Judge Orders Local Attorney Gennady Litvin To Halt Fraudulent Mortgage Rescue Scheme, Repay Clients

A judge has ordered a Midwood law firm and its lead attorney, Gennady Litvin, to immediately end illegal business practices that included phony claims that it could help clients avoid a foreclosure, and to open up its books so the court could determine restitution for its victims.

The decision, obtained yesterday, stems from a lawsuit filed last October by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, which accused Litvin and his two law firms, Litvin Law Firm, at 1716 Coney Island Avenue, and the Miami-based Litvin, Torrens & Associates, of running a fraudulent mortgage rescue scheme that ripped off financially vulnerable homeowners facing foreclosure.

“Today, these law firms can no longer prey upon vulnerable families desperate to stay in their homes, and my office can begin determining appropriate restitution for their victims,” said Schneiderman in a press release. “My office has no tolerance for attorneys who abuse their position in order to defraud consumers, and we will continue to take aggressive action against such schemes.”

One of the testimonial videos, claiming that Litvin’s firm successfully eliminated her mortgage in Alabama – even though Litvin was not permitted to practice in Alabama.

At the time of the lawsuit, the firm’s website (since shut down) claimed it can provide “foreclosure defense in 31 states across the US,” as does Litvin’s About.me page. Their YouTube page has a handful of testimonial videos from satisfied clients, as well as legal tips from Litvin himself. And radio and TV ads touted connections to “state attorney generals and the federal government.”

But it was all a fantasy meant to mislead distressed homeowners, according to the attorney general.

Though marketing claimed presence nationwide, and said the firms had connections to “State Attorney Generals and the Federal Government,” in reality they charged monthly fees of as much a $750 for legal services they never rendered, and worthless “forensic audits” that did little to stave off foreclosure. In many cases, the attorney general said, clients never even spoke to an attorney in their state, and never received relief.

Litvin Law Firm and Gennady Litvin have since declared bankruptcy.

Even before the lawsuit, the Litvin Law Firm was given the boot from practicing in Rhode Island in January 2014 after that state’s attorney general found he was offering mortgage foreclosure assistance despite not being licensed in that state.

The attorney general is on the lookout for possible victims of Litvin’s scheme. If you believe you were a victim of the Litvin Law Firm; Litvin, Torrens & Associates; or any of its affiliated marketers, or if you believe you were a victim of another mortgage fraud, please file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office. Complaint forms are available here. You may also call the Attorney General’s Consumer Hotline at 1-800-771-7755.

Schneiderman’s office is also reminding beleaguered homeowners of the free services available through the Home Owner Protection Program (HOPP), which uses funds from the National Mortgage Settlement to fund legal services and housing counseling across New York to provide foreclosure prevention services. Consumers can call 855-HOME-456 for help.