Attorney General Gansler Announces Consumer Protection Division Files Complaint Against Operators of Alleged Foreclosure Rescue Scam

BALTIMORE, MD (July 10, 2008) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that the Consumer Protection Division has filed a complaint in Baltimore City Circuit Court against a group of individuals and companies alleging they took the equity in consumers’ homes under the guise of providing them with assistance to stop foreclosures.

The complaint names Rodney Spellen, Jemel Lyles, Brian Boyd, Mid Atlantic Consulting Firm LLC, Absoloot Ventures, Inc., Phillip George, Certified Title & Escrow, Inc., First Choice Property Management Firm, Inc., First Choice Property Management Firm, Sahar Begun Ali, Reggie Simmons, Alan Muniu, Jason Ford and Thuy Thu Nguyan as defendants. The complaint alleges the defendants offered to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and repair their credit history and financial situations while remaining in their homes. According to the Complaint, the defendants set up fictitious sales of homeowners’ houses throughout the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan area to investors who, along with the consultants, obtained large fees for participation in the deal. As a consequence of these transactions, the homeowners lost the equity they built up in these properties.

The Attorney General’s Office has asked the court to stop the defendants’ unlawful practices, restore property to the injured homeowners and impose fines for violations of the Protection of Homeowners in Foreclosure Act, the Maryland Credit Services Business Act and the Consumer Protection Act. This is the third lawsuit that Attorney General Gansler has brought against alleged foreclosure rescue scams.