On September 24, U.S. District Judge James S. Moody, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, issued a preliminary injunction against several law firms accused by the attorneys general of Connecticut and Florida of charging illegal upfront fees to distressed homeowners in a mortgage rescue scam.

Judge Moody agreed that good cause existed to freeze the assets of the defendant companies – Litigation Law LLC, the Resolution Law Group PC, and the Resolution Law Center LLC.  The judge also agreed to appoint a receiver for the firms, and prohibited them from liquidating or transferring their assets.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and Connecticut Attorney General George Jepson filed their suit on July 29 of this year, alleging that the firms, as well as several individuals and one firm not subject to the injunction, scammed $4.7 million from distressed homeowners by persuading them to join “mass-joinder” lawsuits against their mortgage lenders and servicers in return for upfront enrollment fees, as well as recurring monthly fees to remain involved in the suits.

The case is Florida v. Berger Law Group, Case No. 8:14-cv-1825.