Martha Coakley (D)
BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Attorney General Martha Coakley has obtained temporary restraining orders against a Wyoming and Florida company, and a Florida man for soliciting unlawful fees from homeowners facing foreclosure.
The defendants, H.O.P.E. Alliance, Inc., (H.O.P.E. Alliance) Law & Associates, LLC and Thomas E. Law, II, allegedly solicited unlawful advance fees for foreclosure-related services, and unnecessarily delayed negotiations regarding loan modifications.
The complaint also alleges that H.O.P.E. Alliance, with the help of the co-defendants sent letters that directed them to a toll-free number and to the Web site www.helpnowalliance.org, which fraudulently claimed that the company was a non-profit and H.O.P.E. Alliance deceptively used a similar name to the government-sponsored non-profit organization, HOPE NOW Alliance.
Judge Christopher Muse signed the restraining order, which will temporarily prohibit the defendants from contacting any Massachusetts resident to solicit or offer foreclosure-related services, publishing advertisements that offer foreclosure related services and destroying any assets.
Additionally, the defendants must provide a list of all Massachusetts homeowners they have contacted and a list of homeowners who have paid fees for services to the attorney general's office within 10 days.
The Democratic attorney general's office has launched a campaign to educate the public about these scams and has produced two public service announcements for television about loan modifications and foreclosure assistance scams.