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July 29, 2010 |
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| December 22, 2009 |
By: Review staff |
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ttorneys from Florida, New Jersey and Texas helped a Miami-based foreclosure rescue business that did little to help homeowners, the state attorney general’s office claims.
Attorneys Brian Michael Rokaw of Miami Lakes, Michael Botton of Ocean, N.J., and Ryan Matthew Grant of Plano, Texas, allegedly routed homeowner fees through escrow accounts for Kirkland Young, Attorney Aid and ABK Consultants. The companies allegedly charged initial fees plus fees of $1,299 to $2,299 for a first mortgage modification and $499 to $699 for a second mortgage modification.
A civil suit filed Thursday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court by the state attorney general’s office charges the attorneys, companies and principals with deceptive trade practices and foreclosure fee violations.
Homeowners were misled “into believing they were retaining attorney representation for their loan modifications,” and Kirkland Young and Attorney Aid employees told homeowners that they were speaking to the lawyers’ loan- modification departments, the state suit alleged. Consumers set up automatic monthly payments to the attorneys’ escrow accounts.
“The funds accumulated in the attorney escrow accounts were used primarily for the benefit of the defendants rather than for the purported purpose of assisting homeowners in being qualified for a loan modification by a bank,” the state suit claims.
The state complaint follows action taken last month by the Federal Trade Commission to place the companies in receivership and freeze their assets. Mark Raymond, managing partner of the Miami office of Broad and Cassel, is serving as receiver in the case before U.S. District Judge Alan Gold in Miami alleging telemarketing violations. A hearing is set Jan. 11 on the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction.
Asked about the role played by the attorneys, Raymond said, “I have met with them, and I don’t think they fully appreciated what was going on” at Kirkland Young.
Kirkland Young filed its first report with the state Division of Corporations in July 2008. Attorney Aid was of more recent vintage, forming four months ago. ABK Consultants is a New York company doing business in the Miami area.
“It’s national. There are customers are all over the place. They have the fewest customers from Florida because Florida has the stricter laws. That’s why they were venturing out to add attorneys to their business model,” Raymond said.
He has not yet determined the total amount of money collected by the companies or the total number of clients, but there are about “1,424 files that we believe we may be able to work through to obtain relief for the homeowners.” In perhaps the best news for homeowners, Raymond said, “We will seek to work through the loan modifications.”
Kirkland Young was managed by Botton. His sister, April Botton Krawiecki, managed ABK Consultants, which handled the escrow accounts, Raymond said. Their father, Samy Botton, held a 40 percent stake in Kirkland.
Ryan and Bridget Grant controlled Attorney Aid of Sunny Isles Beach, the state lawsuit claims. Rokaw’s Florida Bar records indicate a Miami Lakes address, but the attorney general’s suit claims he lives in Fort Pierce.
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