My first contact with American Residential Law Group was in October. After desperately trying to obtain a modification on my home with my mortgage company (after being in an Amtrak derailment). I checked my emails one morning and ran across an email regarding the kind of help that American Residential could provide homeowners who were in trouble of losing their home. So, being a single homeowner with no sufficient income at the time, I called the company. My case was reviewed by a person by the name of Wayne Lucas. Very professional and very convincing. After a somewhat extensive conversation, Wayne informed me that their company could definitely provide me with the help that I needed. He informed me that the cost would be $1650.00 before they could start the work. I explained to Wayne that I could not pay all that up front and he said they did not accept partial payments. I borrowed the money from several family members and paid American Residential.in about five days or less, I received a packet with an agreement, proof of payment, and a list of things (bank statements, check stubs, tax information, bank account information) and numerous other documentation they wanted me to get and send back to them. For several weeks I continued to have conversations with Wayne and Lisa who constantly informed that I would not lose my home. They reminded me to send my bank statements every month and to also send proof of income every month. On December 3, I was served with a Notice of Foreclosure. I immediately called American Residential Law Group and spoke with Wayne Lucas. He asked that I fax the document in to them and that they would handle it from that point. I also knew (by previously working in a law firm), that I had 30 days to answer the Notice of Foreclosure. Wayne Lucas told me not to worry about answering the Notice and that I would not lose my home.
The 30 days Notice was up on January 3, and I had not heard from American Residential. I called left messages for Wayne and Lucas (at the time, their answering machines were still hooked up). They never called back. So, I called my mortgage company and was told that my house was in foreclosure and that ARLG had sent them nothing but a third party authorization form. My mortgage company never received any of the documentation that was sent in to ARLG.
Once again, I tried calling ARLG and got this recorded message about a significant staff change in early December and that they apologize for not getting back to their clients. The message also said that they had acquired other attorneys in order to get back to us and complete our modifications. They asked that you dial "3" and leave a message. When you dial "3" the guy says "you have reached Customer Service. Please leave your number, town, phone number and we will get back to you as soon as possible. It also stated that you could leave a written message on their website.
So, after 7 messages on the phone and 5 written ones on the website I still have not heard from these people. I immediately did a search for companies that were located at that same address in Ft. Lauderdale, and reached a company I believe called American Lasik. I called and asked if they had heard of a company called American Residential and they said they had and that the company was once on the 4th floor and then moved to the second floor and has now moved away from the building completely.
This is definitely a scam and I cannot get my money back nor can I reach the company, and now I'm working with HUD to keep from losing my house.in addition, if you visit their website, they still have the same address listed, the same phone and fax number and are still canvasing to scam more and more people. I plan on letting our news station become aware of this and if a class action lawsuit is filed I definitely would want to be a part of it. Please be careful and never, never pay anyone who can claim to help you with a home modification.
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