Mortgage Banker Dana Capital Group Named in Junk Fax Lawsuit

The Phoenix Mortgage Center loan agents hung up on the Arizona Department of Banking employees investigating its unlicensed lending activities. Dana Capital Groups Amanda Smith denied having any relationship with Mortgage Center, but after applying with Mortgage Center, the Experian credit report identified Dana Capital Group as the lender.

December 29, 2004 -- After many unsuccessful attempts to stop junk faxes by calling the removal numbers on the faxes, Christine Baker finally filed suit on 10/5/04 in Kingman, AZ, Superior Court, case # CV-04-915.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) prohibits the sending of unsolicited faxes and it provides for statutory damages of $500 per unsolicited fax and treble damages of $1,500 for willful violations of the TCPA.

Most junk faxes are for penny stock, travel and health plan scams or mortgage advertisements from unscrupulous lead generators or mortgage lenders with BBB complaints.

State and federal laws require the disclosure of terms and the APR and in California the lenders name and licensing agency has to be identified.

Many mortgage lenders are trying to circumvent compliance with the TCPA and Truth-In-Lending laws by setting up call centers under different names and by purchasing leads from professional junk faxers and e-mail spammers. The call center phones are often answered with generic names such as Mortgage Services or Mortgage Center, making it impossible to serve a summons because there are no business filings for these entirely fictitious names.

The Mortgage Center approach is rather unique because the junk fax didn't just list the toll-free 800-310-9008, but the fax included a short application to be faxed to 800-890-4355.

When Ms. Baker couldn't locate any license or business filing for Mortgage Center, she filed a complaint with the Arizona Department of Banking. According to Rich, the Mortgage Center employees hung up on them, the department resources are limited and pursuing unlicensed lenders is not a profitable venture.

Dana Capital Group is one of Californias largest privately held lenders and was supposedly connected to Mortgage Center. However, Ms. Amanda Smith, the Legal Department Coordinator, denied any association with Mortgage Center in her 10/15/04 fax.

Ms. Baker applied with Mortgage Center and NCO Financial Systems disclosed on her credit report that the 12/6/04 credit inquiry was made on behalf of Dana Capital Group.

When Ms. Smith was informed of the inquiry, she promised appropriate action upon receipt of evidence. After Ms. Baker faxed her the credit report inquiry, Ms. Smith didn't respond and when Ms. Baker called to find out what happened, Ms. Smith merely stated " that blurb on the credit report really doesn't tell me much."

Apparently the appropriate action Ms. Smith referred to was to do nothing and it did not include payment of the statutory damages for TCPA violations.

Ms. Smith also never explained why she had sent her faxes from Dana Capital Group of Arizona, Inc., a legally distinct and separate entity in Arizona and California. Oddly, both Dana Capital Group corporations are licensed in AZ and Cal, at the same address and with the same phone number.

The California BBB mentions unresolved complaints and allegations of false replies by Dana Capital Group in response to consumer complaints.

The Department of Real Estate licensing history also indicates problems due to complaints and Kelly D. Christensen recently became the new broker of record.

Is Dana Capital Group facing legal problems and it is trying to confuse potential litigants and limit liability by pretending to be Dana Capital Group of Arizona?

On 12/16/04, Ms. Baker named Dana Capital Group in her amended Superior Court complaint and she hopes to get answers through discovery.

On 12/22/04, Ms. Baker received a call from Jessica at Mortgage Center about her loan application from a number answered by Pacific West Mortgage in Chino, California. Jessica, April and the manager Crystal, who used to be at the Phoenix Mortgage Center office, had relocated to Pacific West Mortgage.

Crystal explained that Dana Capital Group is listed on the credit report because the California loans are processed for Pacific West Mortgage and all out of state loans are processed for Dana Capital Group.

The licensed broker for Pacific West Mortgage is Antonio Veluz Nanadiego. According to Mr. Nanadiego, Rocky Baduano and Jack Miller (DRE broker license 00847918, surrendered after suspension) are in charge of marketing and Mr. Nanadiego stated that he had requested that they stop the junk faxing. Apparently, he operates another real estate and mortgage company and he has no control over Pacific West Mortgage. He may be renting his license for their operations.

On 12/23/04, Ms. Baker submitted her complaint about Dana Capital Group, Pacific West Mortgage and Mortgage Center to the California Dept. of Real Estate, posted at http://fight-back.us/forum/index.php?showtopic=426

How many other unlicensed, spamming and junk faxing companies like Mortgage Center does Dana Capital Group employ?

The correspondence and research is posted at http://fight-back.us/forum/index.php?showforum=32

The sale of mortgage leads is an extremely profitable business and Ms. Baker received many other unsolicited mortgage faxes.

Mortgage Services is a call center at 800-351-8213, 800-694-0468, 800-281-8159 and 800-697-0979. These numbers are no longer available from Arizona and Ms. Bakers complaint with the California Department of Real Estate was assigned to Deputy Commissioner Kelly Anderson, DRE File No. 1012-005.

The faxes and the DRE complaint are posted at http://fight-back.us/forum/index.php?showforum=41

A mortgage broker recently identified Keith Hyatt as the owner of a So. Cal. mortgage lead generation call center at 800-561-8303 and 800-561-8090. Mr. Hyatt owns Leads To Results, Inc. and Infasource, Inc. and public records indicate a shared office and other connections with Premserv Mortgage, owned by Scott D. Roberts.

Mr. Hyatts call center transferred Ms. Baker to CBSK, dba American Home Loans (AHL) and to Prime One Financial.

On 12/14/04, Ms. Baker requested Mr. Hyatts comments for inclusion in this release and review of the publications at her websites, but she has yet to receive a reply. A subsequent inquiry with his attorney Larry Cerutti, Rutan & Tucker LLP in Costa Mesa, Cal., was also ignored.

The research and communications are posted at http://fight-back.us/forum/index.php?showforum=30

For most mortgage companies, the law is nothing but a nuisance to be circumvented. The lead generators company names, websites and office locations change frequently. The corporations dissolve and judgments are worthless. The principals usually continue their unlawful activities under a new corporation at a new location with new phone numbers. The nations largest lenders do not hesitate to lie under penalty of perjury (Ameriquest) and they mobilize their armies of lawyers to fight pro se litigants.

It may seem like statutory damages up to $1,500 are a lot of money to get for a fax, but expensive litigation and many hours of research may result in nothing but aggravation and worthless judgments against the fax broadcaster. Fortunately, the TCPA also applies to the advertisers. If many suits are filed against the companies who pay for the illegal promotions, the cost of spamming and junk faxing will exceed the cost of legal marketing.

The FCC occasionally enforces the TCPA and fines junk faxers. The FCC orders, including a $5+ million fine against notorious and now defunct fax.com are published at http://www.fcc.gov/eb/News_Releases/Welcome.html

Ms. Baker decided to publicize the mortgage lenders' despicable conduct so that others don't have to waste their time duplicating her research. Sharing information and experiences makes it easy to prove "willful" violations and perjury in false affidavits.

While Ms. Baker is located in Arizona and she is currently representing herself, she hopes to be able to retain an attorney in California, where many of the junk faxers are located. Any referrals are greatly appreciated.

For Dana Capital Group:
Amanda Smith
Legal Department Coordinator
Dana Capital Group, Inc.
24361 El Toro Rd., Suite 280
Laguna Woods, CA 92653
Tel:(800) 588-5535 ext. 405
Fax: (877)543-0810

For Keith Hyatt and Infasource, Inc.:
Larry Cerutti
Rutan & Tucker, LLP
611 Anton Boulevard, Suite 1400
Costa Mesa, California 92626-1931
Tel:(714) 641-5100
Fax: (714) 546-9035

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