Miami Mortgage Rescue Firm's Vanishing Act
Truman Foreclosure Assistance accused of taking money and skipping town
By WILLARD SHEPARD and BRIAN HAMACHER
Updated 7:15 AM EST, Fri, Nov 13, 2009
A South Florida mortgage rescue company that once promised to save your home is accused of taking clients' cash and vanishing into thin air.
Truman Foreclosure Assistance is one of several companies that sprung up in the recent housing crisis, vowing to help cut monthly payments and allow homeowners to stay put.
But now customers from across the country claim the company didn't come close to living up to what it promised.
Customers like Kathy Sussman, from Miami, who paid $2,300 to Truman with no results.
"They said, 'Oh, we can do that for you, we can save you money and we can lower the interest rate without even extending the life of the loan,'" Sussman said.
Sussman wasn't in danger of losing her home but wanted a lower interest rate and a loan to renovate her home.
"I wanted to change my loan circumstances."
Sussman is just one of several customers claiming that Truman took their money but did no work, but it looks like there may be little recourse for them.
The company has seemingly vanished from their N. Miami Beach office building. The sign on their door is gone and workers at the building and customers claim they can't find anyone from Truman. And no one was answering their phones yesterday.
It's quite a turnaround for a company profiled just this past January on NBC 6, in a story in which they gave tips to homeowners facing foreclosure. Back then, Truman had received high marks from the Better Business Bureau. Now, they've been downgraded to an "F" rating by the BBB, with numerous complaints filed against them with the Florida Attorney General.
The Attorney General said that under a new Florida law, homeowners aren't required to pay upfront for mortgage rescue services, no matter what a company may tell you.
It looks like customers like Sussman will have to go on a ghost chase if they want to recover anything.
"They cashed my check and then pretty much nothing," Sussman said.
Homeowners having trouble with a rescue firm can contact the Attorney General's hotline at 866.966.7226.
First Published: Nov 12, 2009 6:12 PM EST
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