Federal and state consumer protection watchdogs on Wednesday took aim at lawyers, filing more than three dozen suits targeting law firms and other entities for running illegal foreclosure-relief scams, The National Law Journal reported Wednesday. The nationwide enforcement sweep, dubbed Operation Mis-Modification, was led by the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and attorneys general or other regulators from 15 states, including New York, Florida and Michigan. The suits — six by the FTC, three by the CFPB and 32 by state attorneys general — make similar allegations: Lawyers or other scammers charged illegal advance fees for services and falsely promised to prevent foreclosures or renegotiate troubled mortgages. The agencies are seeking compensation for victims, civil fines and injunctions, and in some cases have also secured temporary restraining orders freezing the firms' assets.
