As more homeowners start to seek loan modifications to try to keep their investments in Boise real estate, complaints regarding fraud are on the rise. The attorney generals office is reporting that fraud reports regarding loan modifications are skyrocketing in 2009, right along with the default rate, which is up 89% from the prior year. Of the total number of complaints filed this year, this type comprised about 20% of them.
Idaho’s Attorney General has gone so far to say that the types of fraud being reported are outrageous. “Some of these operators took advantage of desperate homeowners by charging hundreds or even thousands of dollars in upfront fees, while taking no action to modify the mortgage.” In response, his office filed lawsuits against two modification and foreclosure consultants and made settlement agreements with three. This kind of criminal act leaves nearly all homeowners in the Boise real estate market without any avenue to keep their homes.
The Attorney Generals office even brought in a counselor to help Boise real estate owners avoid foreclosure through modifications or other foreclosure remedies. To help out, free foreclosure handbooks were printed up and handed out.
Recovering restitution in the amount of $7.4 million from various consumer complaints, which amounts to $12.14 for every tax dollar allocated to the program, the Attorney Generals office worked hard for consumers. The attorney general also recovered $5.9 million in civil penalties, fees and costs, also the largest amount ever recovered by the office in that category. The state received $31 million in 2009 from the tobacco master settlement agreement negotiated between the office and tobacco manufacturers in 1998. So far, this agreement has brought Idaho $254 million it wouldn’t otherwise have.
“All together, the 13 people in our consumer protection division brought in $44 million for Boise real estate owners and the state last year, while we spent only $833,000 on consumer operations,” Wasden said. The department was very effective in the broad range of topics it worked in last year. Regardless of the size of the business, the attorney general pursued claims against pharmaceutical giants and small businesses alike. Illegal monopolies and price fixing remained huge targets, as well as any issue in the anti-trust arena. They even managed to reach an agreement involving a price fixing vitamin company.
Regarding the No Call Law, more than 900,000 phone numbers were registered by year’s end and residents report that they’re getting fewer unwanted calls. To add to it all, the office will soon come out with an instructional DVD on how teens can avoid being trapped by online sexual predators.
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