HARRISBURG, Pa. (Legal Newsline) - Two Philadelphia-based mortgage loan modification companies will pay a combined $30,000 in restitution for allegedly misleading consumers on their websites, said Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane on July 13.
Liberty Financial Consultants and Doc Prep Solutions agreed to an assurance of voluntary compliance with Kane's office July 13 after an investigation by the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Liberty Financial offered a “forensic loan audit” that would look for mistakes and “unscrupulous lending practices” in order to help the borrower in negotiating relief for their mortgage. However, several complaints filed by customers with the consumer protection bureau said they paid the company up-front fees and received little assistance.
Other complaints reported the companies failed to stop foreclosures on property even though it promised otherwise, and others said the companies didn't give refunds as promised.
The $30,000 will go to restitution for the customers, and both companies will also pay a $3,000 civil penalty and $2,000 in other costs, Kane said. Consumers who went to the companies from 2008 to the present could be eligible for a refund. Those who believe they are eligible have until Aug. 28 to file a complaint with the bureau, Kane said.