Last week, the New York State Attorney General’s office announced a new judgment against two law firms involved in foreclosure rescue scams. The judgment ordered Litvin Law Firm; Litvin, Torrens & Associates, PLLC; and the firms’ principal attorney Gennady Litvin to immediately halt their illegal business practices and provide a full accounting so that the Attorney General’s Office can determine appropriate restitution for their victims, who typically paid hundreds of dollars in monthly fees for services that were never provided.
Fighting scams is a top priority for all of us at the Center, and we applaud the Attorney General’s office for striking back against foreclosure rescue scammers who target homeowners in foreclosure. Last year, we partnered with the Attorney General’s Office to create AGScamHelp, an easy to use web-based app that helps New Yorkers identify foreclosure rescue scams and report them to law enforcement. We also wrote a report, Who Can You Trust?, that describes the tactics scammers use to take advantage of New Yorkers and spells out our recommendations for preventing scams.
Today, we continue to work to get the word out about scams. In particular, we are partnering with the Attorney General to send scam prevention postcards to homeowners at risk of foreclosure across New York State every month, and we are ramping up our outreach campaign to reach homeowners in communities with high levels of scam activity. Stay tuned!
If you are a homeowner and you’re not sure if you can trust the person or company you are working with, remember these four signs of a scam:
- Someone “guarantees” a positive result.
- Someone asks you to pay an upfront fee.
- Someone tells you to stop paying your mortgage and tells you to pay them instead.
- Someone pressures you to sign paperwork without fully explaining what you are signing.
How you can help
Spread the word about AGScamHelp! Email your friends and share on Twitter or Facebook.
If you are participating in an outreach event and would like postcards or flyers to pass out, please email outreach@staging.cnycn.org and we will send you a packet.
If you are planning an upcoming event and would like someone from the Center to speak about scams, please email us at outreach@staging.cnycn.org.
