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AG sues Greene County mortgage company
Monday, June 09, 2008
DAYTON — The Ohio Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit against a Greene County mortgage company alleging it has violated Ohio consumer protection laws.
The lawsuit against Nationwide Biweekly Administration Inc. was filed in the Greene County Common Pleas Court, the Ohio Attorney General's office said Monday, June 9.
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The action accuses the company of violating the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices act and the Home Solicitation Sales Act.
According to the lawsuit, Nationwide Biweekly advertised weekly and biweekly mortgage payment plans that could build home equity "twice as fast" as monthly payment plans. Consumers paid the company a non-refundable fee of $75 or more to set up the service.
Nationwide Biweekly regularly deducted money from consumers' bank accounts, so consumers believed they were making weekly or biweekly payments to their mortgage companies. However, Nationwide Biweekly collected the payments and paid consumers' mortgage companies only every month, according to the lawsuit.
"Consumers need to be very careful about making mortgage payments to companies other than their lenders," said Nadine Ballard, Chief of the Consumer Protection Section in the Attorney General's Office. "In this case, the benefit of the payment plan was illusory."
Nationwide Biweekly officials could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
The Attorney General found that most consumers learned about Nationwide Biweekly through direct mail solicitations, according to Michelle Gatchell, deputy director of communications for the attorney's general's office.
The mail solicitations were personally addressed to each consumer and contained the name of the consumer's lender. As a result, consumers believed the mailings were sent from their lenders, Gatchell said.
In April, 2005, Nationwide Biweekly signed an agreement with the Attorney General's Office to stop its misleading practices and to comply with Ohio's consumer protection laws. Instead, Nationwide Biweekly continued to mislead consumers and failed to comply with the agreement, Gatchell said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2057 or lgrieco@DaytonDailyNews.com.
