Loan Modification Scam
Complaint
Bobby Braddy
Country: United States
In May we contacted Consumer First Legal Group or Network (They called themselves both Group and Network) in May of 2012 for help with our mortgage. We had a telephone interview, gave all of our information, and were told that Consumer First Legal could definitely help modify our mortgage and drop our payment significantly. We were told that we had to put down $1330.00 and were told that it would be $600.00 per month for no more than three months to process all of the paperwork to get the loan modification. We were sent a list of papers to send, which we did send. This process repeated itself several times with weeks going by without returned calls, answered emails only to finally be told that things were being held up because they were still waiting on paperwork, which had been faxed over as soon as it was requested and sometimes multiple times!!!! We were told that we were not to have any contact with our Mortgage Company. We were told from the beginning to send any correspondence from our Mortgage Company right away, which we did. We started getting letters from foreclosure lawyers representing our Mortgage Company. We sent those letters and tried to get in contact with someone at Consumer First Legal to express our concerns with no success. For several weeks we tried to get in touch with Luisa Martinez and Ana Gomes, whom we were told we needed to talk to. Through this whole process we have been treated unprofessionally, have been given the run around, have seen no progress and were lied too. We were told a few weeks ago by Consumer First Legal that they were in negotiations with our Mortgage Company, Wells Fargo, and that “the package” was being submitted.
The final red flag was raised when we were contacted by Ana Gomes stating that she still needed some papers. We therefore called Wells Fargo and found out that Consumer First Legal Network or Legal Group (which sometimes they called themselves one and sometimes the other; very confusing!), has never contacted them. We were told that our home was in foreclosure and they were getting ready to set a sale date! We told Wells Fargo about the paperwork that Consumer First Legal Network had sent us to fill out. The representative at Wells Fargo told us that the paperwork was bogus. We were sent by Consumer First Legal Network paperwork to fill out for Making Homes Affordable which Wells Fargo told us that those were easily printed off of the internet, and that program a consumer would first have to qualify for. We are now trying to get something worked out with our mortgage company on our own now that we have been wasting time and money with the fraud that Consumer First Legal has committed. We are not the only ones that have fallen victim. We have found many other cases on the internet with the exact same circumstances. Because of what they have done we our out of $3130 in money drafted out of our account paid to Consumer First Legal, and we are $10,000 behind in our mortgage. We want our money back from Harold E. Stafford, Consumer First Legal Network, 8253 May Drive, Suite 309, Madison, Wisconsin 53719. Telephone number 561-494-0208. They took advantage of our hardship and we do not want anyone else falling victim to this scam.
The final red flag was raised when we were contacted by Ana Gomes stating that she still needed some papers. We therefore called Wells Fargo and found out that Consumer First Legal Network or Legal Group (which sometimes they called themselves one and sometimes the other; very confusing!), has never contacted them. We were told that our home was in foreclosure and they were getting ready to set a sale date! We told Wells Fargo about the paperwork that Consumer First Legal Network had sent us to fill out. The representative at Wells Fargo told us that the paperwork was bogus. We were sent by Consumer First Legal Network paperwork to fill out for Making Homes Affordable which Wells Fargo told us that those were easily printed off of the internet, and that program a consumer would first have to qualify for. We are now trying to get something worked out with our mortgage company on our own now that we have been wasting time and money with the fraud that Consumer First Legal has committed. We are not the only ones that have fallen victim. We have found many other cases on the internet with the exact same circumstances. Because of what they have done we our out of $3130 in money drafted out of our account paid to Consumer First Legal, and we are $10,000 behind in our mortgage. We want our money back from Harold E. Stafford, Consumer First Legal Network, 8253 May Drive, Suite 309, Madison, Wisconsin 53719. Telephone number 561-494-0208. They took advantage of our hardship and we do not want anyone else falling victim to this scam.
Comments
Contact your state Attorney General, and the Wisconsin Attorney General.
CFLN must be reported to your County Prosecutor and your State Attorney General. Do not be embarrassed or afraid to do something about this ongoing Criminal Enterprise. You are not alone. Consumer First Legal Network (CFLN) is engaged in an ongoing pattern and practice of criminal activity so as to subject CFLN to Federal and State Rico Law(s) and Federal Trade Commission prosecution. Due to the interstate wire activity throughout the entire process of their nationwide scam, they are almost certainly within the purvue of each State's Multi-jurisdictional Prosecutor, as well as the Federal authorities.
Bye the way, they have ripped me off along with their clients. Believe it . . .
Good Luck ,
Bill Hunter
williamhunter_1@yahoo.com
I am sending you our credentials on our firm and also a link to our website.
Whether it is our Law Firm or another, make sure that you do your research and choose an attorney that you will trust with an investment as large as your home. Our lead attorney Robert Bacon, has an impeccable reputation in the industry.
Throughout the past 10 years of foreclosure defense we've never had one complaint, and to date there have been no pending actions against us. We have an "A" rating with the Better Business Bureau and with the South Carolina Bar Association, we have never had any disciplinary or administrative action against us.
To review our credentials, I am including a link to our web page. At the bottom of our web page are links to the Better Business Bureau rating on our firm, and our status with the South Carolina Bar Association.(the bar association link is case sensitve so you mst put in Robert Bacon as shown) Also, there is a link to a free, informative, and resourceful website that we sponsor with powerful news articles, videos, and the ability to communicate with others in similar situations as yourself, on topics such as bankruptcy, foreclosure, and the truth and myths about mortgage modification. That link is: http://firstlegalnet.com
Best Regards,
Matthew Chianti
Intake Department
First Legal Network Center
Direct 843-491-1439
Fax 843-491-1439
matthewc@firstlegalnet.com
http://firstlegalnet.com
Hello Deborah,
It was a pleasure speaking with you today. Based on our review of the information you have provided, we are confident on moving forward with your case. I gave you a lot of information which is virtually impossible to absorb in one call so please be sure to contact me with any questions or concerns.
The next step is to prepare your case and make your retainer payment to the trust account. The retainer fee is $2900.00, with $1450.00 down, and $1450.00 within 30 days.
For your convenience, we will run your payment through "Law Pay" using either your debit card, Visa, MasterCard, or Discover card and you will receive a receipt in your email that will confirm that your payment has been secured in the trust account. Your second payment we will automatically run on the day you filled out on the Credit Card Authorization form.
Throughout the past 10 years of foreclosure defense we've never had one complaint, and to date there have been no pending actions against us. We have an "A" rating with the Better Business Bureau and with the South Carolina Bar Association, we have never had any disciplinary or administrative action against us.
To review our attorney's credentials, I am including a link to our web page. On the home page, click on the "Our Attorneys" tab and you will find a listing of our attorneys, and links to their corresponding Better Business Bureau, and Bar Association statuses, both of which reflect that we have never had a single complaint or concern from any of our clients. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
The link to our website is: http://firstlegalnet.com
Best Regards,
Matthew Chianti
Intake Department
First Legal Network Center
Direct 843-491-1439
Fax 843-491-1439
matthewc@firstlegalnet.com
http://firstlegalnet.com
Hello Deborah,
I am sending you this email to confirm that once retained, we contact the lender immediately. If they do not agree to work with us for any reason, your deposit will be immediately refunded.
We use "Law-Pay", a third party client trust account that is governed by the Bar Association, for our retainer. As per the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule, "An attorney cannot withdraw money from a client trust account before the attorney earns fees or incurs expenses."
I personally have seen very few modifications that we accept that do not go through. The lenders tend to tell you anything to keep you from hiring someone like us. Because we do approximately 250 modifications per month, we know who will and who will not work with us because those who in the past have not agreed to work with us, have found they we will elevate the situation by doing forensic audits and such, which believe me when I tell you, they want to avoid at all costs.
To review our attorney's credentials, I am including a link to our web page. On the home page, click on the "Our Attorneys" tab and you will find a listing of our attorneys, and links to their corresponding Better Business Bureau, and Bar Association statuses, both of which reflect that we have never had a single complaint or concern from any of our clients. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
The link to our website is: http://firstlegalnet.com
Best Regards,
Matthew Chianti
Intake Department
First Legal Network Center
Direct 843-491-1439
Fax 843-491-1439
matthewc@firstlegalnet.com
http://firstlegalnet.com
As you can see they are a rip off outfit I will be sending this information to local DA's office.
vdubs11@google.com
So i just read this... We are going through a scam!!! Please let me know, if you found out anything...