Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen has joined his counterpart in Florida in a suit against the purveyors of an alleged mortgage rescue scam.
The alleged scam, which involves a Greenwich law firm and its principal, targeted consumers in multiple states, including Connecticut, the AG’s office said.
The states allege that Greenwich’s Resolution Law Group and its principal Robert Geoffrey Broderick — along with a Florida attorney and his firm, and several non-attorneys and their Florida companies — promised struggling mortgage borrowers relief through the payment of upfront fees to join a class action suit against their lenders.
Borrowers typically paid $6,000 up front, and others were induced to make additional payments of $500 per month, the complaint alleges. The lawyers and others pocketed at least $4.7 million, officials said. In the end, those who paid the fees received no legal assistance, officials allege.
The two states brought the joint suit under their respective unfair trade practices acts, as well as the AGs’ authority under a federal rule that prohibits collection of up-front fees before granting a loan modification.
The two states recently won a temporary restraining order against the lawyers, business entities and other individuals they say were involved in the effort, and are seeking a permanent order, restitution for victims and other penalties.
