January 15, 2016
HUD is bringing charges against three California foreclosure relief/loan modification companies according to a press release issued on the HUD official site.
According to HUDNo.16-002, the agency is bringing charges against, “…three Modesto, California, home loan modification companies and nine of their agents with violating the Fair Housing Act by targeting Hispanic homeowners” for their national origin.
As mentioned in the press release, laws passed as part of the Fair Housing Act prohibit discrimination in housing transactions (to include rental properties, public housing, and mortgage loans” because of national origin.
“Families struggling to stay in their homes need real help, not false promises that make a bad situation worse,” said Gustavo Velasquez, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, who was quoted in the press release. He adds, “HUD will continue to take appropriate action against individuals and companies that victimize unsuspecting homeowners because of where they come from or the language they speak.”
What are the facts in this case? According to the FHA/HUD official site, “HUDs charge of discrimination alleges that The Home Loan Auditors, LLC; Century Law Center, LLC; SOE Assistance Center, Inc., and their agents lured struggling Hispanic homeowners into paying thousands of dollars for home loan audits that the homeowners never received and modification services that had little, if any, value.”
The release goes on to allege that these companies “…exploited the homeowners limited-English proficiency and used deceptive marketing in Spanish, at times making false representations, in order to mislead them. Ultimately, the homeowners lost their properties due to foreclosure.”
More information on this case is available at the HUD official site at www.hud.gov.
We mention cases like these because often the first defense against such discriminatory practices comes from the victims–complaints registered with HUD are investigated and when warranted, charges may be brought against companies like the ones mentioned above. FHA home loans can be negatively affected by this type of discrimination and borrowers are encouraged to report violations of the Fair Housing Act where they encounter in the home loan process regardless of whether associated with FHA loans or not.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com. It is designed especially for real estate websites; a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those sites. It is simple to spend a few seconds customizing the state, counties, and widget size for the tool; you can copy the code and paste it into your website with ease. Get yours today:
http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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