Complaint Review: Fairbanks Capital

My father, who is retired and on a fixed income, was persuaded by a predatory mortgage loan originator, Associates First Capital Corporation (presently the defendant in a class-action suit filed in San Francisco County California), who subsequently sold the mortgage which eventually wound up with Fairbanks Capital Corp.

His monthly payments initially were within his debt-to-income range but after a few months, under the pretext of "paying his overdue taxes" and putting "forced placed insurance" on his property, they raised his monthly payment to almost double what he was paying before. This caused him to be late a couple of times.

He was 1 month behind when I first started communicating with Fairbanks (whose employees call you back when THEY get ready). He told me he had been sending his payment in regularly...they said, at first, that he hadn't sent it, later they acknowledged the payment but said they won't apply it...that they will send the check back to him. By the time the end of summer 2002 rolls around, they have scheduled a forclosure for October. I convinced my father to file bankruptcy, which he did, but the judge later threw it out and the property went back into foreclosure.

I ordered several payoff letters over the course of the last year and it shows that the payoff amount is 135% of the value of the house, which informs me that there is an "upside-down mortgage on the property...pointing to FRAUD on the part of the originating predatory lender in cahoots with a crooked appraiser.

South Florida is one of those areas of the country that is rife with predatory lending, mortgage fraud, etc.

If any one of you reading this knows of a solution to my father's dilemma, please contact me at and give me some answers fast. Any class-action lawsuits brewing out there, please let me know so I can include my father as a plaintiff.

Thank you.

James
Miami, Florida
U.S.A.