Acting Attorney General Peter Nickles announced today that the District has entered into a consent order with a title settlement company and its principal which participated in the Metropolitan Money Store mortgage rescue scam. The companies, Regional Title & Escrow, LLC and RTE Title LLC, and their principal, Valeria Tomlin, are permanently prohibited from performing settlement services in the District and will pay $575,000 to homeowners in the District of Columbia and Maryland who were stripped of title and substantial equity in their homes. The settlement is subject to approval by the DC Superior Court.
The District’s complaint alleged that Tomlin and her title companies performed settlement services and otherwise participated in mortgage loans they knew were not bona fide. In entering into the consent judgment, Tomlin and her title companies denied that they engaged in wrongful conduct.
“Homeowners in the District of Columbia who are in financial distress should not be manipulated by predatory practices that strip them of ownership and equity in their homes on the basis of false promises to save those homes,” said Acting Attorney General Nickles. “Today’s consent order will stop a company that did title settlements in a major mortgage rescue scam from operating in the District, and will deliver money back to District homeowners victimized by that scheme.”
The complaint also alleges that Metropolitan Money Store conducted a major mortgage rescue scam in which it targeted 25 homeowners in the District of Columbia. As part of a “Foreclosure Reversal” scheme, Metropolitan Money Store and others falsely promised to help the homeowners avoid foreclosure, keep their homes, and repair their damaged credit. Metropolitan Money Store then diverted proceeds from purported sales of these homes to itself and related companies.
The District continues to seek relief for victimized homeowners from other defendants in its lawsuit filed in Superior Court, District of Columbia v. Metropolitan Money Store Corp., et al, Civil Action No. 6023-07 B.