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FTC v. First Universal Lending: $19M Mortgage Modification Settlement
By Mike Holter
The Federal Trade Commission has ordered First Universal Lending, LLC to pay consumers nearly $19 million in refunds for running a bogus mortgage loan modification business. The owners of First Universal Lending are also banned from doing business and banned from the mortgage relief services business under the FTC settlement.
According to the FTC, First Universal deceived distressed homeowners with phony claims that First Universal would negotiate with lenders to modify mortgages and make them more affordable. The FTC alleges that despite charging consumers up to $7,000 in up-front fees, First Universal did little or nothing to help them.
The First Universal Lending settlement is part of Project Stolen Hope, a crackdown on mortgage rescue and modification scams. The FTC sued First Universal Lending and its owners in November 2009, alleging the defendants encouraged homeowners to stop making mortgage payments, saying lenders would not negotiate unless they were at least a few months behind in their payments.
In addition to ordering First Lending to pay more than $18.8 million in consumer refunds, the First Lending settlement also bans the defendants from the mortgage relief services business and permanently prohibits them from misrepresenting material facts about any good or service, violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule, selling or using customers’ personal information, failing to properly dispose of customer information, and collecting payments from their customers.
The case is Federal Trade Commission v. First Universal Lending, LLC, et al., Civil Action No. 09-cv-82322 FTC File No. 092 3130, United States District Court, Southern District of California.
Updated July 15th, 2011
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6 thoughts onFTC v. First Universal Lending: $19M Mortgage Modification Settlement
This people were nothing but thieves…i received a claim check for 22.00 ….
well from the sounds of it, i am not the only one who lost everything, i lost my home i spent 8400 on this and received a check for 99 dollars … what justice i can no longer buy or rent in FL and so I live in a 3bdr with my ex and his family. how do I appeal what I was rewarded…
I was a victim of 4800 AND lost my home AND cannot get a mortgage. How do I make a claim for lost monies – I received a check for 146.00????
Legally robbed is right. I made a claim and was refunded $102.00. Nothing compared to what I lost.
You just got legally robbed by a group of professional thieves. FTC forced settlement was nothing more than a smoke screen. FTC said the money would never be paid back.
Hi
I was one of their victim. How do I make a claim