A North Palm Beach lawyer who advertises foreclosure-rescue services is facing Florida Bar discipline for his firm’s unsolicited and “misleading” mailings to homeowners that promoted joining mass lawsuits against banks.
Marc H. Hoffman, of the Hoffman Law Group, is alleged to have violated 10 Bar rules in marketing services that include filing lawsuits with as many as 120 plaintiffs to get lower interest rates and reduced mortgage debt.
The Florida Bar said in an April 25 letter it planned to file a formal complaint with the state Supreme Court and rejected an “admission of minor misconduct” from Hoffman, which would have resulted in a lesser punishment.
Hoffman stopped using the mailers, which the Bar said weren’t clearly marked as an advertisement, and too closely resembled legal documents, shortly after an initial complaint was filed in 2012 by an Idaho bank. The Idaho Department of Finance issued a cease and desist order against the firm — called the Residential Litigation Group at the time — in November 2012.
Hoffman, a 40-year member of the Florida Bar, who is in good standing and has had no disciplinary record in the past 10 years, could not be reached for comment Friday. Messages left for an attorney who has represented him through the Bar investigation were not immediately returned.
Adria Quintela, a staff attorney for the Florida Bar, said the investigation into the October 2012 complaint was prolonged because the advertisement wasn’t the only thing being examined.
In an August letter, Hoffman is questioned by the Bar about why the firm’s name was changed, whether any new partners were added, about an alleged Washington, D.C. office, about who the firm employs, why Hoffman advertised in Idaho when he’s not licensed there and exactly what services he offers.
“There were other matters relating to this,” Quintela said. “Things not necessarily related to him, but other matters we were looking into at the time.
Clients allege high retainer and monthly fees to be included in mass plaintiff foreclosure suits.
NORTH PALM BEACH —
Struggling homeowners from the Pacific Northwest to South Florida are complaining to state officials about a North Palm Beach law firm they say roped them into expensive litigation against their banks that is now floundering in federal court.
In letters to attorneys general in 40 states, including Florida, clients and two former employees of the Hoffman Law Group claim retainer fees as high as $6,000 and monthly maintenance fees of $495 are being billed to homeowners for inclusion in mass plaintiff lawsuits that charge mortgage and foreclosure-related wrongdoing.
Some borrowers also allege they were promised foreclosure defense by intake representatives at the firm, but either never received it or were referred to another firm for an additional cost.
One man, Billy Hannah of Euclid, Ohio, said he paid $2,000 thinking his foreclosure was being defended, but when he showed up at a court hearing in February, he had no representation.
“I just felt so stupid,” said Hannah, who filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. “The judge was looking at me like I don’t have a clue because I’m telling him my attorney is in West Palm Beach.”
The company, led by attorney Marc H. Hoffman, was served cease and desist orders by New Mexico and Idaho and is under investigation by the Florida Bar after posting a Craigslist help wanted ad for sales representatives and “strong closers.” The ad touted weekly $1,000 paychecks and “being spoiled” with “only warm leads and inbound calls.”
Phone and email messages to Hoffman and an attorney who represented him in a recent matter were not returned.
Homeowners said they were solicited through mailings, TV commercials or phone calls. They are signed up for electronic bank drafts for payments, and connected with an attorney reading from a script that extols the value of joining with several hundred other plaintiffs in a lawsuit.
“Let’s call them your new best friends,” the homeowner is told in the script, which was provided to The Palm Beach Post by former Hoffman Law Group attorney Michele Stephens.
Stephens said she resigned in February after growing concerned about boiler-room style salesmanship and that she was expected to consult with homeowners from dozens of states when she was licensed to practice law only in Kentucky.
Stephens sent letters to attorneys general in states where her former clients live. At least two dozen complaints have been made to states and the Better Business Bureau from individual borrowers in Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Miami, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Oregon, Georgia, West Virginia and Missouri.
Florida’s attorney general refers complaints about the Hoffman Law Group to the Florida Bar, saying it is the agency responsible for reviewing grievances against lawyers.
“They promised a reduction of the principal balance, 30 percent equity, and erasure of all negative/late payments on my credit report,” wrote Illinois resident Sarah Schoppman in a February 2013 letter to that state’s attorney general. “However, I have found no evidence of this group
Hoffman Law Group Reviews
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A North Palm Beach lawyer who advertises foreclosure-rescue services is facing Florida Bar discipline for his firm’s unsolicited and “misleading” mailings to homeowners that promoted joining mass lawsuits against banks.
Marc H. Hoffman, of the Hoffman Law Group, is alleged to have violated 10 Bar rules in marketing services that include filing lawsuits with as many as 120 plaintiffs to get lower interest rates and reduced mortgage debt.
The Florida Bar said in an April 25 letter it planned to file a formal complaint with the state Supreme Court and rejected an “admission of minor misconduct” from Hoffman, which would have resulted in a lesser punishment.
Hoffman stopped using the mailers, which the Bar said weren’t clearly marked as an advertisement, and too closely resembled legal documents, shortly after an initial complaint was filed in 2012 by an Idaho bank. The Idaho Department of Finance issued a cease and desist order against the firm — called the Residential Litigation Group at the time — in November 2012.
Hoffman, a 40-year member of the Florida Bar, who is in good standing and has had no disciplinary record in the past 10 years, could not be reached for comment Friday. Messages left for an attorney who has represented him through the Bar investigation were not immediately returned.
Adria Quintela, a staff attorney for the Florida Bar, said the investigation into the October 2012 complaint was prolonged because the advertisement wasn’t the only thing being examined.
In an August letter, Hoffman is questioned by the Bar about why the firm’s name was changed, whether any new partners were added, about an alleged Washington, D.C. office, about who the firm employs, why Hoffman advertised in Idaho when he’s not licensed there and exactly what services he offers.
“There were other matters relating to this,” Quintela said. “Things not necessarily related to him, but other matters we were looking into at the time.
Clients allege high retainer and monthly fees to be included in mass plaintiff foreclosure suits.
NORTH PALM BEACH —
Struggling homeowners from the Pacific Northwest to South Florida are complaining to state officials about a North Palm Beach law firm they say roped them into expensive litigation against their banks that is now floundering in federal court.
In letters to attorneys general in 40 states, including Florida, clients and two former employees of the Hoffman Law Group claim retainer fees as high as $6,000 and monthly maintenance fees of $495 are being billed to homeowners for inclusion in mass plaintiff lawsuits that charge mortgage and foreclosure-related wrongdoing.
Some borrowers also allege they were promised foreclosure defense by intake representatives at the firm, but either never received it or were referred to another firm for an additional cost.
One man, Billy Hannah of Euclid, Ohio, said he paid $2,000 thinking his foreclosure was being defended, but when he showed up at a court hearing in February, he had no representation.
“I just felt so stupid,” said Hannah, who filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. “The judge was looking at me like I don’t have a clue because I’m telling him my attorney is in West Palm Beach.”
The company, led by attorney Marc H. Hoffman, was served cease and desist orders by New Mexico and Idaho and is under investigation by the Florida Bar after posting a Craigslist help wanted ad for sales representatives and “strong closers.” The ad touted weekly $1,000 paychecks and “being spoiled” with “only warm leads and inbound calls.”
Phone and email messages to Hoffman and an attorney who represented him in a recent matter were not returned.
Homeowners said they were solicited through mailings, TV commercials or phone calls. They are signed up for electronic bank drafts for payments, and connected with an attorney reading from a script that extols the value of joining with several hundred other plaintiffs in a lawsuit.
“Let’s call them your new best friends,” the homeowner is told in the script, which was provided to The Palm Beach Post by former Hoffman Law Group attorney Michele Stephens.
Stephens said she resigned in February after growing concerned about boiler-room style salesmanship and that she was expected to consult with homeowners from dozens of states when she was licensed to practice law only in Kentucky.
Stephens sent letters to attorneys general in states where her former clients live. At least two dozen complaints have been made to states and the Better Business Bureau from individual borrowers in Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Miami, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Oregon, Georgia, West Virginia and Missouri.
Florida’s attorney general refers complaints about the Hoffman Law Group to the Florida Bar, saying it is the agency responsible for reviewing grievances against lawyers.
“They promised a reduction of the principal balance, 30 percent equity, and erasure of all negative/late payments on my credit report,” wrote Illinois resident Sarah Schoppman in a February 2013 letter to that state’s attorney general. “However, I have found no evidence of this group