VICTIMS TO GET ALL THEIR MONEY BACK

( Los Angeles, CA) On Thursday July 11, 2013 at NACA’s Los Angles office (11633 Hawthorne Blvd, Suite 100, Hawthorne, CA), NACA’s Founder and CEO Bruce Marks will distribute funds recovered in a lawsuit to victims of a mortgage modification scam that affected hundreds of homeowners nationwide.  NACA, the nation’s largest non-profit HUD certified home ownership organization, successfully sued First One Lending Corporation, a fraudulent loan modification company based in southern California, that charged homeowners up to and over $2,500 with false claims it could save peoples’ homes. 

This is an unprecedented victory where for the first time the homeowners victimized by a loan modification scam will recover one hundred cents on the dollars for all the money they paid.  NACA, which provides all of its foreclosure prevention services for free, used the Lanham Act, the federal unfair competition statute, to put First One out of business and make the homeowners whole. 

This victory sets the benchmark for government regulators and prosecutors to take action against those who have profited from the foreclosure crisis.  “NACA has shown that it is possible and necessary to both put these predators out of business and compensate the homeowners for every penny they have paid these predators,” Marks continued.  “No one should ever have to pay to try and save their home.  It’s a disgrace that companies like First One engage in such deceitful practices, preying on people desperate to save their homes.”

NACA discovered First One charged desperate homeowners for foreclosure prevention services they never received.  Often times, the company would refer its clients to NACA’s free Home Save Program after First One took its unconscionable fee. NACA sued the company and are now presenting each homeowner referred to NACA with a check for the amount of money First One took from them.

Several homeowners ripped off in the scam didn’t think they would ever recover their hard earned dollars.  Several Los Angeles area victims will tell their story during the ceremony. “I realize now that First One deceived me into believing it was affiliated with NACA so that I would pay First One $1,850 believing it would obtain a loan modification for me.  Although I eventually learned First One is not affiliated with NACA, I learned it too late. I believe that First One should be stopped from deceiving others like it deceived me,” said Mark Arvizu of Chatsworth, CA.

The announcement Thursday at 10:30 at 11633 Hawthorne Blvd, Suite 100, Hawthorne, CA (media parking in back), will demonstrate that a non-profit homeownership and advocacy organization can set a higher standard by closing down scam companies and making victims whole despite its more limited authority and resources than government entities with their far greater prosecutorial powers.  NACA hopes these actions will set a precedent and result in more aggressive actions by the federal regulators including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general.

Sobre NACA (NACA.com)

NACA, Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, is the largest HUD certified counseling agency. It provides about 30% of the counseling in the country. It has more than two million members.  NACA is the largest and most effective organization in modifying mortgages and provides the best mortgage in the country.  NACA has been highlighted in the national news and its CEO Bruce Marks was named Bostonian of the Year for 2007 because of his work in getting the major lenders and servicers to modify home loans for borrowers who come through NACA.  See Bostoniano del año.  También ha testificado en el Congreso en numerosas ocasiones, incluido el 12 de septiembre de 2000, siendo una de las únicas personas en hacer sonar la alarma de la crisis hipotecaria pendiente. Para obtener más información, visite www.naca.com