A group of mortgage-debt buyers, including a company with a documented history of foreclosure litigation in Suffolk County, will pay more than $480,000 in penalties and restitution under a settlement announced by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The Attorney General’s Office said Friday, Oct. 23, that BCMB1 Trust, First Age LLC, NS194 LLC, Second Start LLC, Southern MBA Trust and affiliated companies acquired thousands of defaulted mortgages, many of which originated before the 2008 financial crisis.
According to the attorney general’s investigation, the companies later pursued foreclosure lawsuits that demanded repayment of mortgage debt that was no longer legally collectible.
Under the agreement, the companies will pay $240,000 in penalties and more than $242,000 in restitution to consumers. They must also stop seeking payments on expired debt and amend demands made in existing foreclosure cases.
One of the companies covered by the settlement, BCMB1 Trust, has appeared in foreclosure litigation involving properties on Long Island.
A 2022 Suffolk County Supreme Court decision identified BCMB1 Trust as the plaintiff in a foreclosure case involving a Bay Shore property. Another 2022 court decision involved the company in a foreclosure concerning property in Amityville.
Those Suffolk County cases establish a Long Island connection to BCMB1 Trust, but the Attorney General’s Office did not identify either case as part of the conduct covered by the settlement. The announcement also did not establish that the borrowers in those cases are entitled to restitution.
The agreement is a civil consumer-protection settlement. No criminal charges were announced.
Photo: New York State Attorney General Letitia James. (Source: New York State Attorney General’s Office)
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