Fort Lee Company Cited In ‘Illegal’ Mortgage Crackdown

New Jersey’s Attorney General and the State Division of Consumer Affairs filed notices of violation against seven businesses, including one in Fort Lee, for “illegally offering mortgage modification services to homeowners” in desperate financial situations, thereby violating the state’s Consumer Fraud Act and Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act, state officials announced Tuesday. 

Save America’s Mortgage Corp. of Fort Lee was served with a violation, along with six other companies based in New Jersey and elsewhere, according to officials.

“State law requires that anyone providing these services in New Jersey be licensed as a Debt Adjuster by the Department of Banking and Insurance, or be otherwise authorized,” officials said in a statement. “The Division of Consumer Affairs filed Notices of Violation against the illegitimate businesses, which offered mortgage loan modification services even though they were not licensed to do so in New Jersey.” 

The state is seeking $35,000 in civil penalties and $49,434 in consumer restitution from the companies, officials said. The nearly $50,000 in restitution represents fees paid by roughly 10 consumers allegedly duped into paying for mortgage loan modification services the companies were not legally authorized to provide. 

The notices of violation also call for the companies cited to “cease and desist from offering debt adjustment services,” according to officials, but the companies do have the right to request a hearing and contest the notice of violation.

“We do not want homeowners who are already struggling to make mortgage payments victimized by unlicensed persons offering services that they cannot lawfully provide,” Attorney General Paula T. Dow said in a statement. “Unlicensed companies most often make a difficult situation worse for homeowners, and we will continue to go after these firms.”

State Division of Consumer Affairs director Thomas R. Calcagni said the violations were filed as part of the division’s “ongoing initiative to crack down on mortgage modification businesses operating outside the law.”

State officials identified the other companies served as follows:

• Dunwell Financial Services, LLC of Jersey City
• Home Mitigation Group of Matawan
• Loss Mitigation Consultant Services of Paulsboro
• Rose MM, LLC of Newark
• TWI Corp. of Winter Garden, Fla.
• Continental Associates, Ltd. of Commack, N.Y.

Save America’s Mortgage Corp. in Fort Lee could not be reached for comment Tuesday.