Foreclosure-rescue law firm and others ordered to pay $27M, but their assets total only about $655K
A federal judge has ordered a Florida foreclosure-rescue law firm, its former managing partner and affiliated companies to pay a $27.7 million judgment for charging homeowners illegal upfront fees and failing to perform promised work for clients.
However, the federal and state regulators who brought the suit are unlikely to collect most of that amount on victims’ behalf, since the defendants’ total assets are only a little over $655,000, according to the National Law Journal (sub. req.).
Marc Hoffman served as managing partner of the now-defunct Hoffman Law Group but is no longer admitted to practice.
The Palm Beach Post provides a link to the default judgment (PDF) entered Thursday in the Fort Lauderdale case.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Florida attorney general’s office filed suit (PDF) last year and got a temporary restraining order freezing the defendants’ assets.
Hoffman, a 1974 law graduate of the University of Miami, filed a petition in March with the Florida Bar consenting to have his law license revoked but asking that he be allowed to reapply for admission in five years. His petition was granted, effective May 26, the NLJ article reports.
He declined to comment when contacted by the legal publication and his lawyer, Hector Lora, asserted Hoffman’s Fifth Amendment privilege in declining to respond to the lawsuit’s allegations on Hoffman’s behalf.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com “Feds and 15 states sue law firms and attorneys, alleging mortgage-relief scams”
