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Published: March 11, 2010
Updated: 7:27 p.m.
Federal search warrants targets Irvine loan modification firm
By SEAN EMERY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
COMMENTS 10 | RECOMMEND 3 | PRINT | EMAIL | SHARE
ARTICLE
IRVINE – A half-dozen federal and local agencies conducted a raid on the United Law Group's Irvine offices on Thursday, as law enforcement officials carried out a federal search warrant tied to a loan modification fraud investigation.
The U.S. Postal Inspection service led the raid on the embattled loan modification firm, along with officials from the FBI, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the Orange County District Attorney's office, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program and officers from the Newport Beach and Irvine Police Departments, Postal Inspector Renee Focht said. The raid began at 8 a.m., with officials shutting the office at 2525 Campus Drive as they carried out the search, Focht said. No arrests were reported.
The raid was part of an ongoing federal investigation involving possible loan modification fraud, FBI Spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.
Investigators in their affidavit for a search warrant allege that the United Law Group is a company "permeated by fraud." Interviews with clients and former employees indicated that the company collects upfront fees of between $1, 500 and $12, 000 as a retainer before work begins, although investigators say they were unaware of any cases where the company completed a successful loan modification, beyond the ones cited in their advertising campaign, according to the affidavit.
United Law Group was already facing scrutiny from the California State BAR.
The state BAR in July filed a notice of disciplinary charges against Sean Rutledge, an attorney with the United Law Group, accusing him of taking $1, 750 from a homeowner in November 2008 but never making an effort to get his loan modified.
The state BAR filing alleged that it took the client months to get their money back, and that they were forced to sign a document releasing Rutledge from all legal liabilities. Rutledge in a statement released after the charges were made public declined to comment on anything related to a former client.
Contact the writer: [protected] or [protected]@ocregister.com
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
ULG is back open and in buisness. The FBI didnt shut them down or arrest anyone. Where is the proof that they have done anything wrong?
I am John Wright. The reality is that every Attorney I have ever used in the past said that they required a retainer. They have also never promised that they would win. They simply said that they would "represent." This is no different here. The villain is not ULG you guys and do not believe this illusion the Federal government is giving you. The villain is the banks and it exactly why we had to get attorney's! Don't you think it is interesting that the Federal Government is going after Attorney's that are defending people against the banks? The ones they should be raiding are the banks! ULG did exactly what they promised they would do. I mean I have a letter from Countrywide stating that ULG had indeed sent them paperwork that stipulated that I was being represented by ULG in a modification. What happened though was that the banks potentially broke the law and did to ULG what they were doing to us. So UlG filed law suits in our behalf against these banks.
Do not buy into this! ULG was actually fighting for us and I know this first hand. ULG are the good guys and were getting ready to bring these banks accountable. Which I can not help but think this is exactly why the Feds came after them. Lets see, the Feds give the banks bail out money and then shut down attorney's that file law suits in behalf of the people. What is really going on here! I am sure that ULG was using our money to fight the good fight for us. I will say it again! Why are the FEDS not RAIDING BofA!
Listen, I am one of you and I too am losing my house right now. I am just as frustrated and broke as all of you. But I am telling you that ULG was getting ready to fight for the little guy and that your anger is misdirected. The ones the Feds should be raiding are the Mortgage compaines and not ULG. If the banks would have done what they promised, ULG would have been successful. But now the Feds want to blame ULG instead of BofA and other banks like them. If you buy into this, you will help support the Federal govt. taking out any law firm that goes after the banks for what they did to us. They are raiding the wrong guys!
As I said, I am losing my house too and I have not received a dime for posting this. I am just on truths side and I am saying that I think ULG was doing the right thing and now the Feds are shutting down any law firm who brings law suits against these evil banks. I will support the Feds when they start raiding BofA and Chase and Countrywide for not following the law. Not the law firms trying to help us. This is nothing other than the Federal Govt. protecting the banks.
John Wright
California
Home Owner who might lose his home any day now
Here is a copy of the Search Warrant... at 63 pages it paints a pretty clear picture as to what they were looking for:
http://69.55.236.7/archive/ULG_affidavit.pdf
It shows nothing.. they use all these multiple government agencies as a SCARE TACTIC! ICE was there? C'mon is this some Drug Cartel that they have to bring 10 different agencies into a "Business" in Irvine with there guns drawn? I heard they where pointing there hand guns in the faces of female employees.. I mean C'mon! This is Ridiculous!
How many people in jail are mad at there attorneys and want a refund? Everyone has to remeber that ULG didnt sign your loan documents with the bank as a personal gurantee to get your home. WE DID! So we want to blame everyone as to whos problem it is and as a last attempt we hire a LAW FIRM for $1750 to try and get us out of the mess we put ourselves into. As well as not making payments on the home which we live in for over 10 months? Everyone has to pay rent? What gives us the right not to pay ANYTHING for the home we live in then place ALL our blame on ONE LAW FIRM hat we tried to use to get us some more time in our house FOR FREE! ITS TIME TO WAKE UP AND LOOK AT THE REAL PROBLEM and thats the banks!
ULG is a scam. The owner Damian Kutzner should just flee the country.
The current raid on law firms representing people in modifications, is a way to deflect the press from reporting what is really going on. Which is the abusive modification process that is taking place by BofA and other too big to fail banks. Let's face it, the elephant in the room is not the American Dream concerning health care, but the American nightmare concerning the loan modification process. It is OUTRAGEOUS, considering that they have received a bail out from the American Tax Payer, who is also the average American Home Owner. After receiving a bail out in the billions from the American people, these banks have the audacity to harass, delay and humiliate us during the loan modification process called HAMP. How long do these banks think that the American people will tolerate this? One of the BofA representatives even went as far as telling me that the government can not tell them what to do. I found this strange, because I never brought the government up with the BofA representative. So, I can not help but feel that BofA is bitter and is taking it out on those of us seeking a loan modification. It is also readily apparent, that BofA feels that they only have to meet their obligation to the government by CONSIDERING a loan modification with zero accountability. It is time that we make BofA accountable!
BofA knows very well that the average homeowner requesting a modification does not have the funds to represent themselves legally. So, the FBI raiding one of the largest and most reputable law firms, will only serve these banks potential agenda. An agenda that might be to scare any law firms from representing the people. This current action by the FBI is not the solution, but a symptom of the over all problem. It is also blurring the lines in regards to who the real bad guys are. It will also further delay the process of reputable law firms like United Law Group from filing legitimate law suits. In retrospect, United Law Group is not only helping me represent myself in this law suit, but every American who is going through the loan modification process.
So please, help me and United Law Group send a message to BofA which states, that we will no longer tolerate their potentially irregular, fraudulent and abusive business practices. In the end, the American tax payer did not fail to deliver the BofA bail out in record time, but BofA failed to deliver the American Tax Payer’s bail out in the form of a loan modification. It reminds me of that song by John Lennon and George Harrison titled "Piggies" I invite you to listen to this song on youtube and see if it appropriately fits.
God bless,
John Wright
Tax Payer and Home Owner
My husband and I started with United Law Group in Feb 2009 and nothing happened. We sent them the fee and also sent them all our information. They could not provide us with any documentation of anyone they spoke to at our bank. Our mgt is with Huntington Bank and we started the loan modification process with them in Oct. 2009 and have completed a loan mod and also they rewrote your my car loan. So definately start with your bank first ask them to help you and it will probably go much better then dealing with the likes of United Law Group. When we would call in they would leave us on hold for long periods of time and or hang up on us. I hope that all the repondsible parties involved will receive the justice they deserve for stringing people along for such an important issue as say almost losing your home. We have filed locally with our Attorney General's office and they have filed a complaint on our behalf.
The current raid on ULG is just another legal problem that Damian Kutzner will get himself out of. I am a former employee of Mr. Kutzner from his Global Mortgage Funding days. I was there when the FTC raided our office and shut us down. (Only for the weekend) I was one of the employees that could not even grab her purse with out a FEDERAL AGENT asking questions. Be careful of this man. He doesnt pay his employees and has a stream of businesses in the mortgage industry, all of which have something to do with scamming people out of there money. Global Mortgage Funding, Inforte, he even had an Escrow Company that he stole money from. Please... anyone defending this man is a close friend or someone who is actually getting paid by him. Watch out he is a snake!
You know, I lost out because of the BK too, but I have to tell you that Damian Kutzner was one of the only few people there that always dealt straight with me. Damian Kutzner was an honest man, who seemed to truly have empathy for what was happening out there to us. I mean, he controlled some things, but that was because he was the guy in charge of spending money for things such as promotion. Ultimately, the problems ULG had were caused by the previous CEO who had left them so damaged, that the next CEO had to file bankruptcy.
Damian Kutzner was nice enough to call me the day he showed up for work and found out that he could not enter the building because of the BK. So he was screwed over too because had his personal stuff in there. Now, if he was in control it would stand to reason that he would have gotten his personal stuff out before ULG signed off with the BK Trustee. That right there shows that he was not as much in control as you think. He paid employees, but he did not have ultimate control. It is also important to mention that he was not even being paid for months, so he is a victim too, just like you and me.
Now I know that you are going to come out here and slam me and make outrageous claims that I was paid to say this ect. ect., but it is not true. Certainly, I am a victim too right now, because nobody told me this was going to happen and I ended up not being represented.
My name is John Wright and stand behind Damian Kutzner character. He is a good man who did his best.
John Wright
piggybankblog.com
Hey John..."Damian Kutzner is an honest man." Hilarious. By the way, what's your real name John? Could you be Damian or Damian's assistant? What a joke you are. If Damian owes you money or has scammed you, he can be reached at /removed/. I'm sure he would love to hear from you.
I do not know what to tell you, but I am John Wright. You can verify this fact at piggybankblog.com by sending me an email at the site, and I will gladly respond.
Not to be rude or anything (even though your calling me a liar) but why should anyone believe what you are saying right now, when you are absolutely wrong that I am Damian? Wouldn't that suggest your perception of reality is a little off?
Once again, no disrespect meant :)
John Wright
piggybankblog.com
I totally agree with John, I am not saying that I am in favour with Damian Kutzner but since I have also taken his services and I can say I am 100% satisfied and this is my duty to support him.
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Well looky looky -the government did it for free:
Gov't orders 14 lenders to reimburse homeowners
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110413/ap_on_bi_ge/us_foreclosure_reimbursed
Looks like Vito and Kutzner's $5, 895 a pop theft-ride is over! WOOHOO!
Well looky here! You are all over posting this all over the web! (lol) Just like a troll who is working!
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I do have to admit……. the one who said "Crookstone law" did make me laugh (tongue in cheek) Even I have to admire that wit (lol)
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My name is blah, blah, blah AND I JUST FOUGHT BACK!
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http://www.piggybankblog.com/2011/03/12/mass-litigation-alliance-caught-red-handed/
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John Wright
piggybankblog.com
Another raid but this time it's the attorneys bank accounts frozen and practices taken over by the CA State Bar
http://www.calbar.ca.gov/AboutUs/News/201116.aspx