HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a lawsuit against two western Pennsylvania men and several affiliated business entities regarding a rent-to-own scheme involving deceptive and unfair “purchases” and “sales” of homes. The defendants “purchased” the homes by agreeing to take over the mortgage payments, and then “sold” the homes under land installment contracts to new buyers who did not know the defendants did not own the homes they were selling.
The defendants in the lawsuit — Sean Walters and Charles Spencer and their businesses — targeted homeowners who needed to quickly sell their homes, and “first-time” buyers who did not see red flags because they had never bought a home before.
The defendants signed contracts to purchase the homes, but over time defaulted on the mortgages, wrecking the credit of “selling” consumers and leading to mortgage foreclosure and eviction proceedings against the buyers who thought they were on a path to home ownership by making monthly payments to the defendants.
The lawsuit seeks restitution for harmed consumers as well as penalties and related costs.
“These defendants made the American dream of homeownership a living nightmare for unsuspecting home sellers and buyers. The defendants were deceptive and predatory, choosing homeowners who were under pressures to move quickly,” Attorney General Sunday said. “This predatory conduct will not be tolerated in the Commonwealth, which is why our Bureau of Consumer Protection is taking this action.”
The Office of Attorney General also requested an ex parte preliminary injunction that was granted by the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. That injunction: requires the defendants to pay impacted sellers’ mortgages and homeowner association payments; halts all evictions or other legal proceedings; and prohibits the defendants from further encumbering the affected properties.
The lawsuit, and motion for ex parte preliminary injunction, were filed this week in Allegheny County Court.
The lawsuit was filed against Sean Walters of Wexford Pennsylvania, Charles Spencer of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, CSW Financial LLC, W Group Holdings, LLC, RS Capital LLC, Marlin Holdings, LLC, Alpha Realty Investment LLC and NSX Property Group, LLC, alleging violations by Defendants of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices Law and the Pennsylvania Loan Interest and Protection Law, among other causes of action.
Consumers who have been impacted by this scheme, but have not yet been in contact with the Office of Attorney General, should call 1-800-441-2555.
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