Georgia AG Chris Carr accuses Atlanta company of foreclosure scam

ATLANTA — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has sued an Atlanta company, alleging it deceived consumers by offering foreclosure assistance, then took title to more than 70 homes.

According to the Aug. 27 lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court, Atlanta-based Home Saver 911 and individuals associated with the company used “deceptive and high-pressure sales tactics,” tricking vulnerable homeowners into unwittingly signing documents transferring title of their property when joining its loan program.

Home Saver 911’s tactics included door-to-door sales, cold calling, postcards, emails, and social media, according to the complaint. The company targeted homeowners it knew were at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure and promised to help stop the process, reinstate mortgages, and make payments for up to 12 months.

“While defendants represent that they are helping consumers maintain ownership of their homes, they are actually doing the opposite. Once consumers have been stripped of all equity they had in their homes, defendants then move to evict them,” the lawsuit states.

The attorney general alleges the advertisements were misleading and deceptive because they did not disclose that Home Saver 911 would provide consumers with loans that also transferred their titles. Once their names were removed from the titles, they were no longer eligible to refinance, according to the lawsuit.

Kara Murray, a spokesperson with Carr’s office, said the Republican, who is running for governor, could not comment on active and ongoing litigation.

On Sept. 4, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shermela J. Williams granted the state’s request for a temporary restraining order by consent. Among other things, the order bars Home Saver 911 from executing contracts with Georgians; “harassing” consumers who signed documents with the company; taking title to homes; and initiating or continuing to prosecute any dispossession actions.

Brian McFarlin, one of the managing members of Home Saver 911, denied the allegations in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, calling them a “complete fabrication.” He described his company as a “small investment group” and suggested its goal was to help people stay in their homes when they have run out of other options.

“We are not in the business to steal someone’s deed, evict them, sell the house and keep the money,” said McFarlin, who is a defendant in the case. “What fool would do that out in the open? That’s illegal, immoral.”

Nevertheless, the U.S. Department of the Treasury warns consumers to watch out for claims that third-party assistance is needed to modify a mortgage loan, and specifically warns consumers not to sign over the deed to their home.

Atlanta Legal Aid Society staff attorney Julia Duperrault said foreclosure scams are nothing new. But she was struck by the scale of the alleged scheme and said it was “one of the most brazen examples we’ve seen.”

Several people had contacted her organization for help, and she said “not a single one understood they were transferring ownership of their home.”

“One minute, these homeowners thought they were accepting an offer of a loan to catch up on missed mortgage payments. The next minute, they are being served with eviction papers,” the attorney told the AJC.

Home Saver 911 was formed in March 2023, when it began marketing its Home Saver and Flex Fi programs in the state.

It has transferred 73 deeds and relied on quit claim and limited warranty deeds to start 26 dispossession actions against Georgians, leading to at least 12 households being forced out, according to Carr’s lawsuit.

In response to the allegations, McFarlin said his company did not use high-pressure sales tactics and started dispossession actions only when clients stopped communicating or refused to pay back their loan.

“We only look for a judgment to work out a repayment and not to put them out of the house,” he said.

But Carr’s complaint states that in 19 cases, the defendants began “dispossessory actions against consumers whose loans were not yet due to be repaid.”

The complaint adds that homeowners would never have knowingly agreed to sign over the deeds, and no notary was present as consumers signed documentation, despite notarization.

Defendants failed to give consumers notice that they had three days to cancel their contracts, the filing adds.

According to consumer reports cited in the filing, the company’s representatives harassed people, coming to their homes and threatening to evict them, demanding payment, or insisting they sign additional papers. In one case, a Home Saver 911 representative allegedly placed a tenant in a home, but rent went straight to the company rather than the consumer.

The attorney general is asking a judge to void the deeds and halt Home Saver 911’s operations. He also seeks civil penalties and restitution for consumers.

In a separate case, Carr’s office announced Thursday that it secured a court order barring Florida-based real estate brokerage firm MV Realty from enforcing listing agreements and property liens in Georgia.

Carr sued MV Realty in January 2024, seeking relief for 3,300 homeowners he said were locked into illegal 40-year contracts with the firm that forced them to pay the company 3% of the home value if they sold without using the firm as an agent, or went into foreclosure.

“MV Realty’s predatory loan scheme put thousands of Georgians at risk of losing everything they had worked so hard to earn,” Carr said in a statement.

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