FTC Charges Foreclosure Prevention and Loan Modification Marketers with
Contempt
The Federal Trade Commission has filed a civil contempt action charging a
deceptive mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification operation with
violating a 2001 court order. Many homeowners paid the defendants up to $5,500
in advance and ultimately lost their homes to foreclosure. The FTC has asked the
court to halt the unlawful practices, freeze the defendants’ assets, and seek
compensation for victims.
According to papers the FTC filed with the court, the defendants told
consumers that they would stop foreclosures. They claimed they were “100%
successful and had never lost a customer’s home to foreclosure” and advised
consumers to pay them instead of making mortgage payments. They also claimed
that they would negotiate modified mortgages with lower interest rates, monthly
payments, and principal balances. The FTC charged that, in fact, they obtained
few, if any, loan modifications for customers.
The defendants also claimed that their selectivity in choosing customers
helped them succeed, but they took on nearly every consumer willing to pay,
according to the FTC. In addition, the defendants falsely claimed that they
would provide experienced real estate attorneys who would represent customers
nationwide, and would review consumers’ loan documents to look for fraud and
other lending violations.
According to the FTC, Bryan D’Antonio and three companies he controls, The
Rodis Law Group Inc., America’s Law Group Inc., and The Financial Group Inc.,
doing business as Tax Relief ASAP, violated a 2001 order that banned D’Antonio
from telemarketing and misrepresenting material facts about goods or services.
The FTC obtained the order against D’Antonio and his former company, Data
Medical Capital Inc., for operating a work-at-home medical billing opportunity
scheme. D’Antonio pleaded guilty to mail fraud for his involvement in the scam
and served almost three years in prison.
The FTC also has asked the court to permanently ban D’Antonio from selling
mortgage products or services, including foreclosure prevention and loan
modification services, and to renew the 2001 order’s provisions banning
D’Antonio from selling business ventures, employment opportunities or
work-at-home opportunities, and from telemarketing.
For more information about this matter and to learn how you can get free loan
assistance from counselors certified by the government, call toll-free at
1-888-308-0934.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent,
deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help
spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the
FTC’s online Complaint
Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints
into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,500
civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s
Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer
topics.
Media Contact:
Frank Dorman
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2674
Staff Contact:
Gregory Madden Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-2426
(FTC File No. X000001)
(Data Medical)
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