According to the L.A. Times March 10 article, center attorney Yungsuhn Park said testimony indicates that the firm targeted hundreds of Korean immigrants, whose limited English and unfamiliarity with U.S. law made them particularly vulnerable.
Trinity lawyer Timothy D. Thurman used agents who spoke Korean to recruit clients , the Center’s complaint alleges. Allegedly, Thurman and others charged clients a retainer up front around $7,000. The clients were told their litigation against lenders would forestall foreclosure and reduce the principal they owed. However, Trinity provided no actual services, the complaint also alleges.
Thurman was arrested last year in conjunction with a fraud case involving another loan modification.
“This case is a prime example of the wave of fraud targeting distressed homeowners in California,” Park said. “In this case, unethical attorneys took advantage of their clients’ trust by making false promises and collecting extremely high fees.”
During the last nine months, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center has received more than 75 complaints, mostly from Korean immigrants, about mortgage scams.
With more than twenty years combined experience, Trinity Law Associates, Inc. provides counsel on a wide range of consumer and business law issues.