Predatory Lending and Mortgage Fraud

Predatory lending takes many forms. Loans with terms the borrower could not have understood without an attorney. Loans where the lender knew the borrower could not afford the payments. Loans with fees that violated TILA disclosure requirements. Loans where the underwriting was a fiction. Mortgage modifications that were processed in bad faith. Foreclosures that proceeded without the procedural steps the law requires. The harm falls on consumers, often elderly, often first-time buyers, often borrowers from groups that have been targeted historically, and the remedies depend on the law that was violated.

Federal statutes including the Truth in Lending Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act create rights that can be enforced individually or as part of a class. State law in Georgia adds protections, including the Georgia Fair Lending Act and the state’s deceptive trade practices statute. The remedies range from rescission of the loan, to actual and statutory damages, to injunctive relief that stops a wrongful foreclosure in its tracks.

Transcendens handles predatory lending and mortgage fraud cases for Georgia consumers and homeowners. The work begins with the loan file, the disclosures, the payment history, and the foreclosure record where one exists. Most cases involve a combination of claims that creates real leverage with the lender, often producing modified terms, principal reductions, or full claim resolution that lets the homeowner keep the home.