Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced his office has filed civil lawsuits against two Colorado foreclosure law firms and their affiliated title companies, accusing them of inflating foreclosure costs for homeowners.
Suthers is charging Robert J. Hopp & Associates and the Hopp Law Firm, including Robert Hopp and affiliated title company National Title, and the Vaden Law Firm, including its principal Wayne Vaden and affiliated title company City Park Title, with violating the Colorado Consumer Protection Act and the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The suit alleges that the Hopp law firms routinely collected an average of between $1,200 and $1,400 policies from homeowners, mortgage servicers, investors, and insurers (some of which were taxpayer-backed) for title insurance premiums that did not exist by ordering title products through their affiliated title company.
The civil suits filed against the Hopp firms and the Vaden firm are the latest actions taken as part of an ongoing investigation by the Colorado AG intended to cut down on fraud in the foreclosure process. Suthers has filed eight civil law enforcement actions against Colorado law firms in 2014. Five of those actions have resulted in $12 million worth of settlements.
"For abusing the foreclosure process for their own profit, eight Colorado foreclosure law firms have now been targets of investigation by my office," Suthers said. "It is my hope that these actions will result in greater transparency and fairness in the legal processing of foreclosures."