A Methuen, Mass., woman was forced to sell her home recently after she fell victim to an apparent scam targeting homeowners who are struggling with their mortgages.
Bethania Schlosser, 49, lived on Forest Street with her husband, two daughters and two granddaughters in a home that had been in the family for 20 years. In January 2015, Schlosser's husband, Ken, died of stomach cancer, leaving his wife with a mortgage to manage.
Schlosser works, but her husband had been the higher wage earner. She made due with Ken's life insurance money until it ran out early last year, and Schlosser began to fall behind on her mortgage payments.
In June 2016, Schlosser received a solicitation in the mail from a group called the Samaritan Law Center. The letter said Schlosser was eligible for assistance through the center's Homeowners in Hardship program, and offered to represent her as her legal counsel when dealing with her mortgage lender Haverhill Bank — for a fee of $3,651.51.
Schlosser sent Samaritan Law Center that sum in three installments over the course of the summer, using money orders — the company refused to accept credit card payment or personal checks. The address Schlosser sent the money orders to is located in a strip mall in Irvine, Calif.
"I was struggling financially and I had to really go out and borrow it from family members," Schlosser said.
But come September, she was still receiving letters from the bank, despite a phony "cease and desist" letter Samaritan Law claimed to have sent to the bank. On Sept. 21, the bank denied Schlosser's request for loan modification, despite constant reassurances from representatives at Samaritan Law that everything was going as planned.
"This home is the only thing that my husband left me. It symbolizes his hard work and love through his life," Schlosser said in a handwritten "hardship letter" Samaritan Law requested, in addition to W-2 forms, pay stubs, tax returns and more. "I am still grieving very painfully for my husband, I do not want to loose (sic) my house too, that is why I am seeking help that is available to me so I can stay in my house and live my life here."
In May of this year, Schlosser sold the home she had shared with her late husband before it could go into foreclosure. Samaritan Law had essentially vanished.
"They sounded very professional, very caring, very helpful," said Emily Schlosser, Bethania's daughter. "But once we submitted that last money order, they disappeared."
At the end of the September, after he last money order had been sent, the elder Schlosser tried calling the numerous Samaritan Law representatives she had spoken to, but each call and message went unanswered. They had only communicated by phone, never by email.
"It was just like the worst experience of my life. It was like, I was dealing with my husband's death, and it was like a death all over again," Schlosser said. "I was very embarrassed, humiliated. ... I learned the hard way and I felt so, so stupid. I cried for months."
Four different phone numbers Schlosser had used to contact employees of Samaritan Law — numbers for Mark Kennedy, Darren Jacobson, and an 800 number — were taken out of service as of Thursday. The number for an Elizabeth Thompson was still active, but Thompson did not return phone calls from The Eagle-Tribune.
A search of the California Secretary of State website did not return any registered businesses under "Samaritan Law Center," but a company named "Samaritan Law Corporation" registered with the Golden State in February. Its billing address is in Woodland Hills, about 70 miles from Irvine, where the Samaritan Law Center claimed to be located.
Samaritan Law Corporation is registered to a Tina Nia. A representative at Nia's law office, which shares an address with the Samaritan Law Corporation, denied any connection to Samaritan Law Center.
After she sold her home, Schlosser and her daughter spoke with Northern Essex Register of Deeds M. Paul Iannuccillo. He then sent letters explaining Schlosser's ordeal and documentation to Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, Attorney General Maura Healey, the Massachusetts Division of Banks, the Federal Trade Commission, the Postal Inspection Service, and the California attorney general.
"It's part of the outreach I do, warning people about scams, and this is a pretty big one, to be honest," Iannuccillo said. Schlosser was "in the middle of a big experience in her life and they really took advantage of it."
Iannuccillo provided a replica of a letter he was copied on, sent from Christopher Pope, the deputy commissioner of enforcement and investigation at the Division of Banks, to Max Weinstein, the chief of the Consumer Protection Division of the attorney general's office.
Pope's letter states that the Division of Banks has been "unable to find any evidence that Samaritan Law Center has obtained nonprofit status" under the Internal Revenue Code, and as such "does not qualify to offer credit counseling services under Massachusetts" law. Additionally, Pope said Samaritan Law is not registered as a foreign corporation with the state.
Emalie Gainey, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Healey, said the office is aware of Schlosser's situation and is reviewing the information Iannuccillo sent. Another representative said the office typically does not share information about ongoing investigations.
"I am extremely gratefully (sic) for being accepted into this program," Schlosser wrote to Samaritan Law in her hardship letter. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for restoring hope to my future."
