Jul
Olympia Funding Sued for Alleged Loan Modification Scam
A man who surrendered his real estate broker’s license in 2011 after an investigation by the California Department of Real Estate has now had his firm sued by an Oakland law firm for allegedly committing loan modification fraud.
William Hogarty’s defunct firm, OF Lending Group, aka Olympia Funding, is the target of 22 Californians who are represented by David Tubman of the Tubman Law Group. Even Hogarty’s current and former wives have joined the lawsuit, which claims that OF Lending promised its prospective clients a “short pay refinance” in exchange for upfront fees. This very creative refinance (meaning it is bogus) purportedly would refinance the borrower’s mortgage at current market rates.
Upfront or advance fees have been illegal since SB 94 was passed in 2009.
Hogarty has filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court but even the federal bankruptcy trustees have challenged his attempt to use bankruptcy to shield himself from his from clients.
The lawsuit accuses William Hogarty of (illegally) charging advance fees for loan modifications, failing to place the monies in a trust account, and (surprise) taking the clients’ funds for his own use, all “with the intent to hinder, delay or defraud creditors.”
The lawsuit is Cunniff, et. al. v. OF Lending Group, et. al., Case No. RG 12640691 and was filed in Alameda County Superior Court.
This post is an abstract of the press release from the Tubman Law Group and ABC7 News.
