INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced today that 26 Indiana victims of foreclosure-rescue fraud will receive payments from the state totaling more than $44,540.

Zoeller said the scam involves companies that claim to be able to save homes from foreclosure through a home-loan modification process. Consumers often make a sizeable upfront payment and later realize little to no work was done on their loan.

“Illegitimate foreclosure consultants prey on a homeowner’s desperation to avoid or stop foreclosure by making too good to be true promises,” Zoeller said. “The Attorney General’s office has brought 95 cases against these types of companies in the last two years, but judgments are often hard to collect. The state’s Consumer Protection Assistance Fund (CPAF) can help victims, who have filed complaints with our office, recover their losses.”

Consumers’ payments to companies ranged from $500 to $3,000 which totaled $44,547. Zoeller said each consumer involved in this round of payouts from CPAF will receive compensation that equals the total amount each lost.

Zoeller said 11 of the 25 victims contracted with the same Arizona-based company, INQB8, LLC, doing business as Discount Mortgage Relief, for foreclosure consultant services. The Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit against the company in 2012 and was subsequently granted a default judgment. The company owners, John Common and Bruce Spurlock who are also defendants in the lawsuit, have not paid the court-ordered consumer restitution, costs or penalties. The company and its owners are accused of violating the Home Loan Practices Act, the Indiana Credit Services Organizations Act, the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act and the Mortgage Rescue Protection Fraud Act.

Since default judgments against these types of companies do not often result in victim compensation the CPAF was created by the 2011 Indiana General Assembly. The law allows payments of up to $3,000 to be made to certain victims of foreclosure consultant or credit services scams. The fund is made up of monies recovered from those sued by the Attorney General’s Office for violating consumer protection laws.

Here is a list of the number of victims per the following Indiana counties: Allen (1), Bartholomew (1), Floyd (1), Gibson (1), Hamilton (4), Hendricks (2), Henry (1), Johnson (1), Lake (1), Marion (4), Marshall (1), Miami (1), Morgan (1), Orange (1), St. Joseph (1), Tippecanoe (1), Washington (1) and Whitley (2).  

For more information about these types of scams, how to prevent foreclosure and where to find legitimate help visit www.indianaconsumer.com and click on “Homeowner Protection.”

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