Atlanta Mortgage Firm, Owner Pay Penalties Over Bait-and-Switch Allegations

An Atlanta mortgage firm and its owner who were accused of using bait-and-switch tactics to con customers into paying higher fees and interest have agreed to pay millions of dollars of restitution and penalties to the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Both Amerisave Mortgage Corp. and its owner Patrick Markert will be writing big checks to the federal government for their alleged roles in the scheme; Amerisave and affiliated company Novo Appraisal Management Co. owe $14.8 million in refunds and $4.8 million in penalties, while Markert himself has to pay the bureau $1.5 million.

According to the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau, Amerisave provided customers with quotes for mortgages which were too good to be true because the company used a near-perfect credit score instead of the score of the customer.

The customer then had to jump through hoops and pay for an overly-expensive appraisal and other costs, only to discover at the end of the process the quote they were originally given was faulty and they would have to pay more based on their actual credit score.

To add to the deception, Novo Appraisal was owned by Amerisave, though neither party ever disclosed this to customers.

As conditions of the settlement, Amerisave, the appraisal company, and Markert did not have to make any admissions or denials of guilt in the matter. All companies involved must abandon all deceptive business practices and illegal fees, however.