After tracking these con artists for over 2 years, they now are finally going to jail..One scam down many more to expose!
UPDATE DEC 2011
United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy today announced the guilty pleas of five defendants in connection with a loan modification scheme involving an Oceanside company called 1st American Law Center. Gary Bobel, Scott Thomas Spencer (a.k.a. Thomas Cole), Mark Andrew Spencer (a.k.a. Mark Andrews), and Travis Iverson each pled guilty today before Magistrate Judge William McCurine to conspiracy charges related to their commission of wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion, and criminal forfeiture. Defendant Gary Bobel also pled guilty to one count of tax evasion, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7201. Bobel admitted that he failed to report approximately $489,308 in taxable income received in 2009 from the operations of 1st American Law Center. Another defendant who was employed by 1st American Law Center, Roger Jones, pled guilty to conspiracy in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371 last December, and in March 2011 received a sentence of 21 months in custody for his involvement.
According to documents filed in court, Gary Bobel opened up a loan modification business in Northen San Diego County in 2008. Bobel hired telemarketers to sell his services, including defendants Scott Spencer, Mark Spencer, Roger Jones, and dozens of others. Defendant Travis Iverson ran a separate call center in Riverside for Bobel.
Court records reveal that the defendants and their co-conspirators at 1st American Law Center preyed on homeowners who were struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments and at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. The Defendants used high-pressure sales tactics and outright lies to induce their customers to purchase loan modification services—for payments from $1,995 to $4,495—such as falsely claiming to have a team of attorneys who pre-screened clients and having a 98 percent success rate in obtaining loan modifications.
As detailed in the guilty pleas entered by the defendants, 1st American Law Center’s telemarketers were encouraged to say virtually anything it took to close the deal. Among other ruses, employees pretended that their grandmothers got a loan modification through the company, that they had a special relationship with a particular client’s bank, or that the company had helped thousands of happy homeowners with loan modifications. All of these statements, however, were untrue. Some employees actually pretended to be lawyers to convince customers to pay money to the company. Sadly, the telemarketers even persuaded homeowners to pay the company’s fees instead of using their limited funds to stay current on their mortgage payments.
Through the use of their false representations and promises, 1st American Law Center fraudulently obtained over $11 million in client payments between 2008 and 2010, from more than 4,000 desperate homeowners across the country.
The truth was devastating to the thousands of homeowners taken in by 1st American’s offer of help and hope. As court documents reveal, there was no selective pre-screening process conducted by an attorney.
While there was an attorney who worked at 1st American Law Center, he received just a $125 commission out of the thousands of dollars in fees charged for each case. As suggested by that token amount, the attorney did not review applications, work on clients’ loan modification cases, or negotiate with lenders.
Court documents also reveal that, rather than having thousands of satisfied clients as they claimed, 1st American Law Center had thousands of unsatisfied former clients who did not have their loans modified, or obtain refunds as promised, from 1st American. While co-conspirators promised that client fees would be deposited into an attorney client trust account and not touched until the client was satisfied, Bobel took control of the funds in the trust accounts and funneled those funds into accounts that he controlled, using the money to pay himself, other employees, or company expenses.
United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy commented, “Although I am gratified to see these criminals brought to justice, the real tragedy of this case is that the defendants chose to profit from the suffering of others. In difficult economic times, they exploited a particularly vulnerable segment of our population—homeowners who were desperately trying to make ends meet and stay in their homes.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter commented, “Mortgage fraud losses cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year and is a threat to our national economy. The defendants in this case preyed upon those who were desperate and in vulnerable financial situations. This case demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to aggressively pursue those who would seek to take advantage of those in dire financial situations.” Leslie P. DeMarco, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office stated, “Loan modification scams exploit vulnerable homeowners in search of financial assistance. IRSCriminal Investigation has partnered with federal law enforcement to end the sale of these bogus schemes and forfeit assets purchased with the illegal proceeds. The IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to investigate criminal activity associated with the housing market and to encourage homeowners to beware of fraudulent offers.”
9 months ago we exposed a mortgage modification scheme that was preying on consumers nationwide .Consumers were angry that after paying the firm thousands of dollars to save their homes,the firm had done nothing.Consumers lost money and often their homes. The company claimed they were helping homeowners get mortgage modifications ,but all we found when we investigated was an unlicensed telemarketing room full of hustlers . Now the FBI has raided them…
Dear Sir, I signed up for Benjamin Legal Services ,llp. They were supposed to be helping me file chapter 7 . I’ve paid them $900 so far. They Are no Longer answering my phone calls nor calls from my creditors.Their phone # 877-700-4916. I have cancelled all other ach payments from my account. Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. Sincerily, Benita Greenwood
Check out the California State Bar. Looks like they got Dean Chandler.
After seeing that the FBI took over 100 THOUSAND from the business acounts AND 350 THOUSAND from Gary in hidden accounts. Tell me how you cant refund clients you greedy fuc*ing bastard. What goes around comes around!!! Still waiting for my money you fu*ker
I am sure Bubba will be glad to see you again.
We accepted help from Safehouse in January 2009, we went online to the better business and they confirmed that Safehouse had only 1 complaint, we sent Safehouse $3000.00 to work with Bank of America/Countrywide on the loan modification, we received several calls from safehouse telling all was going well with our modification and NOT to pay our mortgage until all the paperwork was completed and our new rate given to us, and that they would stay in touch us on a weekly basis. We never heard from them and we called the Attorney
Generals Office for Delaware, they attempted to make phone calls and sent letter to Safehouse and received NO replies.
You need to add to the story on 1st American Law Center. Dean Chandler’s quiet partner is and has been for months is a Kevin Benjamin of Benjamin Legal out of Chicago. After the raid Benjamin Legal has opened in CA initially using 615 Mission Ave, Oceanside as their address until the office was shut down. But they are actually working out of the offices for Pacific Law Center in La Jolla flipping their PLC old BK clients for Kerry Steigerwaltz’s group to new contracts under Benjamin Legal. Benjamin is using Dean Chandler as his attorney in CA so he can practice law here in the state until he is approved.
Chandler/Benjamin also opened First National Law (look at Chandlers new state bar registry) and his partner is Kevin Benjamin per their Press Release in July (see PR newswire o/a 12th under First National Law). Chandler/Benjamin sold and is still selling another 40+ mods under First National after the raid and are working out of a small office in Carlsbad (look at the state bar registry) while dumping all the old 1st ALC clients and leaving their documents in the abandoned office in Oceanside.
Your story has more because Chandler/Benjamin/Steigerwaltz are all working together to flip the Pacific Law Center clients who have been ripped off by Pacific Law Center. These old clients paid PLC for BK services never rendered now Benjamin Legal is flipping them into new contracts and asking for more money from these poor people. Where is the $2000 PLC first took from them and didn’t perform a BK service? Now they are being asked for more money and PLC is keeping most of the initial funds taken. At the office in La Jolla you will find Chandlers prime right hand men from his mod days who have moved to fresher prey a William Shayman and Dave Tomanio (who states on his Linked In account that he is an expert in Criminal law and DUI but he is not an attorney) both from 1st American Law Center working these clients for more money.
I can’t give you my name due to potential retaliation…go get these low lifes.
1st American Law Center ripped off my dad for $3500.
He almost went into foreclosure because they told him to stop making payments. After several months of nothing happening and calls being ignored, he paid all of his back mortgage and is in good standing, though I’m certain his credit took a major hit.
He called me today to tell me their numbers were all out of service so I started looked. It saddened me to see that he had become a victim of this heartless scam.
Dean G. Chandler is now dba 1st National Law Group and I would warn everyone to keep their dollars away from these monsters until the law catches up with them.
I too was scammed out of $3500, your video depicts all that I have encountered. This company doesn’t answer calls, or call people back. Not to mention lie when they answer the phone.Saying Uh I don’t handle refunds, I don’t have the authority, “It takes two weeks to process”. Name change four times within a year, A plus, B minus, and a F rating on BBB under one of the alias. Slightly different phone numbers, but the same address. The company I want consumers to be aware of is tmmlg, drurylawgroup, chastain and etcheson. They all have websites with offices in St. Petersburg FL, Maricopa AZ, and Glen Ellen IL. I can only imagine the employees looking like the people in your video. Google complaints against and enter one of the pseudonyms. You will be suprised!
I like most of you am in the same boat. I’m so p(*(*(* off I can’t stand it. I found out about this today and it was only by chance! My daughter and grandchildren live with me as this is to be their home one day and I can’t imagine losing it. My story is the same. Saw their ad, thought it was legit and called. Had the same oh this is going to be great feeling for the first month or so and then it all started getting fishy. I was on the phone to the San Diego FBI as soon as I started reading about this mess. The agent was very nice and sympathetic but there was only so much he could say of course. I’m now waiting for documents from them and hoping my lender (Chase) will also be understanding and work with us. 3500 is alot when you have to work for every penny of it!
To: About to Lose the Farm;
I don’t see why you were even accepted into the loan modification program. From the facts you wrote below about your work and financial history, you probably wouldn’t even qualify for a loan modification.
IGUY here ……the reason they were “accepted: is because 1st American took in everyone.The scam for them is everyone qualifies to give them money.
Mr. Too Tall,
You are horribly mistaken in your stereotyping of some of us who are victims of 1ALC!
Not only have we never missed a mortgage payment but we have an almost perfect credit score to prove it. We both work and have never collected a dime in unemployement. We are not blaming 1ALC for losing our home (we still have it) but rather for their inability to follow through on the promise to help us with the complex modification system.
I understand your irritation of folks who are trying to get out of paying their fair share. However in my case and that of many many others, we are simply trying to modify the existing mortgage because the orginal set up we were given is no longer even legal! Due to home prices falling so sharply in our area we do not qualify for a normal refinance, hence our interest in a modification.
Please do not be so quick to judge when you have very little information to go on.
~A
I am sorry to say I cannot have much compassion for you homeowners who are not keeping up with your mortgage payment. Instead you pay “$3,500″ to a 3rd party “Loan Modification” company and blame them for losing your home. Really!!!? I am certain you were delinquent many months prior to contacting a loan modification company or a law firm in hopes of them saving your home. Its simple math, if you don’t pay, you can’t stay. This is a 2 way street. Now you on the other hand are mad because you lost your home. GET A JOB and stop collecting unemployment.
Hi Mr. Mattes, I was referred to your site after posting a question on a San Diego News channel’s page regarding 1st American Law Center. After watching your video I am sick to my stomach. We are apparently suckers who fell for this scheme. We are deep in the middle of trying to get our money back and get out of this mess.
Thank you for what you do. We were only trying to get our mortgage modification put through in the best manner possible. We own a small farm in rural Wisconsin and we do NOT want to lose it or the money we paid to 1st American.
~A
We are going through this process right now and they are not in contact with us at all~I am very worried now that I seen this!! 3,500 dollars is alot to us!! We want it back ASAP!!!
I loved your video about Dean Chandelor AKA- loser. After submitting my loan modification request 50 x and talking to over 100 people, getting denied twice for unabsurd unrealastic reasons. I hired 1st American and got ripped off I was the cry baby on the news. Being a single mom losing child support just wanted to hold on to the American dream which is a American nightmare. . All I know is you made me laugh- wish I saw that video before I paid that unethical 1st American. So glad you posted it
Rumor is 1st American Law Center
is in the process of changing their name to
1st National Law Group or Center as a dba under
Chandler Law Group
they were helping me with a loan modification I lost my home july 12 2010 they did nothing they said I LOST MY HOME BECAUSE OF 1st American Law Center
this was a great video – too bad it took another 9 months until they were held accountable….
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