hoffman law group residential litigation group scam fake law firm sales people charge upfront fees foreclosure fraud litigation mass joinder north palm beach Florida
NORTH PALM BEACH —
Struggling homeowners from the Pacific Northwest to South Florida are complaining to state officials about a North Palm Beach law firm they say roped them into expensive litigation against their banks that is now floundering in federal court.
In letters to attorneys general in 40 states, including Florida, clients and two former employees of the Hoffman Law Group claim retainer fees as high as $6,000 and monthly maintenance fees of $495 are being billed to homeowners for inclusion in mass plaintiff lawsuits that charge mortgage and foreclosure-related wrongdoing.
Some borrowers also allege they were promised foreclosure defense by intake representatives at the firm, but either never received it or were referred to another firm for an additional cost.
One man, Billy Hannah of Euclid, Ohio, said he paid $2,000 thinking his foreclosure was being defended, but when he showed up at a court hearing in February, he had no representation.
“I just felt so stupid,” said Hannah, who filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. “The judge was looking at me like I don’t have a clue because I’m telling him my attorney is in West Palm Beach.”
The company, led by attorney Marc H. Hoffman, was served cease and desist orders by New Mexico and Idaho and is under investigation by the Florida Bar after posting a Craigslist help wanted ad for sales representatives and “strong closers.” The ad touted weekly $1,000 paychecks and “being spoiled” with “only warm leads and inbound calls.”
Phone and email messages to Hoffman and an attorney who represented him in a recent matter were not returned.
Homeowners said they were solicited through mailings, TV commercials or phone calls. They are signed up for electronic bank drafts for payments, and connected with an attorney reading from a script that extols the value of joining with several hundred other plaintiffs in a lawsuit.
“Let’s call them your new best friends,” the homeowner is told in the script, which was provided to The Palm Beach Post by former Hoffman Law Group attorney Michele Stephens.
Stephens said she resigned in February after growing concerned about boiler-room style salesmanship and that she was expected to consult with homeowners from dozens of states when she was licensed to practice law only in Kentucky.
Stephens sent letters to attorneys general in states where her former clients live. At least two dozen complaints have been made to states and the Better Business Bureau from individual borrowers in Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Miami, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Oregon, Georgia, West Virginia and Missouri.
Florida’s attorney general refers complaints about the Hoffman Law Group to the Florida Bar, saying it is the agency responsible for reviewing grievances against lawyers.
“They promised a reduction of the principal balance, 30 percent equity, and erasure of all negative/late payments on my credit report,” wrote Illinois resident Sarah Schoppman in a February 2013 letter to that state’s attorney general. “However, I have found no evidence of this group
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Ripped off by Hoffman Law Firm
Cape Coral,Florida,
Ripped Off by The Hoffman Law Firm
#3Consumer Comment
Wed, April 16, 2014
We are a hard working middle class couple who came into hardship and almost lost our home. We retained The Hoffman Law Firm in October 2012 with the expectation of a 30% reduction in our property principal, reduction in our loan amount and a large cash settlement "to make us whole again".
We have been made fools of....to date Hoffman Law firm has received over $10,000.00 from us. We have just been notified that the horrible modification that we negotiated with our disgusting lender Bank of America was at the work of Hoffman .... THEY DID NOT HANDLE THE MODIFICATION - WE DID. Bank of America added over $50,000.00 in fees, penalties and every other erroneous charge you can imagine and according to Hoffman Law, we "got a great deal", to which they attribute obtaining. Hoffman considers the modification as our settlement and is no longer litigating for us. We have been taken advantage of - don't let this be you!
I urge anyone who is solicited by Hoffman Law (or any other name they are using) to save your money.
V
Austin,Texas,
V
#3General Comment
Tue, April 08, 2014
All this to me, Just sounds like a rogue Attorney and you just gotta love the vigilante in all of us to bring justice to the blind, or in this the case, the ones who like to rob the blind, to bad that at this point, this company is probably already planning how their going to combat the slander that awaits their next client by doing a very simple brain dead google search and if I were running this company, I'd be planning my next move is. They will most certainly reap what they sow. Just my 2cents.
"I'd only told them the truth. Was that so selfish? Our integrity sells for so little, but it's all that we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free."