Second Amended Complaint - United States v. Advocate Law Groups of Florida, P.A. (M.D. Fla.)

United States v. Advocate Law Groups of Florida, P.A. (M.D. Fla.)

On August 16, 2021, the United States filed an amended complaint in United States v. Advocate Law Groups of Florida, P.A. (M.D. Fla.), which alleges that Advocate Law Groups of Florida, P.A., Jon B. Lindeman, Jr., Ephigenia K. Lindeman, Summit Development Solutions USA, LLC and Haralampos “Bob” Kourouklis violated the Fair Housing Act by targeting Hispanic homeowners for a predatory mortgage modification and foreclosure rescue scheme.  As part of the scheme, defendants charged Hispanic homeowners thousands of dollars for their mortgage modification services, instructed Hispanic homeowners to stop paying their mortgages and to stop communicating with their lenders, but defendants did not obtain the promised mortgage modifications, resulting in foreclosures and the loss of homes.  Defendants interfered with Hispanic homeowners’ exercise of their fair housing rights, constituting a pattern or practice of discrimination and a denial of rights to a group of persons. The original complaint was filed on October 29, 2018.  The case was referred to the Division after the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) received a complaint, conducted an investigation, and issued a charge of discrimination.