Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch will join US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Attorney General Eric Holder, FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Director Jim Freis, and eight other state attorneys general in the nation’s capital as a participant in a roundtable discussion hosted by the Treasury Department on combating fraud in the mortgage relief marketplace.

The event, which will be held tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 17, at 9:30 AM at the Department of Treasury on Pennsylvania Avenue, is a continuation of efforts by federal and state partners to crack down on foreclosure rescue scams and loan modification fraud that was launched in April, during Lynch’s term as President of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). Maintaining a leadership position as NAAG’s immediate past-president, Lynch is among a group of state AGs working with the Obama administration to devise best practices to combat victimization of Americans confronting foreclosure of their homes.

“Millions of Americans and thousands of Rhode Islanders are reeling from the impact of the foreclosure crisis, and there are swindlers just waiting to take advantage of them,” Lynch said. “I’m honored to participate in this group of top Obama administration officials and state AGs that is tackling the problems head on and safeguarding neighborhoods and families against predators shamelessly trying to leverage their misery.”

Lynch said that the mortgage foreclosure crisis was among the top topics addressed when he and several other AGs met with members of then President-elect Obama’s Presidential Transition Team in Washington, DC, last December.

Lynch has taken many steps to address the foreclosure crisis as well as unscrupulous scams that have been perpetrated against homeowners potentially facing foreclosure. In a recent settlement with Countrywide, 267 Rhode Island families have qualified for a portion of $546,000 in foreclosure relief funds that Lynch’s settlement guarantees. Another 1,000 Countrywide borrowers who are stuck in loans with high default rates and structural features of concern qualify for some type of foreclosure relief or loan modification. In a 2007 settlement with Ameriquest, Lynch recovered more than $3.8 million in restitution payments for Rhode Island residents who had been victimized by Ameriquest’s predatory lending schemes. Lynch’s participation in a multistate Household Finance Corporation settlement ensured that $1.4 million was disbursed to Rhode Island consumers victimized by that company’s predatory lending practices in 2003. In January of this year, Lynch joined with other AGs in urging Congress to take steps to permit federal Bankruptcy Courts to protect families from foreclosure. In June 2008, Lynch, along with Mayor James Doyle of Pawtucket and Rhode Island Housing, held a free foreclosure forum for residents of the Blackstone Valley. Lynch’s office also is a part of an AGs’ working group targeting foreclosure rescue; he urges Rhode Islanders who have been scammed by self-proclaimed “foreclosure specialists” to contact his Consumer Protection Unit.

While tomorrow’s roundtable discussion is not open for press coverage, the Treasury Department will offer a media pool spray, including brief remarks, at its conclusion.

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