A to Z Marketing, Inc., was accused of scamming consumers by offering fake mortgage relief. The federal lawsuit, filed by the FTC, began in December 2013. The FTC plans to mail out more than 800 refund checks that totals more than half a million d
A to Z Marketing Caused Already Struggling Homeowners to Get Further Into Trouble
The FTC’s amended complaint alleged that A to Z Marketing (DBA Client Service); Apex Members, LLC (DBA Apex Solutions and MacArthur Financial Group); Apex Solutions, Inc.; Expert Processing Center, Inc.; Smart Funding Corp.; and numerous other defendants (several of them lawyers) claimed they could provided struggling homeowners with legal help and stop foreclosure and lower their mortgage payments. The defendants charged up to $4,000 as a down payment (paragraph 70, amended complaint). The FTC further alleged that the homeowners certainly didn’t get what they bargained for.
Defendants Convinced Homeowners They Would Find Lending Violations
According to paragraph 63 of the amended complaint, after being exposed to an ad ran by the defendants, they would call a toll-free phone number. Homeowners were under the impression that they were speaking with a law office and would be transferred to a “legal assistant.” The “legal assistant” was a salesperson. Homeowners would told that a lawyer would represent them and negotiate more favorable mortgage terms, conduct a forensic audit, and look for lending violations committed by the lender.
