office said.
“These schemes put a new twist on the mortgage rescue fraud scam but generate the same result by charging struggling homeowners huge sums of money for nothing in return,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a statement.~.
The suits ask the court to ban the companies from operating in Illinois, void any pending contracts with homeowners and provide restitution. The suits also ask the court to assess penalties based on violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
