FTC files claim against bogus mortgage relief firm

The Federal Trade Commission has filed a complaint against a California-based company that falsely promised to get mortgage relief for homeowners who joined others in “mass-joinder” lawsuits against their lenders.

The company used three websites, HouseHoldRelief.org, FreeFedLoanMod.org, and MyHomeSupport.org. The complaint claims the defendants masqueraded as a specialty law firm, Precision Law Center, and sent out direct mail resembling a class action settlement notice, holding out the false promise to consumers that if they sued their lenders along with other homeowners in so-called “mass-joinder” lawsuits, they could obtain favorable mortgage concessions from their lenders or stop the foreclosure process.

In fact, the defendants allegedly operated a sham law firm and only engaged attorneys briefly to file the lawsuits, after which either the defendants neglected the suits, or the suits were dismissed. According to the FTC, they charged $6,000 to $10,000 in advance, but failed to get the results they promised.