HONOLULU – The State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affair’s (“DCCA”) Office of Consumer Protection (“OCP”) on Friday obtained a judgment against Sean Remos (“Remos”) and Loan Network Honolulu LLC aka Loan Network Honolulu LLC (“Loan Network”). The judgment prohibits Remos and Loan Network from violating Hawaii’s consumer protection laws, requires them to pay back consumers and, imposes civil penalties of $10,000.
OCP’s lawsuit alleged that Sean Keala Remos acted as distressed property consultant and promised to help distressed homeowners obtain loan modifications. He collected up-front fees from the homeowners and failed to get loan modifications or provide refunds.
“Homeowners should think twice when approached by anyone such as the defendant, offering to save their home from foreclosure and asking you for payment upfront. It’s generally illegal under state and federal law to charge an upfront fee to save your house from foreclosure,” said Bruce Kim, OCP’s Executive Director. “You can obtain the same help at no charge by contacting a certified housing counselor. Housing counselors work for non-profit agencies and are trained to help homeowners who find themselves in this situation.”
If you are behind on your mortgage or facing foreclosure, you may be targeted by a mortgage rescue scam proffered by individuals such as Mr. Remos. These mortgage rescue “professionals” use half-truths and deceptive tactics to sell services that promise relief to homeowners in distress.
If you are looking for foreclosure prevention help, avoid any business that:
· Promises they can stop the foreclosure process, no matter your circumstances
· Instructs you not to contact your lender, lawyer or HUD approved credit or housing counselor
· Collects a fee before providing any services
· Recommends that you stop making your mortgage payments
· Recommends that you make your mortgage payments directly to it, rather than your lender
· Pressures you to sign papers you haven’t had a chance to read or that you don’t understand
Violations of Hawaii’s Mortgage Rescue Fraud Prevention Act and the laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive trade practices subject offending parties to fines ranging from $500 to $10,000 per violation.
Act 183, signed into law by Governor Neil Abercrombie on June 28, 2012, makes violations of the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Prevention Act a class C felony with a mandatory $10,000 fine.
Anyone who believes they have been victimized by a mortgage rescue scam, whether by the Defendant or any other business, and have not filed a complaint with the OCP may call 587-3222.
Certified housing counseling agencies in Hawaii provide advice on defaults, foreclosures and credit issues for free. You can locate a certified Hawaii housing counselor by contacting the Hawaii Foreclosure Information Center at https://HFIC.Hawaii.gov or call 587-3222, toll free at 1-800-394-1902. The Hawaii Foreclosure Information Center is a free public information service operated by DCCA.
Lisa Tong, senior staff attorney at the Office of Consumer Protection, represented the State on the Sean Remos, Loan Network Honolulu LLC case.
Submitted by DCCA-
Editor’s note: Former disc kockey and distressed property consultant , Sean Remos, currently operates All Surface Cleaning and Maintenance, an unlicensed, Kailua-based solar thermal systems and PV repair company.
Spot on about Mortgage Rescue Fraud case! I think state is doing a very good work to take steps against mortgage rescue fraud case and as a result people will aware from this sort of incident and also state will keep continue their work in near future as well. Thanks
Please allow me to defend my reputation by refuting this untrue claim directly. I was a victim of white collar crime from Mitigation Online Consultants and Robert Lonardo (currently under investigation by the FBI and Secret Service for theft, fraud, and other illegal acts) over four years ago, and was forced by the DCCA to be a fall guy for a mainland scam artist that I fell for, before exiting the mortgage industry. I aided the secret service in gathering proof for his conviction but at present he remains at large. This is due mostly to Departments like the DCCA that have no teeth and witch hunt local reps to take the blame for mainland scam artists. This over 4 year investigation was a hoax, a witch hunt, and a shameful use of our public funds.
There are several class action lawsuit cases against Rob Lonardo, the actual perpetrator of the illegal acts that left hundreds of brokers, including myself, out to hang and 1000's of homeowners to lose both the money they had spent on their loan modification, and their homes, in some cases like mine. I had 25 files with Mitigation Online Consulting, including the modification of my personal residence that I had to complete pro bono, for over a year, in order to have an outcome for the homeowners that saved their homes from foreclosure. I felt it was only right. Though I had lost over $8500 in unpaid commissions, I felt my customers had paid Mitigation Online Consultants, (through my company's affiliate sales contract and not in my name or my companies name) for a loan modification.
This was the service they had paid M.O.C. and Rob Lonardo for. I would be glad to go over the details the outcome or the current case but can assure you it is ongoing from the over 600 mortgage brokers like myself, and hundreds of homeowners nation wide, that had lost both their money, their homes, and their reputation from this criminal. I have since closed 23 out of the 25 loan modifications and the only ones i lost were my personal one and a realtor’s loan modification that had breached her contract by negotiating directly with the bank, which voided our contract, and then tried to get me to refund her money. This is what caused this unfair complaint with the DCCA in the first place. She also got a judgment against me for $1200 when she had only paid $2200 for her modification and I had paid M.O.C. $1500 to complete it. So instead of making $700 i lost $1000, my license, my home, my former wife, and my job at the time. I have since paid the judgment off irregardless of it's untrue nature.
This brought to light that MOC had ripped me and my clients off. The DCCA or courts didn't care about finding the truth or "waste time" chasing someone on the mainland, here I was right in the islands, a fall guy. Exactly what they needed to show they were "doing their job". And I was an easy target. It took them over 4 years to get to the bottom of it. After two years of "investigation" the person handling my case passed away. The replacement no doubt wanted to make a big move and took Another years to complete the process. The normal time is 1-2 years. My lawyer told me if I didn't sign it, they would press charges that could put me in jail. Some people would call this injustice intimidation, or signing a contract under duress without a trial or proof. DCCA called it justice.
Respectfully,
Sean Remos
I have added some links below to prove of the above.
Here's the proof he stole over 400K for his customers and myself: https://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/loanmods/H36474LA…
Here's the advertisement that tricked hundred of Brokers like me to trust Mitigation Online Consultants that was posted in many national mortgage periodicals like the Scottsman Guide: https://www.sg-resdigital.com/resdigital/200904re?…
Here's the proof that he had a cease and desist in California where he lives: https://dfi.wa.gov/CS%20Orders/C-09-220-11-FO01.pd…
Here's the letter from the secret service agent Neal Hayes who said he would talk to anyone who is interested in finding out the truth about this situation: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12318516/Fede…
If anyone wants to ask Rob Lonardo himself why he thinks he can do this to people here's his contact info:
Rob Lonardo
Owner
Spray Tan Los Angeles
(310) 709-7157
rob@spraytanla.com http://www.spraytanla.com
Can't tell if real story….
(insert Fry looking skeptical meme picture)
Or SPAMMER who stepped up the game…
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