Gansler
BALTIMORE (Legal Newsline) - Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler is attempting to bust up what he feels is a foreclosure rescue scam operating in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Gansler filed suit Thursday against a group of individuals and companies, claiming they took the equity in consumers' homes under the guise of providing them with assistance to stop foreclosures.
It is the third such lawsuit that Gansler has brought. It claims the defendants offered help to troubled homeowners, but ended up destroying the equity the customers had built in the homes.
Gansler says the group set up fictitious sales of houses in the area to investors who obtained large fees for participation in the deal. Consultants also received large fees, and as a result of the transactions equity was lost.
The complaint names Rodney Spellen, Jemel Lyles, Brian Boyd, Mid Atlantic Consulting Firm LLC, Absoloot Ventures, Inc., Phillip George, Certified Title & Escrow, Inc., First Choice Property Management Firm, Inc., First Choice Property Management Firm, Sahar Begun Ali, Reggie Simmons, Alan Muniu, Jason Ford and Thuy Thu Nguyan as defendants.
The suit was filed by Gansler's Consumer Protection Division. It asks the Baltimore City Circuit Court to restore property to the injured homeowners and impose fines for violations of the Protection of Homeowners in Foreclosure Act, the Maryland Credit Services Business Act and the Consumer Protection Act.
From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at john@legalnewsline.com.