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Stacie B. Royster
Lawyers' Committee Director of Communications
(202) 445-6101
sroyster@lawyerscommittee.org
Katie Harter
Davis Polk Public Relations Office
(212) 450-3039
katie.harter@davispolk.com
Two justices of the New York State Supreme Court have issued sweeping orders to restrain the activities of alleged "loan modification" scammers, providing major victories for financially vulnerable homeowners.
Two justices of the New York State Supreme Court have issued sweeping orders to restrain the activities of alleged "loan modification" scammers, providing major victories for financially vulnerable homeowners.
On July 5, 2011, Justice Thomas A. Adams of the Nassau County Supreme Court extended a temporary restraining order that restrains the activities and freezes the assets of a group of companies operating under the names "Express Home Solutions" and "Home Preserve Law Group."The ruling complements a similar order issued on June 28, 2011 by Justice John M. Galasso, also of the Nassau County Supreme Court, which enjoins a group of individuals operating a separate business under the name "Homesafe America."
The cases were brought by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law ("Lawyers' Committee") and its pro bono counsel Davis Polk & WardwellLLP ("Davis Polk") on behalf of more than 30 homeowners who allegedly lost money to the two companies.Plaintiffs are seeking a combined $3 million in punitive damages against the alleged scam operations, as well as court orders permanently preventing their owners and employees from engaging in mortgage-related activities.
Among other claims, Plaintiffs are alleging that the scam companies violated a New York statute known as the "Deceptive Practices Act," which empowers injured consumers to operate as "private attorneys general": under the Act, an individual victim may seek an injunction against an alleged scammer on behalf of all consumers.Using this forceful yet rarely used remedy, non-profit organizations like the Lawyers Committee, in partnership with the private bar, can step in and shut down scam operations when state and local enforcement agencies lack the resources to do so.
"The Lawyers' Committee has now filed three cases in New York to fight these widespread fraudulent schemes, with a total of four cases pending nationwide" said Lawyers' Committee Chief Counsel and Senior Deputy Director Jon Greenbaum. "We are committed to fighting this scourge through lawsuits like these and through coordination with and assistance to federal, state and local law enforcement."
A "loan modification scam" relies on a simple scheme:a false promise to modify a homeowner's mortgage in exchange for an up-front payment.These operations specifically target lower- and middle-income families desperate for ways to lower their monthly mortgage payments.The perpetrators lure in victims by promising to re-negotiate their home loans, and then take homeowners' money without doing anything to help.
In some cases, the scammers convince their victims to stop making their monthly mortgage payments and cease communicating with their lenders during this "negotiation" period.By the time the homeowners realize they have been scammed, not only have they lost thousands of dollars in up-front payments, but they may have also entered default or foreclosure proceedings.
Express Home Solutions / Home Preserve Law Group
This is the second time the Lawyers' Committee and Davis Polk have filed a law suit against Express Home Solution ("EHS") and its related companies.On March 9, 2011, the Lawyers' Committee and Davis Polk filed a complaint against EHS, alleging that its representatives had scammed residents throughout the New York metropolitan area.The subsequent media coverage - including stories in The Wall Street Journal and New York Daily News - resulted in dozens of additional victims coming forward, many of whom have participated in this second lawsuit against EHS.
EHS allegedly scams its victims via cold calls, print advertisements, and in-person meetings.In some cases, it is alleged that EHS targets specific ethnic communities in an effort to maximize its profits.The company has changed its name several times, using such monikers as "Save My Home," "Express Modifications," and "Empire Home Savers."It is alleged that the company is now operating as "Home Preserve Law Group" in West Hempstead, New York.
Homesafe America, Inc.
The other law suit targets Homesafe America ("Homesafe") and its successor corporation, United Legal Solutions.Based in Levittown, New York, the companies are alleged to operate a constellation of websites, most of which are alleged to falsely imply that they are affiliated with government agencies or large financial institutions.Homesafe is further alleged to have paid Google tens of thousands of dollars each month to ensure that links to its websites appeared first when users searched for "loan modification" and other mortgage-related terms.
Court records indicate that Homesafe grossed more than $2 million in 2010 alone and, as of February 2011, had allegedly taken money from approximately 1,000 families across the country.In sworn affidavits, the company's owners have admitted to running an illegal scam, with one going so far as to state that "the entire operation is illegal."Remarkably, the company's misleading websites remain online to this date, thereby flaunting Justice Galasso's court order.(For more, see "Anatomy of a $2,000,000 Scam," attached to this release.)
About the Project
These lawsuits are part of a broad anti-scam coalition, called the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network ("LMSPN").LMSPN also includes representatives from key governmental agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the offices of numerous state Attorneys General.Since the launch of the LMSPN database in February 2010, more than 15,000 homeowners have reported scams or potential scams, totaling over $35 million lost.Over 800 of those complaints come from New York State residents, with reported losses of over $3 million.
Homeowners who believe they have been the victim of a scam are encouraged to call either 311 in New York City or 888-995-HOPE (4673) or visit www.preventloanscams.org and click the link "Report a Scam!"Those who have a complaint against the entities named in the Homesafe and EHS cases should email scam.intake@davispolk.com.
The Lawyers' Committee and Davis Polk are representing victims free of charge.
The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar's leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity - work that continues to be vital today.
(202) 662-8600"Today and every day let's honor King as we end racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the denial of healthcare, militarism, and this false narrative of Christian nationalism," said Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis.
To mark Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, leaders of a modern iteration of the slain civil rights champion's final campaign called on U.S. politicians from both sides of the aisle—many of whose policies and actions are like those King condemned as the "evil triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism"—to step up and meet the needs of the country's poor and low-income people.
Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival released a video demanding the Biden administration and every member of Congress "meet with poor and low-wealth people, religious leaders, economists, lawyers, and public health specialists to address the systemic policy violence that threatens the soul of our nation."
"When prophets are killed or assassinated, our job is to pick up the baton and continue the work," campaign co-chair Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II said in the video. "Sadly, many will go to King events today and claim to honor the prophet. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle will go while even today, they are standing diametrically opposed to the things he fought for: addressing systemic poverty, addressing racism, ensuring voter protection, just immigration policy, just treatment of Indigenous people, healthcare for all, and dealing with the war economy and militarism."
As they do each year, officials—including Republican lawmakers who voted against an MLK Day holiday, the U.S. government King called "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today," and its agencies like the FBI that tried to destroy King—all took to Twitter to sing his praises.
Poor People's Campaign Petition Congress to Truly Honor MLK Legacy | Press Conferencewww.youtube.com
Rev. Liz Theoharis, also a co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, said in the video that "this Martin Luther King Day, we must continue a campaign for social, political, and economic rights, not simply commemorate a man. Today and every day let's honor King as we end racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the denial of healthcare, militarism, and this false narrative of Christian nationalism. Let us fight poverty, not people."
The video also includes messages from low-income Americans and advocates calling for healthcare, living wages, "and more so everyone can thrive."
"I live in North Carolina. I work 60 hours a week and more and I still don't make enough money to live comfortably," Matthew Byars said in the video. "I'm chasing the American Dream, but I'm living the American nightmare. Raise the minimum wage. Impacted people matter too."
King, along with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, launched the original Poor People's Campaign in December 1967, months before he was assassinated in Memphis while supporting a strike by Black sanitation workers. King said the movement's demands were $30 billion for anti-poverty programs, full employment for all, a guaranteed universal income, and the annual construction of 500,000 affordable homes.
SCLC president Ralph Abernathy led the campaign after King's murder, and in May 1968—just weeks after King's murder—his widow, Coretta Scott King, led demonstrators in a two-week protest in Washington, D.C., where participants demanded an Economic Bill of Rights.
Camp life in Resurrection City 1968www.youtube.com
Thousands of poor people camped on the National Mall in a community called Resurrection City, which stood for six weeks—including on the day when Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) was assassinated on June 5—until police violently destroyed it and evicted the protesters.
"At a time when online mobilizations were one of the few forms of protest available to the public, Twitter was seemingly asked to shield the powerful from criticism," said one campaigner. "That should worry all those who care about accountability."
Drugmaker BioNTech and the German government pushed Twitter to "hide" posts by activists calling on Big Pharma to temporarily lift patents on Covid-19 vaccines—a move which would have given people the Global South greater access to the lifesaving inoculations, a report published Monday by The Intercept revealed.
Twitter lobbyist Nina Morschhaeuser "flagged the corporate accounts of Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca for her colleagues to monitor and shield from activists," according to The Intercept's Lee Fang. An email from Morschhaeuser said the German Federal Office for Information Security also contacted Twitter on behalf of BioNTech, whose spokesperson, Jasmina Alatovic, asked the social media giant to "hide" activist tweets targeting her company's account for two days.
Morschhaeuser, meanwhile, requested that colleagues track the hashtags #PeoplesVaccine—a movement for the temporary lifting of patent protections—and #JoinCTAP, a reference to the World Health Organization's Covid-19 Technology Access Pool. Morschhaeuser further warned that the advocacy group Global Justice Now shared an online signup form for a December 2020 People's Vaccine Day of Action.
"The allegations in this article suggest that government and industry tried to silence legitimate criticism during a crisis," Maaza Seyoum, Global South convener at the People's Vaccine Alliance, said in a statement Monday. "At a time when online mobilizations were one of the few forms of protest available to the public, Twitter was seemingly asked to shield the powerful from criticism. That should worry all those who care about accountability."
\u201c\ud83d\udce2 REACTION: German government and @BioNTech_Group asked Twitter to censor vaccine equity critics.\n\nNew #TwitterFiles piece by @lhfang shows how they worked to silence activists demanding a #PeoplesVaccine\n\nRead our reaction: https://t.co/VyaSBIbWnS\n\n1/\u201d— The People's Vaccine (@The People's Vaccine) 1673889107
Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden also noted the troubling timing of BioNTech's censorship request during a period of global pandemic lockdowns.
"To try and stifle digital dissent during a pandemic, when tweets and emails are some of the only forms of protest available to those locked in their homes, is deeply sinister," he told The Intercept.
Fang writes:
It is not clear to what extent Twitter took any action on BioNTech's request. In response to Morschhaeuser's inquiry, several Twitter officials chimed in, debating what action could or could not be taken. Su Fern Teo, a member of the company's safety team, noted that a quick scan of the activist campaign showed nothing that violated the company's terms of service, and asked for more examples to "get a better sense of the content that may violate our policies."
But it shows the extent to which pharmaceutical giants engaged in a global lobbying blitz to ensure corporate dominance over the medical products that became central to combating the pandemic. Ultimately, the campaign to share Covid vaccine recipes around the world failed.
While U.S. President Joe Biden in 2021 heeded activists' calls and joined most of the Global South in backing a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver at the World Trade Organization, most rich nations—including Germany—oppose the policy and have, along with Big Pharma, fought to thwart it.
"If the German government wants to show that it is now willing to side with public health over private profit, it must change its approach to pandemic response," Seyoum asserted. "That means backing efforts at the World Trade Organization to improve access to generic Covid-19 medicines and treatments, supporting the World Health Organization's mRNA Hub in South Africa, and standing up to corporate interests in negotiations over a Pandemic Treaty."
Critics rebuke U.S. climate envoy for calling Sultan al-Jaber a "terrific choice."
Progressives on Monday reacted with outrage and disbelief after U.S. climate envoy John Kerry backed the appointment of Sultan al-Jaber to lead the the United Nations' annual conference on the climate emergency, saying the CEO of the United Arab Emirates' state-run oil company was not only qualified to preside over the summit, but that his background strengthened the case for his presidency.
As Common Dreamsreported last week, the UAE named al-Jaber as president of the 28th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), scheduled to begin in November—a decision that was met with scorn from campaigners as al-Jaber is heads the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and a renewable energy firm in which ADNOC holds a 24% stake.
"I think that Dr. Sultan al-Jaber is a terrific choice because he is the head of the company. That company knows it needs to transition," Kerry told the Associated Press Sunday, despite the fact that scientists and advocates across the globe have also known for decades that policymakers must lead a rapid transition away from oil and gas-generated energy. "He knows—and the leadership of the UAE is committed to transitioning."
Advocates have warned that the UAE has not made clear how it plans to reach its stated goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, especially as it plans to increase production of crude oil by a million barrels per day.
The UAE is expected to become "the third largest expander of oil and gas production" between 2023 and 2025 as ADNOC embarks on the second-largest expansion of oil production of any company in the world, locking in more than 2.7 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions.
But when asked by Sky News Arabia about whether al-Jaber would have a conflict of interest at the conference, where leaders are expected to be pushed to take significant emissions-reduction steps, Kerry dismissed the concern.
"That's a first blush, very simplistic way to look at this," Kerry said, adding that "the only way we will meet this crisis and protect our citizens and build an economy for the future, is by reducing emissions."
Putting the ADNOC executive—who is also the UAE's climate enjoy and minister of industry and technology—in charge of COP28 drew comparisons from Progressive International leader Yanis Varoufaki to naming "a jihadist to oversee religious tolerance" or "a Nazi to oversee racial harmony."
"What could go wrong?" labor historian Erik Loomis asked sardonically.
\u201cJeffrey Dahmer placed to oversee anti-cannibalism commission. \n\nhttps://t.co/D7Yyz2MMAw\u201d— Erik Loomis (@Erik Loomis) 1673888060
COP28 will follow the two most recent international climate conferences, held in Glasgow, Scotland and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists were in attendance and policymakers failed to hammer out a final agreement requiring countries to phase out oil, coal, and gas extraction.
Kerry toldSky News Arabia that the UAE was not "involved in changing" the outcome of the COP26 and COP27 talks.
The former secretary of state acknowledged that there would be "a level of scrutiny" aimed at al-Jaber's appointment.
"And I think that's going to be very constructive," he told the AP. "It's going to help people, you know, stay on the line here. I think this is a time, a new time of accountability."
Acknowledging Kerry's negotiating of the Paris climate agreement in 2015—which despite its many flaws and shortcomings represents the strongest global pact ever reached on the issue—Leo Roberts of the climate think tank E3G said on social media that the U.S. politician's endorsement of el-Jaber represents "a really rather spectacular fall from grace."